C'mon guys,
I want to address many of the issues raised in this thread that just show that people have their heads totally in the clouds. I should know, as I've made all the same suggestions before.
1. We need to get OS4 used by businesses/enterprises.
Not going to happen.
It hardly happened in the Amiga's heyday and without having ever established a business reputation how do you think it will happen now, especially with the lack of clout the currently involved companies have? What you might be able to do, but even then fail at, is imitate the LAMP model used for web based services.
LAMP is Linux, Apache, MySQL and Perl.
I hazard a guess that AOS will have PPC versions of Apache, MySQL and Perl developed at some stage. However, even when they are, why pay for AOS when you can get Linux practically for free and there is more support? Again, even this is not going to happen except for hobbiests.
I once suggested an enterprise version of AmigaOS hosted on Linux for SMEs as it is considered a more established and mature OS with much more functionality and software supported by the big boys. But the argument against was why would you purchase it over another distro? And everyone hated that it would then be a bloated OS which would most likely run slower than AOS. No one wants compromise.
2. We need to make an Amiga console.
Not going to happen.
The A1 in any guise will always be too expensive and underpowered to warrant such a thing. And even if it did come to fruition there would be no software which is the death knell of any console. Eyetech's idea of licensing the hardware design to third parties so they can make uA1s into set top boxes or DVD players or whatever is destined to fail. Why would a company license the A1 hardware specs when MS is offerring them incentives for superior XBox2 hardware licensing? MS have completely crushed this idea for Eyetech. Even though, one would argue that it was already unfeasable, as there would be no reason for potential clients not to adopt a similar specced and cheaper x86 system, which I dare say would probably be more established and run more software.
The only way to get an Amiga console, of any strength is to license an established console maker's hardware spec, and make the SUPER AMIGA that everyone wanted based on that superior cutting edge hardware. It would have more features added, like more memory, HD space, DVD burners and more Mghz. Sure it would be riding on someone else's coat-tails but it would get the Amiga a lot of exposure. It would be more expensive than the base console, but a premium brand with computer functionality. A console that can also be used as a computer, like the original Amiga concept. The best selling A500 sold well on such a principle. No one begged their parents for PCs. Basing the Amiga on a new console, maybe even in the Amiga Fantasy case, would actually be going back to roots. You would be able to run games software from an established player in the console market, without requiring a port, and those games could even hit the hardware. You would be able to boot OS4 from a bootup screen and even have it autoboot if no DVD is present. Programming for what is essentially a super console through OS4 would get a lot of comers. I nearly went and bought the Linux for PS2 kit because it was sooooo cool, and I wanted to program a game based on the same console hardware. If it had been the AmigaOS it would have been a slam dunk for me. It would lead to a plethora of homebrew and perhaps even commercial Amiga titles, and the better ones may have even have had the opportunity to be released for the base console. It would have been THE perfect platform for games programming, which is now even being taught in Universities around the world. Maybe Sony could be convinced. With AOS's HAL the OS could be lifted to the next generation of consoles just as easily. And it looks likely for the foreseeable future, that consoles will be PowerPC based. We are ready for this step, and AOS would not require drivers for everything under the sun. The next gen consoles will stay ahead of expensive PC hardware for far longer in coming generations.
3. We need to get a port of .NET.
Not a good idea, and not going to happen anyway.
Mono will never be able to keep up with the changes MS makes every year. I can hardly keep up with programming for the damn platform, imagine how the hell the mono team could keep up with its implementation. Besides C# is almost used exclusively in enterprise applications, and very rarely in off-the-shelf software. Something like the Office suite is NEVER going to be programmed using unmanaged code, which is the kind of code that would make a port feasable in the first place. What Enterprise would trust it?
A C# or even VB type language could be a boon however for programming under AOS as long as it had a similar API under AOS. Why you couldn't just preparse the syntax of the language back to C++ and compile it to a native executable I don't know (I like to KISS). An easy to use language would be of more use and get more developers to make the shift. I would be programming for AOS tomorrow if Java existed(and especially if it could be natively compiled), and if a VB type language existed I would be already. Its not so much that we need to port currently existing apps from other platforms within that language, but rather that we could leverage the developer base for those languages, in that they wouldn't have to relearn the wheel. As cool as Reaction may be, I don't have the time nor inclination to learn an entirely new API. Better to encapsulate Reaction functions in a popular API, that the greatest developer base understands, be it Java or .NET or both. Maybe such an implementation would waste some clock cycles, but what's a cycle or two when you need more software for the platform. There is a blitzBasic like product out there(not OOP), but what I would love to see is something as all encompassing as RealBasic which is cross platform and caters for App and games programming. They're not about to do a port though.
I really wish I knew if AmigaDE would address some if not all of these issues or even if it is still in development. I would really like to see a cross platform alternative to Microsoft's (windows based) XNA initiative, which looks set to cut everyone out of cross platform development for a long time to come.
4. We need a port of this, this and that from FOSS.
How are you going to attract commercial developers if you're just going to port everything from Linux? Yes, you want more software, but you're shooting yourself in the foot!!! This is almost as bad as piracy for a platform. Or is it? I don't know. Why would I expend effort to build an office suite or a browser if you're intent on porting them from another platform for free? I have no answer to this, but I just want you to consider what is going on.
Related to this is a con against licensing classic software as part of a bundle that comes with AOS4. You'd have to really like the software to go ahead an purchase the PPC version then wouldn't you? I don't know, this is so scary, its keeping me away from making an effort as an Amiga developer.
A project I am currently working on is for Windows only, and I can't see a port as feasable, especially in terms of the API divide. The further I go the worse it gets.
