Hyperion bankrupt?

[amigadave]

That is just totally crazy! :crazy:

I just fell out of a timewarp.

The last time I read EAB the coders were all like Commander Adama 'No PPC Emulation while I am in command of this ship!'.  They were all like 'ppc is useless.  We will never have that.'  But now you are saying they allow PPC emu?  And is it any good?  How fast is it?  How compatible?

Holy crap you have exploded my brain!!!!


p.s. once again there is no appropriate smiley for how I am feeling at this moment.

I guess you have been busy under some rock (probably work, or personal life related) for the past year or so, while all the talk about adding PPC emulation to WinUAE has been going on.

Welcome back from your timewarp!

I have not tried OS4.1FE on WinUAE, or taken a good look at how fast it can run, since I have an X1000 to run OS4.x, but I would be interested in reading some test results that show real world performance results on varying PC hardware, to see just how useful, or fun AmigaOS4.1FE can be under emulation.

I have been highly critical of Hyperion due to many of their decisions over the last 10+ years, but I agree that lowering the price for AmigaOS4.1FE and making it available for people to run via WinUAE emulation is one of the smartest things they have done in many years, if not the smartest thing they have ever done.  Now just about anyone can try AmigaOS4.1 and decide for themselves if it is something they want to continue to use and/or invest further by obtaining dedicated PPC hardware to run it on.  It is not quite as good an option (IMHO) as the free 30 minute demo version of MorphOS, to introduce interested users to the platform, but it is 1,000 times better situation than we had before WinUAE added PPC support and users had to buy new or used PPC hardware costing between ~$500 to $3,000+ to run AmigaOS4.x.

My 2 cents.

[amigadave]

Lol, I have a 1970 Datsun P/U in good shape I'm thinking of a V6 to replace the 1600 to 1800 upgrade I've had in it for ever. Add limited slip, auto trans and done.

Those old Dastun pickups and 510's were awesome and the P/U's ran forever.  I can't believe that they let Toyota take over their market share in the small P/U segment without a fight.  Does Nissan even import a pickup to the USA anymore?  I can't remember seeing a Nissan pickup for a very long time.

The Toyota small pickups were better when they only offered 4 cylinder engines, IMO, as they were bullet proof and would run for 200,000 to 300,000 miles quite often.  The V6 engines are not as trouble free, but then none of the modern engines are as reliable it seems these days, and working on any of them has become a nightmare (currently have my 4.0L V6 Dodge Nitro taken apart trying to track down an over-heating problem and cursing every minute I work on it.  Why would any auto engineer think it is okay to put the thermostat and coolant temperature sensor at the very rear of an engine against the firewall, so that you are forced to remove the entire intake manifold just to see it, let alone trying to get wrenches or sockets on the fasteners to replace those items).

Have fun with your 1970 Datsun pickup, at least it should be easy to work on.  Now back to the original topic.

[amigadave]

No it isn't possible.  Hyperion own a license to modify not ownership.

It's too early for an April Fool's joke, so I guess I need to look into the possibility that this story may be true.

I would need to talk to Number 6 to get a clear (as clear as possible) explanation of the results of the agreement finally decided upon between Amiga Inc. and Hyperion and the courts/judge, when they resolved all of their lawsuits against each other.

I was under the impression that Hyperion owns AmigaOS4.x outright, not just a license to continue development of it, but then I never did look at the exact wording of the settlement, as it was not that important to me when it originally happened.  The rights to AmigaOS3.x and previous versions are much less clear to me (not that AmigaOS4.x is very clear to me), but I won't be surprised if Hyperion is able to sell the rights to AmigaOS4.x and that it can continue to be developed without any interference from Amiga Inc.

I will be disappointed if someone does not buy and continue to develop AmigaOS4.x.  My hopes are that if this story is true, that Hyperion is successful in selling the rights to continue to develop AmigaOS4.x to someone who will do a better job at completing AmigaOS4.2 quicker, or that they will Open Source AmigaOS4.x (highly unlikely).

Edit:  This is most likely just a misunderstanding and an over reaction by the community (as usual).

[amigadave]

@gizmo350,

I like those old "Z" cars much better than the looks of the new ones.  1960's, & 70's were great times for modifying & driving (racing on back streets) cars.

[amigadave]

The issue with open sourcing is this.   Hyperion own AmigaOS4 however AmigaOS4 is based on AmigaOS 3 sources.  Hyperion's license was to use modify AmigaOS 3 to create new versions of AmigaOS.   Therefore it can never be open sourced as it's base doesn't belong to Hyperion.

Is there any point at which AmigaOS4.x could separate itself from the AmigaOS3.x 68k sources and be considered it's own IP, or will it forever be tied to the previous source code it is based on?

Not being a programmer, I don't know all the rules regarding IP rights and if/how they can be transferred, but I agree that the messed up history of the Amiga IP makes it difficult, if not impossible to figure out.

In any case, I doubt that Hyperion is really bankrupt (or that the bankruptcy will not be reversed.  When things like development of AmigaOS4.x don't make any profits, the details that keep them going can be overlooked by the people in charge, because the people responsible are busy with other things that pay the bills and make them real money, like when Amiga Inc. forgot to renew their website and let it expire for a time. So maybe Ben Hermans slipped up on something, and this bankruptcy judgement happened accidentally?)  I don't think that development will cease for AmigaOS4.x, just look at how many obstacles have been overcome through the years to get us to where we are today (it can't stop until I get my free copy of AmigaOS4.2 for my X1000).  :lol:

[amigadave]

why would you guys hijack one of the most important threads in a while with talk about your  modded ricers? lolol

This thread will surely turn out to be nothing but speculation and over reaction to an oversight, plus many assumptions.

Never the less, I have moved my portion of any further car talk to PM prior to your above request.

[amigadave]

In what universe is being declared bankrupt by a court an oversight? In Hermans?

Do you know what events led up to the judgement?  Do you know that Hyperion was aware of the proceedings, so they could defend their position?  In many places, when one party or the other does not show up in court, a judgement against them is automatic.

I don't have the facts, but have read some unconfirmed reports that court notices may have been delayed from reaching the people who could have stopped this from happening.  I reluctantly share this info, as I don't like to spread unconfirmed information (rumors), until I know the facts.  I encourage everyone to calm down until we know more FACTS!

[amigadave]

yes, but for exactly this reason they would have to issue a note on this, knowing it will now at least take time to handle it, if at all. it would have been discovered sooner or later.

I hope that Ben Hermans learns from this mistake and pays his creditors on time from now on, but I doubt it.

I think that many/most attorneys think that they can get away without paying their bills on time (and maybe sometimes not pay some of them at all), because they know they have the ability to defend themselves in court without having to pay another attorney to show up in court for them.  All it costs them is their own time, which is no loss if they don't have a client to bill for that same amount of time that they spend in court defending themselves.

As you wrote, Ben Hermans should have made some kind of statement to explain what happened BEFORE the Amiga community found out and began this thread, but then he has never been accused of being the smartest man on the planet, or making the wisest business decisions, specially when it concerns public relations with this community.

Edit:  What others wrote about the frequency of this type of thing happening with small companies is also very true, not that it justifies this type of behavior.  I am sure it happens more often with companies that repeatedly run with a yearly loss, instead of a yearly profit, and I am pretty sure Hyperion's AmigaOS business loses money every year, though we may never see sales numbers and actual business expenses to prove this one way or the other.