AmiDelf wrote:
What is the reason things is like they are? Amiga users deserves more than this?
Don't you agree with that?
Agreed
AmiDelf wrote:
Why can't all Amiga developers go tougether and create a webpage on-line wich contains Amiga-MOS developer stuff. Why? Because MorphOS is as much as a AmigaOS as AmigaOS4 is.
Ultimately it won't happen, it can't happen. No matter how similar they are now that similarity won't last. This is why I think this...
The present:
AmigaOS 4 is based on access to the genuine AmigaOS 3.x code. Even if non of that code has made it into AmigaOS 4 the resulting OS will be the result of developers who have been able to see the code of the original and therefore have seen stuff that those attempting to clone it won't have. Because of this, they are more likely to be able to ensure compatibility with earlier software - especially when it comes to quirky software that exploits little known quirks within the OS. Other teams have practically no chance of cloning this area of AmigaOS's behavior without knowing what those quirky applications are, and, even if they did, they would more than likely also need to have access to the quirky applications source code too in order to accurately mimic the behaviour required.
Now we have MorphOS. This is presently an Amiga compatible OS that implements a similar API to earlier versions of AmigaOS in the A-Box portion of the code based predominently on a combination of experience, experimentation, darn hard work and, ultimately, guesswork. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact it's admirable that they have managed to get as far as they have under the circumstances. However, they can never know absolutely everything about the OS they're cloning because they don't have access to that code, so they are very unlikely to ever be able to mimic it as accurately as a team who had direct access to the original source code.
But this is largely irrelevant. Once they are both on the market the initial resulting systems will be largely compatible with existing code. But something else awaits...
... The future:
Considering recent events AmigaOS's future is pretty much unknown at present. Assuming there is a future, best guesses would be they'll expand upon what they've already done with AmigaOS 4 so that the next versions API is as similar as it possibly can be. However, if they plan to address some of the fundamental problems, which I hope they will do, ultimately it will inevitably be sufficiently different.
As for MorphOS... the A-Box is not MorphOS's future. The Q-Box is MorphOS's future and this is the portion that the vast majority of users have absolutely no information about upon which to base any long-term decisions. Best guesses are it will take the best parts of what they have learnt from building the A-Box, mix this up with a lot of new ideas that will make their attempts to build an Amiga-like OS with all the things the team with access to the official AmigaOS code will have difficulty implementing without breaking large parts of it a lot easier and we'll have yet another sufficiently different API.
As time goes by the two teams offerings will inevitably separate still further based in part upon their own ideas for the future of their offerings, in part upon design decisions taken early on that will come back to haunt them and in part upon what they perceive their portion of the market wants.
As this continues eventually any attempt to create any kind of union between the two communities will become largely futile because there is so little in common between the two offerings.
The Fallout:
Faced with growing public confusion at this point the websites will innevitably find themselves faced with a difficult decision that will ultimately result in the survivors amongst them admitting there is a very big difference between them. Each website will then make a choice between the only options left: a) support AmigaOS, b) support MorphOS, c) support both but via separate web presences, or d) shrink into oblivion amid mass confusion.
My prediction is AmigaOS supporters will be left with sites containing the name Amiga while those sites supporting MorphOS, finally proud of MorphOS's achievements in it's own right, will choose to change their names amid confusion from new (rather than existing) MorphOS users who fail to see the connection.
And the split is complete.
May they both live long and prosper and may the current users learn to live with each other in respect.
