This will be posted on Amiga.org, Amigaworld.net and AROS-Exec.org, so I can reach out to the entire community. My apologies for being so long winded, but I've grown tired. I've grown tired of the mind games. I'm tired of the 'he said - she said'. I'm just so *SICK* of holding on to something that people just seem to WAIT to sh!t on in some way or another, if only to spite me, 'cos I don't agree with them. This war has dragged on long enough. It's the time for peace; for unity.
The time has come for an Armistice.....[/i]
Why must we tear ourselves apart? Why must we segregate ourselves to either the Reds, the Blues or the Greys? Why is it always a feud? That's the problem with human beings....for all we do and say to prove that we are this 'superior' race, we all boil down to the same, age old ideal and our own inherent destruction: it's either us or them.
We were all given a choice. Either MorphOS or AmigaOS. You take it, or you leave it. There's no middle ground. Sure, you can like and use both, but you're still either a Red or a Blue. No one side will let you compromise. You either support them, or you don't. Even with AROS. Those that have felt betrayed or grown tiresome of the dramatic theatrics of Amiga Inc and Genesi, opting to make the migration to AROS, are condemned, if not crucified by their former 'bretheren'. Every day, more and more Amiga's end up on places like Ebay, meaning a smaller and smaller user base, but as long as there's a fight, as long as we live what I refer to as the 'Red-Blue War', none of you have the inclination to care or even the vision to take notice of your camp's own demise.
Each side works on it's own version. Each side has features the others lack, but they're all the same. It's the same principle. The same beginnings. The same road map. The same OPERATING SYSTEM[/i]. Yet, each side chooses its own path and says 'Hey, you either like it and support us, or you don't.' Everyone is out to make money, but not ONE of these 'Companies' (and I'm using the term lightly. Two sides have, in many instances, acted like spoiled children.) ever once thought to 'share the wealth'. We're never going to find out what REALLY happened between the 'original' AI and BPlan, but it's a safe assurance that it had something to do with money.
No, like a pack of vultures, they prey upon a rotting carcass, picking at it, until it can no longer move. Progress has been slow and has taken more time than anticipated for ALL sides, but not one of them have really made any significant breakthroughs and certainly nothing to garner a full-blown exodus from any of the three camps. Each side has become a cancer, eating away at the one thing that EACH and every one of us has felt from the very beginning: the love for Amiga. Our memories fade, the hardware fails and our beloved friends grow weary, moving on from the community. Still, some of you continue fight. Some of you must STILL run back to that same, childish acceptance of 'it's either us or them. You just won't let it go. You just won't quit. You keep picking and picking and picking, until there is nothing left and only your camp remains.
Well, what's REALLY going to happen should the Reds or the Blues fall? Do you think the dying side will jump ship to the victor? Do you really think that after all these years, after all the deceit, after all the trolling and after all bullsh!t that EITHER side would go grovelling to the other? The hate runs deep and it boils, but for what? Three camps doing EXACTLY the same thing the others are doing, by 're-inventing' the wheel. Each one has something the other lacks, but each one has something that the other just can't do without. Every one of you has picked at the other for its deficiencies, only to be ridiculed for an equally deserving flaw of your own. All of this, but you STILL continue to fight? I just don't get it? What do you have to gain from it? 3, completely similiar operating systems, each doing exactly the same thing, only one for the Reds, one for the Blues and one for the Greys.
10 years ago, we were all allies. After the demise of Commodore, we all sided with Escom, Viscorp, Gateway and every other company that came along. Each one had it's own dream, it's own vision. Each one believed that it was the future of Amiga, but did NOTHING[/u] to try and unite a splintering fellowship. Still, the community believed in that same dream. A dream that is now twisted and corrupted by greed; a fragment of the beauty it once was.There is next to nothing left of the 'Amiga' community but *ALL* sides fight for that sliver of all that is left, instead of trying to unite, rebuilding something grander than before. No, because we are human, because we are simply nothing more than beasts, our camps would rather fight to the death, than combine. We would rather starve ourselves like wild dogs, destroying that which we love, than just aligning our efforts for a single common goal:the survival of the Amiga OS. Reds, Blues, Greys, get over it. Without the other, you have no hope. This community cannot survive, if it continues to feed upon itself. For all the 1200's, the CyberstormPPCs, the A500s, the A3000s, the Peg's, the A1's, there is nothing left deserving of both Jay Miner's memory or even the name Amiga. You've all become a joke. For all of the effort Hyperion and Eyetech put in, the MorphOS team put in and the AROS team has put in, there will ALWAYS be one of you who will start something. There will be at least one who will have something negative to say. There will always be one f*cking person who will have to bring up that 'mine's better than yours'. You've lost what the Amiga meant to you. You've lost the passion you once had for it. You've forgotten what Amiga even means.
It is a dark time not only for all sides, but for the Amiga itself. Instead of fighting, we need to start working together. Development teams for *ALL*[/u] camps need to start collaborating in some way. Each of the camps needs to merge together, instead of working against the other. Whether you are a 'Red', a 'Blue' or a 'Grey', the fact remains that every one of us, the community as a whole, is an Amigan[/i]. That is what is most important. WE, as Amigans, do not HAVE to follow a set guideline or plan. If we did, the community would have died in 1995 with the demise of Commodore. Escom believed in the Amiga, because Amigans believed in the Amiga. They gave you that last, final chance at life and just like Linux, we survived.
Has anyone ever thought what could happen if the Frieden's received a package from an Amigan that consisted of a Pegasos and a simple note, 'The thoughts are slim, but should you decide to do a port.' What if the Frieden's could offer OS4.0's API to MorphOS? What if Ambient became a permanent part of OS4.0 and AROS? Sure, it's never going to happen, but maybe, just maybe, if we, the Amiga community, put forth the effort, it could. Maybe we could work as a collective, instead of apart. Instead of Open Office for OS4, we could have Open Office for OS4, MorphOS and AROS. AHI is on each. Why can't everything else? We may not have the rights, the people, the money or the manpower to do everything that we want, but as AROS has shown, ingenuity within Amigans on ALL sides is what has carried the Amiga this far, not some company with a trademarked name. Who is ANY of these companies without the community? Nothing and until you realize that without us, none of them would even be here, we will never be able to be the great and strong community we once were. Instead, we've become a laughing stock, shredding each other to bits, until those that remain have either fled or are too beat up to put up a fight.
It's time for a change. We need to work together. We need to rebuild. We have to become more than we ever were. Don't just support one of the three incarnations, contribute to them all. If you know someone who develops for one, aid them to develop on another. If something is laking in one, emulate it by using another.The more that is out there, the more we can rebuild. The more we can make ourselves known, the better chance we have to grow as a user base. We need to remind the world that we are still here.
It has been 10 years since Commodore's demise, yet we are still here. It is the Amigans that keep the dream alive.
Megatron:
"Why must you butcher my language, Tianthalas? It may be in your blood, but you do not have the tongue for the elvish language. I find it insulting, Halfbreed. If you must say something to me - to ANYONE - at least have the decency to use a language you fully understand."
Tianthalas:
"Ni men dou jiang yao si qu...."
