| [News] Petition: AmigaOS distribution policies and PPC hardware | ANN.lu |
| Posted on 25-May-2002 20:50 GMT by Seehund | 187 comments
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There's a petition aimed at Amiga Inc. set up at http://www.petitiononline.com/amigaos/ for all those who disagree with Amiga Inc's presented plans regarding compulsory OS/hardware bundling and licensing.
An excerpt from the petition:
On April 12th, 2002, you, Amiga Inc., published your plans regarding distribution policies for the forthcoming AmigaOS4 in an "Executive Update" on your web site.
In short, what you say and what we the undersigned object against is this:
* Any hardware capable of running AmigaOS must first be modified with "AmigaOS specific extensions" to its "boot ROM" in order to be allowed to run AmigaOS.
* Such hardware and its distributors must be approved and licensed by Amiga Inc. and the hardware distributors must also sell and support AmigaOS4.
* AmigaOS will only be available bundled with such hardware.
We think that the above will seriously hurt AmigaOS users, the POP/PPC hardware market and thus ultimately you, Amiga Inc., yourselves.
To read the entire petition and sign it, please click here.
Before those imagining sides, factions, camps and personal enemies everywhere start commenting, it must be emphasised that this poll is not intended to "promote" anything else than the success of AmigaOS, the POP/PPC hardware market, free choice and ethical business practices.
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| Petition: AmigaOS distribution policies and PPC hardware : Comment 134 of 187 | ANN.lu |
| Posted by Seehund on 27-May-2002 13:05 GMT | In reply to Comment 127 (Graham):
Graham;
>> Now we know that there's no chance that AI will ever design, make or sell
>> any hardware, so I think they should adjust their thinking to that of a
>> software company and try to get their product used on as much hardware as
>> possible.
> But they are allowing this.
Oh really, you don't say? How very generous of them. Imagine that, hardware companies are still allowed to make hardware. :-P
Umm. Oops. Were you referring to AI "allowing" their own product to have maximum possible sales? In that case they should do what any other little upstart software company has to do - make sure themselves that their product runs on as much hardware as possible and sell their product to whomever wishes to buy it. NOTHING can be required from other companies, i.e. hardware manufacturers or distributors. Making an OS run on a piece of hardware is NOBODY elses responsibility but the ones who make the OS.
> It is just a simple requirement that the person selling the hardware gets
> certified (i.e., the hardware is guaranteed to run AmigaOS4, the seller will
> provide hardware support for its use with AmigaOS4, etc) and they can also
> use the AmigaOne name.
That's not a "simple" requirement for any software company, especially not a young and small one like AI, to make on any other company if they want their software product to be successful. It doesn't matter if it's a "simple" requirement or not - it's a requirement, and a small software company that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with hardware CAN NOT make any requirements. BTW and OTOH, if a Big (dominating) software company made similar demands they could possibly be successful (in the short run if there were any software competitors at all), but it would most likely become a case for antitrust courts.
That's the business and profit aspect - for us mere users it means totally unnecessary obstacles against getting as many hardware options as possible for our preferred OS.
> An AmigaOne is shipped with AmigaOS4 - no problem there, that is logical.
Yes, because an "AmigaOne" would be a mobo with the licensed right to use that trademark, and a licensed distributor. The Big Bad Petition isn't arguing against licensing in general. The link is right up there at the top. It's arguing against COMPULSORY licensing combined with the other restrictions placed on users, hardware and its distributors.
Believe it or not, there are people who don't give a flying fsck about labels, licenses and trademarks when it comes to their hardware. They want to buy AmigaOS4. The hardware is nobody's business but the user's. If they want to buy a licensed bundle from a licensed distributor, so be it. That shouldn't stop people from also being allowed to buy the AmigaOS separately (maybe only from a licensed dealer , that's up to Amiga Inc, that's *their* product) and buy whatever hardware from whomever they very well fancy.
> There is no discrimination against hardware companies - it is fair.
If a POP motherboard is ever to run AmigaOS it must be licensed, have a licensed distributor, have the so-called anti-piracy measures applied and the distributor must also be/become a reseller of this third-party OS. Other distributors who keep selling the exact same mobo just like they've always done don't have to bother with this lunacy, but they're not allowed to reach the entire POP market. At the same time, the licensed distributor can't expect to sell the exact same mobo to anyone else than AmigaOS users - no customer in their right mind who have no intention to run AmigaOS would buy the more expensive mobo together with an OS he's not interested in. Voilá, an artificial and 100% unnecessary split in the POP market.
This could maybe fit some strange definition of "fair", but it sure as heck is not wise or even remotely sane.
> If people want to use the Pegasos with AmigaOS4, you should be petitioning
> *bPlan* to get the board certified with AmigaInc, and to guarantee hardware
> support with AmigaOS4, and guarantee *quality* service.
Why, oh why, does everyone insist on only staring at these two differently labelled POP motherboards all the gddmn time? OK, fine, let's say bplan get *their* board certified and they (or someone else) sell it with Amiga Inc.'s OS. So what? Woop-dee-doo. "One down, keep petitioning everyone else and every possible future option."
The obstacle needs to be removed at its roots!
Quality service? So the whole unlicensed third-party hardware market has been a hellhole of fly by night cowboys (as I believe someone expressed it) until the benevolent Amiga Inc. came along and completely altruistically brought order to the chaos with as simple a remedy as a fscking licensing and bundling scheme? Please. Don't believe everything you read in marketing material, regardless of from whom it comes.
Like I said, the petition isn't against licensing in general. If someone wants to offer AmigaOS bundled with hardware, use the Amiga trademark and provide official AmigaOS support, they should of course get a license.
Other customers who don't care as much about labels, official software support from their hardware vendor and are happy with their legally constituted and whatever other guarantees that their hardware is normally protected by should still have the option to buy AmigaOS-compatible hardware elsewhere.
That's healthy competition with companies providing options and different benefits for their customers.
Regarding compatibility - that's AI's (and Hyperion's) responsibility. Even if the Stupid(TM) obstacles were out of the way, noone can expect and depend on hardware designers to submit their hardware to a software company and nicely ask for compatibility, not unless the software company is Microsoft. Without compulsory licensing it would also be AI's responsibility to announce which hardware that's compatible, just like other software companies who don't make their own hardware. If a microcephalic excuse for a human being would run off and buy something that's not on the HCL (Hardware Compatibility List) he'd have it coming, and such a subhuman creature would obviously not have been able to put together the letters "AMIGA" either if he saw a licensed machine.
The "user protection" argument is... strange.
Does anyone have the exact number of decades that an independent hardware industry has been around, before we suddenly were deemed too stupid to pick our own hardware? |
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