From:       "Steve Crietzman" president@savetheamiga.org.uk
Subject:    Open Letter to the Amiga Community
Date:       Wed, 17 Nov 1999 13:01:03 -0000

An Open Letter to the Amiga Community:

 COSA Progress Update

 November 17, 1999

 Dear Fellow Amigans:

 COSA feels it is time that we followed up on our open letters to Tom
Schmidt with a letter to the people that really matter: you, the
members of the Amiga community.

 We have so much news to report, and so much progress has been
made in recent weeks, that we felt it was time that we the community
on to date on our progress.

I want to start by thanking everyone who has written us with good
comments and suggestions over the past several weeks.  I also
want to assure you all that we have read each and every e-mail
message sent to us very carefully, and considered the issues you
have raised in great detail.

It is clear to us that there is still a great deal of confusion amongst the
community as to what COSA is doing, and what we are trying to achieve.
The responsibility for this lies with me, for not properly communicating
our plans to the Amiga community.  I would like to make amends for that
now, by taking a leaf out of Jim Collas's book, and providing you with
regular updates on our progress from this point forwards.

I would like to start by tackling the main issues of confusion: explaining
who COSA is, where we came from, and why we're here.

COSA, the Campaign to Open Source AmigaOS, had it's beginnings
soon after the Amiga executive updates of September 14th and
17th.  We were formed to bring together the Amiga community, and
to discuss ways forward for the Amiga.

On October 4th, after several weeks of discussion and exchanging of
ideas, we came to the conclusion that what makes the Amiga special
and unique, is the operating system.  The technology may be falling
behind, but our operating system still has something special and unique
to offer the world, and that's what has really kept us with the platform
through the last several years.

With this in mind, our discussions then focused on ways to preserve and
expand the Amiga operating system.  We discussed many
possibilities.  But we realised we also needed to think long-term.  Not
just about the immediate future of the operating system, but it's long-
term survival and growth, in a highly competitive, ever-changing
computing industry.

We concluded that to survive in this market, Amiga OS needs to be
overhauled and upgraded.  It needs to be brought up-to-date to take
advantage of new hardware and concepts in software engineering that
have emerged over the past six years.

Amiga OS also needs to be made available to the masses.  As much
as we wish it wasn't true, the traditional Amiga market is shrinking.  The
classic Amiga range is no longer competitive or attractive to the masses,
and therefore people will not be rushing to their local computer stores to
buy new Amigas.

For it's long-term survival and growth, Amiga OS also needs to be made
available to a wide variety of CPUs, or what Jim Collas referred to as
"operating environments."

Devoid of Gateway's official support for an aggressive expansion of the
Amiga OS in this way, we need to search for another large group of
people with the necessary commitment and ability to "make it happen."

We need to look no further than the high degree of talent that already
exists in the Amiga developer community.  We have AROS.  We have the
Aminet freeware developers.  We have commercial developers.  And
we have over 100 registered developers who have already pledged
to work on an open-source Amiga OS if it becomes available.

Collectively, the worldwide Amiga development community has the
manpower and experience necessary to bring the Amiga operating
system into the 21st century, and keep the Amiga vision alive.

The Amiga community needs to unite like never before.  We can no
longer rely on anyone but ourselves, because there is no-one else
left.

No Commodore.  No Escom.  No Gateway.

Just the Amiga community of users, developers and dealers - no
parent company to guide us.

With no parents, it becomes time we became responsible for
ourselves - that we collectively pull our resources together, and
convince Gateway to let the community have a go where others
have failed.

COSA has been in contact with many key players in the Amiga
community to discuss the way forward.  These include Amiga
International, Amino, Haage and Partner, AROS, Project IMP,
PowerOS, and even Tom Schmidt at Amiga Inc.  We are
partners in this process.

Collectively, we are working together to create a roadmap for the
future development of the Amiga operating system.

It is important people realise that we are not creating a new
Amiga OS.  We are not replacing it, either.  Our proposal is for the
community to collectively drive future upgrades of the current Amiga
operating system.  To take what we already have, and build upon
it.

By "community," we do not exclude anyone.  Anyone with an Amiga
or who understands the Amiga is included.  Haage and Partner,
the current developers of OS 3.5, are most certainly not excluded
from taking part in this process.

Our vision includes Haage and Partner at the forefront of Amiga
OS development, supported by a worldwide team of open-source
developers.  We are hopeful of reaching an agreement/compromise
with H&P over a role for their company and developers in the future
development of an open-source AmigaOS.

Together, we hope to present a united plan to Amiga Inc to bring the
Amiga operating system closer to the community.  It is way past time
that the community takes charge of it's own destiny, and we believe
open-sourcing the OS is the easiest and most common-sense, long-
term way to do this.

In the coming weeks, a Frequently Asked Questions section will
be created on COSA's website to address the most common
questions, concerns, ideas, and thoughts presented to us.  We
will also be publishing a green paper that details a possible
migration from the current closed-source system to an inclusive
open-source system, whereby everyone - Haage and Partner,
AROS, PowerOS, Aminet developers, everyone - is able to
contribute and work on the Amiga OS project - building on
what we already have, and improving it.

The weeks and months ahead hold much promise.  All we ask
from you, the community, is to give us time, and a little breathing
room.

We do not yet have all the answers, but as time passes, more and
more questions are being asked, more answers to these questions
found, and the mist that obscures the path ahead is clearing.

We realise the community has been let down many times in the past,
and we do not expect to earn your trust or faith overnight. All we ask
is that you give us a chance, and that you give us time.  We hope,
however, that over the long-term, COSA will be able to earn your
trust and restore your faith in the Amiga platform and it's future.

Because at the end of the day, it is the Amiga community that we
serve.  COSA is here to help bring the community together, into
discussion and dialogue, and help us collectively find a way out of
the fog that currently obscures the future of everyone's favourite OS.

>From recent events, it would seem that AROS, Project IMP,
PowerOS, Haage and Partner, Amiga International and COSA
are all in total agreement that discussion and co-operation, and
not competition, is the way forward for our community.

COSA has succeeded in bringing these groups to talk to each
other.  Now COSA hopes to play a role in finding an open-source
solution that will satisfy these groups and bring a bright future to
the Amiga operating system, and we intend to do just that.

If we stand together as a community, we can collectively ensure
the success of our favourite operating system, AmigaOS.  If we are
divided, we will all collectively fail.

We ask that the community gives the process that COSA has fostered
a chance to develop and grow, and allow these groups to co-operate with
each other and find a common settlement that will be of benefit to
Amigans everywhere.

Your own contributions to this process would be much appreciated.
Visit our website for details on how you can help this process succeed.

COSA is here to help Amigans everywhere by giving Amiga OS a bright
future.

Best regards,

Steve Crietzman
President, Campaign to Open Source AmigaOS
On behalf of our members and partners
http://www.savetheamiga.org.uk/