Each of the camps had their own personalities and the situation was like children blaming the other starting the fight. So painting Ben Hermans as the satan and not looking at the other side is doing history injustice.
http://www.biclodon.com/misc/amigafarm/benhermans/Oh no, he's the devil incarnate. How dare he fund the best coders our community had to write a modern OS for us
You would be surprised how few key developers actually received any funds and for how long. While specific components did advance faster thanks to funding, others were severely delayed due to the fallout surrounding unfulfilled commitments.
Looking strictly at the software side of things, it is difficult to definitely say whether or not the involvement had a positive or negative net effect. In the end, even people with intimate knowledge of the situation can only speculate about this matter.
Bill Buck did. For less money too.
Unlike the makers of the original Pegasos mainboards, Acube and A-Eon are still developing and marketing PowerPC-based hardware today. So, in this regard, one might argue that they have the better, more sustainable pricing models.
