December has been an interesting month. I've become heavily hooked on Fleecy Moss' KOSH project, bought "Shadow of the Third Moon" (though I've yet to get the game to do anything except crash), decided I really want a job working on anything to do with the Amiga (my contract runs out December 1999 if anyone wants me - check out my CV). Plus I'm planning an extensive network based around anything I can hobble together from my collection of machines.
Last month I was going on, in my usual vague and rambling way, about how we should all stick together and support Amiga Inc. Wait for OS 3.5 and the November Box, then decide if they are really set to blow open the boundaries of computing, or fizzle out with a faint whiff of burnt MMCs. At the end of my article I mentioned a couple of alternatives should things go disastrously wrong: AROS and KOSH.
When I first looked at the post-Commodore Amiga community, there seemed two paths towards the next generation. One path was hastily building a future of custom hardware, the other was porting AmigaOS to current technology. Neither was a bad thing to do - they seemed like the only options available. Whatever the situation, the two routes were attempting an upgrade path between old and new, keeping the line going until the enlightened, and distant, future brought a saviour. The emphasis had been on the machine, the hardware, the software - the platform known as Amiga, in all its different forms. That's fair enough, but there is something else which goes by the name Amiga...
The Community.
One of the things which made the Amiga what it is couldn't be coded in assembler or C, it couldn't be evolved from custom chips or copies of Lightwave - it couldn't be created by the machine because it came from the people who used the Amiga. While it's true to say that community spirit exists on other platforms, most notably the so-called 'alternative platforms' (like Linux, Mac, OS/2, Acorn or BeOS), the Amiga has by far and away the most mature, devout and well-rounded community. Even when Amigans have done the unthinkable and moved to the PC (be it running Windoze, BeOS, Linux or whatever), the Macintosh or some other system, that sense of community and creativity lives on. Witness the crowd at Be who have publicly quoted the Amiga as an inspiration to BeOS - they're Amigans in spirit, and so are many others out there too...
In fact, it seems you don't have to be an owner of the Amiga to possess the Amiga spirit. Though you can only be a true Amigan if you've owned an Amiga, to possess that spirit isn't unique to Amiga users, though it sure seems to have a very high concentration amongst us.
So what am I getting to here? Why did I mention AROS? What's this KOSH thing then? Well, because the Amiga isn't just about the hardware, but also about the community, it had to happen sooner or later that someone would decide one possible future of the Amiga should lie solely with the community - don't port the OS to another platform, port the community! Let all those unfortunates who never experienced the guru, clicking floppy drives or Commodore cost-cutting, but who possessed the Amiga spirit have a second chance. Not only that, but get the community to build the computer they really want. Make it free from mis-management, cost cutting, poor marketing and all the other things that allowed the Amiga to slip into the realm of the marginal. Incorporate the talent of the community, the enthusiasm, the creativity into something new and exciting.
There are systems out there which do this already. Linux and other open source operating systems are built upon communities, though they are currently not the ones the average user chooses - Linux prides itself on a community of technically proficient users, the average person is unlikely to choose Linux just yet if they're new to computers. Be hold back the OS development to a key core (themselves), but spur on an almost Amiga-like community amongst developers, with pretty good results - but they're still not fully there with the community. Again, the Macintosh has a community which can be just as devout as any Amigan when it gets going, but that community seems almost isolated from Apple. Apple are too mainstream, in my opinion, to spur on the community in the same way the Amiga did, and still does.
So here comes KOSH. Kommunity Operating System and Hardware. The OS promises to be something special, fully object-oriented and built free from the residue and kludges which every OS build up over time. But the interesting idea is that the hardware itself could become part of the community development too. Think big, think revolution rather than evolution. Amiga Inc. came close to this concept - don't just think of things which compete with what's available at the moment, don't even think a few months ahead, go all out and build something which leapfrogs over the opposition. To pinch two phrases from the excellent Babylon 5: Who are you? What do you want?
So, will KOSH try to wipe the floor with AmigaOS? Nope, not at all - if it was, I wouldn't be supporting it. Looking at the current state of the Amiga market, it's perfectly possible for there to be a suitable blend of these universes - parallel universes co-existing for mutual benefit. KOSH provides far thinking, multiple platform technology built by the community, for the community. The Amiga NG takes the Amiga into new territory, seizing the digital convergence market and providing a serious path for the future of the Amiga.
The Amiga 'Classic' doesn't have to die as a result. We have PowerPC and Coldfire in the pipeline, we have OS 3.5 and perhaps future evolutions too (3.6? 3.7? 4.0?). I for one will happily be running both this A4000/030 (potentially uprated with the multi-Coldfire system) and the forthcoming Boxer 060 (upgraded to G3, perhaps) well into the future, alongside platforms for AmigaOS 5 and KOSH (hopefully the same Met@Box transAM quad-G3 and/or MMC). The important thing is that we all stick together - take a look at KOSH, take a look at AmigaOS, take a look at what you have already and what you'd like to have. Don't for one minute see gloom, because if you do you will lose the spirit of the Amiga.
One thing I would encourage you to do if you buy any piece of hardware or software for your Amiga is to ensure you complete your registration card, and make sure the company knows it's for an Amiga. When I bought my Zip drive, I returned the card with Amiga added to the list of machines and underlined heavily. Ditto for DOOM II - I listed my Amiga set up right underneath the PC options. When Fortean Times asked me if I owned a PC, I ticked Yes and mentioned it was an Amiga. Whenever I fill out forms at work, I always add Amiga instead of the machine I really use at work (a Windows PC).
Make sure manufacturers of generic equipment (scanners, printers, disk drives, modems, whatever) all know that you've bought your hardware for an Amiga. Even if you share it with a PC, put down Amiga because it's important manufacturers know that the Amiga is around and in use. I get a lot of junk mail advertising PC software (not even Macintosh), and I'd love to reply to each one with the reply "I saw your advertisement and was impressed by your software. However, I was disappointed to find there wasn't a version of the program for Amiga compatible machines. I will be the first to buy it when you create an Amiga version". Though the cost would be prohibitive, it would be great to get everyone to send mail to a company with these kinds of comments. (Check for e-mail addresses, and use them instead, perhaps?).
Filling out these kinds of things is such a simple thing to do, and if enough flood in to companies it's perfectly possible for them to sit up and say "hmm... hold on one second... Amiga?". Couple that with the forthcoming new Amiga and marketing attack, and it provides a useful warm-up.
Drop the Amiga into anything you do, just as an aside - it doesn't have to be obvious. For example, I revised the user questionnaire on a site I maintain at work. One option is for the user's browser, so the possible selections are: Netscape, Explorer, Opera, Cyberdog and IBrowse. (Previously the selection was Mosaic, Netscape, Lynx, Prodigy or AOL... which shows when it was last updated). I'll shortly be adding information on the site for downloading free viewers/players for such things as PDF and MP3 - amongst the options for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX, I'll be adding the Amiga. If just one visitor notices this and the name Amiga sticks it will have been worth it - plus it provides extra support for Amiga visitors, and may even get an ex-Amigan thinking "Whoah, the Amiga is still going, and it supports PDF/MP3!". It's worth a try, so why not have a go in your everyday work?
Here's to a successful 1999!