amiga-news.de - Ben Hermans Tries to Clarify AmigaONE ROM / OS4 Announcement

14.Apr.2002
Amigart.com (ANF) Ben Hermans Tries to Clarify AmigaONE ROM / OS4 Announcement
"1. The fact that the AmigaOne Falshrom will contain parts of OS 4 is certainly not meant as a way/won't operate to lock out other operating systems such as Linux, BSD etc.

Fact of the matter is that you will be able to compile Linux/BSD for these machines if you insist on it.

2. The real "anti-piracy" measure is the fact that the AmigaOne will ship with an OS 4 OEM version.

It will not be possible to buy boards without OS 4.

You buy the hardware, you're buying the software, just like you did with your old Amiga (or indeed with any pre-build Wintel machine or Mac).

This will ensure that development of OS 4 isn't affected overly by piracy.

Other companies targeting the Amiga market with their hardware should in principle also adopt this scheme to the extent that it is practicable.

In return they will be able to use the Amiga trademarks and tradename and their hardware will be perceived by their target audience as "endorsed" by Amiga.

3. Amiga are insisting that any hardware vendors who want to target the Amiga userbase with their products have their hardware certified and are also "vetted" themselves (support infrastructure, after sales service, financial well-being etc.).

We all know that in the post-Commodore years certain companies were allowed to operate in the market which didn't exactly shine in the area of after sales service (including repair) and tech support.

Many a user has left the market because of incidents with (expensive) hardware being sent away for repair never to be heard of again.

Many a dealer has closed his Amiga business because of the fact that they could not guarantee any form of after sales service to their customers and were in fact exposing themselves to legal action on the part of their customers.

On January 1, 2002 a new EU directive on warranty obligations is supposed to be transposed in national law which imposes even stricter warranty obligations on dealers.

It's clear that it would be very detrimental to the Amiga brand and the perception of Amiga Inc. and its products if former practises would be allowed to continue."

Taken From ANN.lu (sd)

[News message: 14. Apr. 2002, 12:43] [Comments: 0]
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