Good day, all.
I have been thinking (and I shall get some paracetemol onto that shortly) recently of those terrible happenings that tend to be 'holding back' the rebirth of the 'official' Amiga OS.
If you don't already know my opinion, then I will clear up that I have been pining for a new Amiga OS system to develop on. To develop on because I like it, even if no product sees the light of day. It's fun.
So, what is causing this drought, and can it be solved?
Firstly, the 'multi user OS' debate. We are coming to an age where you carry your computer in your pocket and connect to other multi user services using it. Whether that be a multinational corporation's blog site or your own home media storage unit is a moot point. Your computer that you use every day is a single user system.
From this, we can also see that most of the software for these small computers is currently made inhouse by the hardware developer. They have all the source code specifically targeted at whatever their latest hardware is. With the correct dev. kit, these sub-systems could be integrated into libraries for any OS you could name. In fact, they could be hosted on the hardware, making the libraries mere stubs to call these hardware functions.
Imagine the possibilities of a unified set of header libraries to cover these very general, standard interfaces and I think you'll start to understand the bigger picture.
If such a system, small, solid and easily integrated were to be released, touting small, solid, fast applications and a library of free- and shareware applications bigger than its commercial library, where would the big players stand?
Digital Rights Management is easily adopted, all we are missing is the Java suite. We all know this is possible; we all fear that this cannot happen. We may be right.
People seem to be under the impression that PPC has had its day in the sun, that x86 will forever more be, but what if the Cell architecture really does live up to the hype? My home already has its own Linux gateway machine with a myriad other devices sitting behind it: why will your media-oriented units care about underlying architecture and multi user shenanigans? Most, if not all of them, are PPC-based.
I'm sure my children won't have any intention of waiting to use the family computer, they'll have the only password to their system and there'll probably be laws to stop me from prying in their personal effects.
Truly, we are standing at the brink of a strange period of transition. I can only hope that the hints dropped by those in charge come to fruition and such a small step is made to show where true power can lie: in the palm of one's hand.
Anyway, the white-clad boys with the padded bus have arrived, so I'll be off to have my check-up now. Next time they let me out, I hope there is some better news.
benJamin
"Someone on high is pulling the strings, and I don't think they're necessarily ethereal."
