Deep philosophical question: What makes an Amiga an Amiga?

[fishy_fiz]

Two different questions in one there from my perspective.

An "Amiga" (capital A) is computer containing a 68k cpu and one of ocs/ecs/aga.

That one is pretty clear cut, but "amiga" (lower case a) can be any one of a plethora of things, although it basically comes down to the way the system works. OS4, MOS, AROS, and Amithlon are all equally "amiga" to me, as is the minimig. UAE to a lesser degree, but it depends on how a person uses it. Some UAE users I consider to be amigans, others not so much.

Anything post commodore falls under the monikor of "amiga". Very much a parallel to *nix these days. It's simply a word to suggest a certain paradiagm of computing.

[fishy_fiz]

I already answered, but after starring at my a1200 I also have an alternative perspective which goes a little something like:

plastic, metal, silicon, duct tape  

[fishy_fiz]

While I get what youre saying, there's two issues with your rseponse there Amigadave. Firstly, the recurring questions arent instigated by the same person over and over. Not everyone checks forums daily, ergo its not the same people involved in such threads all the time.
The second issue is the simple fact that no-one is obligated to do anything with thier amiga hobby apart from those accepting money and/or selling products. If a persons whole interest in the amiga is just to talk about it then good luck to them and who's business is it to to tell them otherwise?

[fishy_fiz]

Simply put. It's a computer that runs AmigaOS natively.

Without the Amiga operating system there would be no Amiga computer :-)

That'd also make a machine designed for a different OS an Amiga