Workbench 5.0??

[dentunes]

AROS obviously won't work for them from a licence point of view so a version of Linux, named Commodore OS, is not necessarily a bad idea, I think.

Apple did it and did it well. Personally, there may be merit to having a version of linux named after a popular computer. When you think about it, if Apple said they were just running linux (I know it isn't but follow me for a sec) would it have had the same impact? I would say probably not. If they market it as Commodore OS and not push the fact it is linux and focus on the name, it just may work.

As the CTO said in the forum, the hard core Amiga crowd isn't their market, I can see why. They are bringing an old name back to link with Linux. Nothing more nothing less.

[dentunes]

What's wrong with the AROS Public License?  It's just an MIT license with a GPL-style copyback clause.  Besides, Linux is full GPL which is even worse.

From http://www.commodore-amiga.org/en/forum/6-workbench-5-software-development-/5-workbench-5-question-thread?limit=15&start=30 , the CTO states

However, since our initial announcement of the intention to champion AROS, as well as pre-install it on all of our machines, we received a threat of legal action from another vendor, who shall remain nameless, if we proceeded with our plans, due to agreements that had been made with our Amiga licensor. Whether our utilisation of AROS is actually subject to these contractual agreements is a contentious issue, but we would rather not run the risk of a lawsuit down the track.

(It is more about the licence of the Amiga name rather than the AROS licence.)

[dentunes]

Not to nitpick, but rabbits are not rodents. Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha.
But I gotta admit the fangs are kinda creepy.  

Say, since CUSA is actually building something (or will be) you guys sound kinda pissy.

I'm not pissy. Will be interesting to see. Just like webkit has moved into being the best option for browsers, so to *nix will also be the best option for operating systems. Windows days are numbered.

As it stands now, Apple is the only company to use a *nix operating system specifically designed for their computers. There are Linux distros though they are meant for a wide variety. CUSA seem to want to focus on it running smoothly on their hardware. If it comes in cheaper than the Apple stuff then they just might be onto something there.