| [News] AmigaOne Update from Alan Redhouse | ANN.lu |
| Posted on 24-Jul-2002 22:17 GMT by Douglas McLaughlin | 106 comments
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On the AmigaOne mailing list, Alan Redhouse from Eyetech posted the following update:
Many dev board purchasers were clearly motivated by the 10% discount
rather than their ability to contribute to the developer process. The
initial boards were therefore shipped to those who could make a real
contribution to developing drivers etc, and porting Linux/UAE
distributions. Their progress has been astounding IMO with no less
than 5 different linux distributions (SuSE, Debian, Mandrake, Yellow
Dog and TurboLinux) being ported within a couple of weeks. More...
Many dev board purchasers were clearly motivated by the 10% discount
rather than their ability to contribute to the developer process. The
initial boards were therefore shipped to those who could make a real
contribution to developing drivers etc, and porting Linux/UAE
distributions. Their progress has been astounding IMO with no less
than 5 different linux distributions (SuSE, Debian, Mandrake, Yellow
Dog and TurboLinux) being ported within a couple of weeks.
However the Softex open firmware we had originally shipped with the
dev boards (incidently as seen on the Pegasos video) has several
shortcomings (although this has been used to boot the 5 linux
distributions and the OS4 kernel) and we are currently
developing/extending the alternative PPCBoot open firmware for use on
the production AmigaOne boards. This will allow us to build in Amiga-
specific boot etc options, a well as a more comprehensive multi-boot
environment.
We are not shipping the remainder of the dev boards (or any of the
user boards) until this code is complete because of the expense of
shipping update ROMs and chip changing tools. This is anticipated to
be towards the end of August.
This revision to the boot ROM is being undertaken by Hyperion as part
of the work necessary for booting OS4 on the A1.
Meanwhile the Amiga Inc club membership/coupon program results
(coupled with our own market extrapolation processes) means that the
future of the AmigaOne is in no doubt.
Finally several people have asked us why we are not delivering the A1
board to Linux users in advance of the release of OS4. Well there are
two main reasons:
1 - This is a product we are producing for the Amiga market and IMO
it is proper that the Amiga community get their hands on it first.
2 - I still cannot see why there would be a significant market for
Linux on the A1 given that the main focus of Linux is the x86
platform, which - because of sheer sales volumes - will always be an
order of magnitude cheaper than a ppc-based product.
Hope this helps
Alan
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| AmigaOne Update from Alan Redhouse : Comment 94 of 106 | ANN.lu |
| Posted by Donovan Reeve on 27-Jul-2002 18:47 GMT | In reply to Comment 86 (Some Farker):
How about the perfectly good English of a 50 year old American?
I'm sorry you are so down-in-the-mouth and are giving up. But, that's
life. Don't presume to speak for the rest of us. I don't know about the
rest of the world, or even the other cities in the U.S.A., but I do know
that in my small mid-western city there are a number of active and inactive
Amiga lovers who are still patiently hoping for the new Amigas and O.S. to
finally become available. None of the Amigans I know ever get on these
discussions and post except for me, and I keep them all updated. They all
have lives and don't care to read fud. I guess I must either be a brute for
punishement or not have a life because I read this fud at least once a week
useually. ;) My point is, that the loud-mouthed people here don't even
begin to represent the average Amiga community either in taste or in attitude.
I am of the opinion that if my quiet little city containes a few Amigans
who still want new Amigas, then it is likely that others do to. Extrapolating
population numbers would equate to at least tens of thousands, but who can
know for sure? The only wa to find out what the real potential Amiga market
is will be to release actual products. Success would be much more likely if
main-stream retailers would be involved. That was the main reason for the
huge success of the C-64. Another necessary factor is some well designed
advertising taken where it will be noticed. The Amigans in my town would
never know anything was happening if I didn't tell them, because they aren't
interested in wasting time in internet discussions for the most part. So
any announcements would have to hit major media to be noticed by them if I
didn't tell them. For this reason, I would suggest tha all Amigans who ARE
wild enough to brave these places should help spread the word to those Amigans
and ex-Amigans whom they are aware of, as well as any other potentially
interested parties. Not because we owe anything to the companies or people
involved (allthough I feel we will if the new stuff makes it to market),
but because we ourselves want new and better Amigas. That said, I personally
don't mind helping out people and companies I like to get the word out.
My point is, The Amiga comunity is much more than just a few who frequent
internet discussions, and those silent ones are often the ones more likely
to be willing to spend money. Many here want everything for free because
they apparently have no life and no job either.
Well, I gotta get goin' or I won't have a job (or a life) either. #;^)>
Donovan Reeve (bubby@inebraska.com) |
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