30.Mar.2004
ANN (Website)
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Download manager: "Wallget" updated
"Wallget" is a download manager based on WGet, versions for MorphOS and AmigaOS 3 are available. Some screenshots are available on the author's homepage.
Most important changes in this version are:
- rewritten program core
- saving URL list to disk
- GUI changes (added progress meter, some graphics changed (only in MorphOS version))
For further changes look at the changelog included with the archive.
(cg) (Translation: cg)
[News message: 30. Mar. 2004, 22:52] [Comments: 0]
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30.Mar.2004
amigaworld.net (Website)
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Event: AmiGBG news
The AmiGBG-Team announces further details regarding the Amiga fair that will take place on the 3rd of April 2004 at Gothenburg, Sweden:
"AmiGBG Showcase
This is our attempt of putting the missing pieces together. Here we will give developers who do not have the opportunity to attend the fair the chance to show off their products.
Currentlly we have GoldED, fxPAINT, Hollywood and Audio Evolution, but the list is growing by the minute!
Seminar Schedule
We have finally got the schedule up, take a look!
AmiGBG Anthem
The electronic band 2XM from Gothenburg, Sweden provide the official song for AmiGBG 2004; "AmiGBG 2004 Anthem" which will be played during the opening ceremony.
AmiGBG Awards
We will hand out one local and one foreign award at AmiGBG 2004. This is our way of saying thanks to those who have done so much for the Amiga community during the last difficult years."
(cg) (Translation: cg)
[News message: 30. Mar. 2004, 01:07] [Comments: 0]
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29.Mar.2004
ANN (Website)
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Web portal: aros-exec.org goes online
A new community portal, aros-exec.org, went online today:
"AROS-Exec is a portal for AROS community members. It's a virtual meeting place for users, developers and people interested in the Amiga Research Operating System. As most other fresh web sites more content will be added as time goes by."
(cg) (Translation: cg)
[News message: 29. Mar. 2004, 22:06] [Comments: 0]
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29.Mar.2004
Oliver Roberts (E-Mail)
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SplitMultiImage 1.0 released
The first version of a new tool called SplitMultiImage is now available.
Starting with AmigaOS 3.5, the picture.datatype documentation defined two
new tags (PDTA_GetNumPictures and PDTA_WhichPicture), which allowed
subclasses to return different images from the same file, where relevant.
For example, TIFF image files often contain more than one image, and
WarpTIFF.datatype is able to decode any of those images on request,
returning any of the images to the application.
Unfortunately, not many applications have made use of this feature (in
fact, at the time of writing, Oliver is not aware of any) and can therefore read
only the first image in a file. After requests from WarpTIFF users wanting
to know of software capable of reading all the pages in multi-page TIFF fax
files, Oliver decided to write SplitMultiImage. Although not as nice as
Multiview having this capability built-in, SplitMultiImage at least allows
all the images to be viewed by extracting all the images from a file and
saving them separately as IFF-ILBM files.
SplitMultiImage is not restricted to TIFF files - in theory, it will work
with any datatypes supporting the new tags and for image formats that can
contain multiple images.
(cg) (Translation: cg)
[News message: 29. Mar. 2004, 17:49] [Comments: 0]
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29.Mar.2004
MorphOS-News.de (Website)
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MorphOS: New, unnamed picture viewer
Kiero programmed a new so far unnamed picture viewer (165 KB). As soon as it has a name it will be available on Aminet.
Features:
- Easy disk navigation with mouse or keyboard.
- Images loaded with datatypes or builtin routines (for JPEG and SunRaster)
- MUI GUI
- Image processing options like color balance/resizing (same algos like in ACDSee)/levels adjustment/etc...
- Saving in JPEG or PNG (with or without alpha channel)
- Loading/displaying images with alphachannel (background is visible).
- Scaling of graphics during display (with optional bilinear filtering).
- Drag&drop support for files/directories.
- Fullscreen mode and a possibility to minimize GUI elements.
- It's slow;)
The following MUI-classes are needed:
Better Balance
Better String (Aminet)
(snx) (Translation: sk)
[News message: 29. Mar. 2004, 17:03] [Comments: 0]
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29.Mar.2004
amiga.org (Website)
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autoconf, automake und libtool for AmigaOS 3
Henning Lund released autoconf-2.57, automake-1.7.8 und libtool-1.5.2 for AmigaOS 3.x. These ports require ixemul.library.
(cg) (Translation: cg)
[News message: 29. Mar. 2004, 15:55] [Comments: 0]
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27.Mar.2004
amigaworld.net (website)
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Video: MicroA1/OS4 presentation in Turkish television
There's now a DivX video with English subtitles of the MicroA1/AmigaOS4 presentation on the Turkish "Technology Channel" (we reported) available.
Direct download: Video (11 MB)
Direct download: English subtitles
(cg) (Translation: wk)
[News message: 27. Mar. 2004, 20:32] [Comments: 0]
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27.Mar.2004
Norman Walter (ANF)
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Amiga C course for beginners advances
The "Amiga C course for beginners" progresses. Opening the first Intuition window is now done.
(cg) (Translation: wk)
[News message: 27. Mar. 2004, 20:25] [Comments: 0]
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27.Mar.2004
ANN (Website)
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Archive-Tool: Free version of "xadmaster.library"
Jocke 'Zerohero' Sjöblom has recompiled the sources of the "xadmaster.library" for AmigaOS. This system enhancement makes a unique interface available so that external programs can unpack a great number of archive formats.
XAD had been available only as shareware or as part of AmigaOS 3.9 until recently but has been put under the GPL at the beginnning of this year (we reported).
XAD is for example supported by Directory Opus 4, MUI Unarc or Voodoo-X.
(cg) (Translation: wk)
[News message: 27. Mar. 2004, 20:01] [Comments: 0]
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27.Mar.2004
ANN (website)
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New YAM "developer" version for 060/MOS
Jocke 'Zerohero' Sjöblom has compiled the current sources of the open source email client YAM for MorphOS and 68060 processors. Both versions were created with GCC 2.95.3-4, Jocke points out that this is a "developers" version that can still contain bugs.
(cg) (Translation: wk)
[News message: 27. Mar. 2004, 19:51] [Comments: 0]
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27.Mar.2004
Andreas Weyrauch (organizer) (ANF)
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Event: AmigaOS4 event in Essen (Germany)
On May, 15th takes in the "Zukunft Zentrum Zollverein" in Essen the AmigaOS4
Event 2004 place. Among others Hyperion Entertainment will be there to show the current state of the AmigaOS4 development.
The visitors will get the chance to get an impression of AmigaOS4 themselves. For this there are 5 more AmigaOne computers. That'll be made available by the company Vesalia.
The event is free. All further information can be found on the AmigaOS4 Event website.
(cg) (Translation: wk)
[News message: 27. Mar. 2004, 16:51] [Comments: 0]
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27.Mar.2004
Elbox Computer (E-Mail)
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Elbox: New eFlasher available
Elbox Computer is happy to announce availability of the new
eFlasher program for the eFlash 4000 Zorro III card. Version 1.4 of the
eFlasher program and version 1.0 of the eFlashConfig script have been
released today for all registered users of the eFlash 4000 cards.
The eFlasher program is the tool developed for the eFlash 4000
Zorro III cards. It helps to manage FlashROM memory contents
of the eFlash 4000 card. It installs AmigaOS ROM Updates and
other modules, which can be started from the eFlash 4000 memory
during the Amiga boot process.
Features of eFlasher:
- supports the BoingBag-1 and BoingBag-2 AmigaOS ROM Updates
- works with any resident modules
- supports multiple modules in one file
- AmigaOS updates done during the Amiga boot process are
detected by the Setpatch automatically
eFlashConfig is an easy to use script to enable managing contents
of memory in FlashROM of the eFlash 4000. (nba)
[News message: 27. Mar. 2004, 14:33] [Comments: 0]
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27.Mar.2004
Patrick Henz (email)
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New freeCD: Made in Japan
Though this new freeCD titled "Made in Japan" is developed only for PCs had many work for it been done using an Amiga. The cover has been created with ArtEffect, Reflections, Lights over Mars and Amiga Fonts and the Japanese hymn had been mixed with DigiBooster. The price is 3,- Euro, the order can be placed directly at Faces of Mars.
(nba) (Translation: wk)
[News message: 27. Mar. 2004, 14:20] [Comments: 0]
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27.Mar.2004
Horst Diebel (ANF)
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Poll regarding further development of "Schlachtfeld"
In the forum of "Schlachtfeld" are meanwhile some very positive entries there. Regarding the requirements do some points appear again and again, e.g. network play, speed, problems under AGA or UAE. Unfortunately there's only a small number of users registered and the feedback via the beta tester form equals zero.
To find a perspective for a development continuation there's now an entry with several questions in the forum. The developers team hopes to receive numerous answers that give a clear view for the further development. Many thanks in advance to all who'll participate!
(nba) (Translation: wk)
[News message: 27. Mar. 2004, 14:17] [Comments: 0]
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27.Mar.2004
Beta2-ML
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MorphOS: Native beta version of NewsCoaster released
Tomasz Kaczanowski has on his website a first public beta version (312 KB) of NewsCoaster for MorphOS made available. The MUI based open source program NewsCoaster (GPL) allows reading newsgroups online and offline.
(snx) (Translation: wk)
[News message: 27. Mar. 2004, 12:56] [Comments: 0]
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26.Mar.2004
Olaf K. (ANF)
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AmiATLAS: New information to the forthcoming updates
Manfred Rohde, who cares about the street maps
in the AmiATLAS development team informs about the current delay with the dispatch of
the update on his homepage.
Furthermore there is a private statement on the AmiATLAS - Forum.
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 26. Mar. 2004, 22:09] [Comments: 0]
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26.Mar.2004
amigaworld.net (Website)
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AmigaOS4: Two High-end audio cards supported
Davy Wentzler has added A1/OS4 support for the Terratec Aureon Sky 5.1 and the professional Terratec Phase88.
These cards have 24-bit/96KHz capabilities and are based around the Envy24 and Envy24HT chipsets, which can be found on a number of high-end audio cards. Similar cards like the Aureon 7.1 Space and EWS88MT should work too, although they are currently untested.
With the Envy24 driver, support for cards like M-Audio Revolution 7.1, Prodigy192, M-Audio Delta and Audiophile cards are coming in reach. However, due to the fact that these cards can all be configured differently, they will not work out of the box, but support may be added later. Please send a mail to info@audio-evolution.com if you own any
of these cards and want to have support in the future.
As AHI programs tend to expect stereo 16-bit modes for recording and may crash when getting 32-bit data, the AHI inputs are defined as "Line in 16-bit", "Line in 24-bit", etc.
The 16-bit input modes will be compatible with all programs, but the 24-bit ones must have special support (AHIST_S32S mode). Also, because AHI can only handle stereo in/out, the Phase88 driver is merely a research device for the upcoming new audio system which will be able to fully use its 8 inputs and outputs.
(cg) (Translation: cg)
[News message: 26. Mar. 2004, 21:19] [Comments: 0]
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26.Mar.2004
Andreas Weyrauch (A.W.Design)
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Interview with Garry Hare (KMOS)
The amigaworld.net team has interviewed Garry Hare (CEO, KMOS Inc.). KMOS is the company which surprisingly announced the taking over of the AmigaOS rights from Amiga Inc. some weeks ago.
Part 1: Garry Hare - Personal and Company questions
Question 1.1: You have a number of university degrees; a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science and a Ph.D,. These are impressive credentials and very unusual in the business world where MBAs are commonplace, but little else, could you make a comment on your intellectual development and what led you first into the entertainment industry and then into digital media?
Garry Hare: I worked at The Walt Disney Company before stumbling into academia. My interest in media preceded these degrees. While at Disney I got my masters in the evening due to a side interest I'd developed. I wanted to get into the feature film side of the Company and several times a year I'd ask to be transferred, with the support of my boss and the head of the studio. Each time my request would be denied by the then president of Disney. I was in a four person division that generated more revenue than any division aside from theme parks. His reason was, I was "to valuable" to move. This was a little hard to believe as I wasn't particularly well paid. One day my boss, who was a great guy, took me to lunch and said, "look, I'm an Executive Vice President of this Company, and I do exactly the same thing you do. As long as you are successful, you'll never get moved to where you want to be". Shortly after, I resigned.
Due to some other things I was involved in, USC offered me a scholarship to pursue a doctorate. I studied with Neely Gardner. His expertise was Political and Corporate Strategy, his passion was ethics. I know it sounds like a strange mix in today's business world but Neely made sense of it. He is (was) the most remarkable person I've ever met. He had the greatest impact on my life. What I remember the most is he was totally honest, sometimes brutally so. No one ever asked for feedback from Neely. The one downside, there is no way I can live up to his legacy.
During my seven years in academia I had a hard time writing articles for academic journals. I didn't think anyone would read them and, to be honest, I didn't have much to say. Instead, to the dismay of my colleagues, I wrote and produced a couple films aimed at illustrating specific concepts. In a way, I never left media.
Question 1.2: Besides your formal degrees, you also held the posts of Visiting Professor at the Harvard Business School in Nicaragua and Associate Professor at the University of Washington, then became advisor for Fortune 100 corporations on Latin American investments before returning to the entertainment industry, is there a connection or were you just bored?
Garry Hare: I was at the University of Washington during the "golden years" of being a professor. My full teaching load was four courses over three quarters. Two quarters a year I was responsible for one two-hour class per week. I think the balance of the time was meant for research and thinking great thoughts. I went skiing. Upon Spring thaw, I turned my attention to consulting. I liked it, it was extraordinarily lucrative and, in some cases, I was pretty good at it.
The lucrative part created a problem. My consulting income quickly exceeded my university salary. Some people didn't care for that and the Dean created a new policy where outside income couldn't exceed 20% of faculty compensation. I resigned, yet agreed to stay on for nine months. By this time I had my own program and graduate students. If I'd left sooner, there was no one to teach the courses they needed to complete a specialization.
I moved to Northern California where I live today. I didn't have a job or any particular idea of what I might like to do. Consulting income gave me some flexibility and ultimately I began to tell people I produced computer controlled movies. At the time no one had any idea what that meant. Including me. I'm not certain, but I probably printed some fake business cards.
The president of LucasFilm asked me, and my partner at the time, to come in to the games group and see if we could "produce" a couple titles. We probably were among the first games producers. I also have a design credit on "Ballblazer". That's a bit of an exaggeration. I can point to a couple features within the title that were my idea but the developer and programmer, David Levine, should rightly get credit. For "Rescue On Fractalis", Charlie Kelner (among the smartest software guys I've met) is responsible for just about everything you see on the screen. I was never an employee of the Lucas organization.
I liked interactive media and it provided a framework for some of the other stuff I've been involved in.
Question 1.3: More seriously, from games and entertainment enterprises you moved to Phillips Media Europe as CEO, then broadband media. A pattern is emerging where Amiga naturally finds a place. Can you comment on the connections this background may have had with an interest in Amiga's Operating System?
Garry Hare: To be honest, I hadn't thought to much about the importance of operating systems. I knew, at least in the mobile world, that many manufacturers were critical of the operating systems available. KMOS, before it had a name, was (and is) involved with a potential strategic partner interested in a very specific market. Part of the solution seemed to suggest an alternative to the operating systems currently used. Amiga's OS family of products looked like they could fit. I turned my attention, with the help of people much smarter than I, to a competitive analysis of the known OSes. I wasn't so interested in what they are but in what they could be. Amiga's OS looked good.
Question 1.4: What is a KMOS, where did the name come from, what does it mean?
Garry Hare: Good question. I asked it myself. Corporate documents needed to be filed while I was in Asia. I returned home to find that the Company, that I had agreed to build, was named KMOS. Like many of you, I asked what's a KMOS, what does it mean? I was told it is sort of like Xerox, it doesn't mean anything but with use will become a positive brand. I pointed out that Edsel (an old auto brand) also didn't mean anything and it went bankrupt. I hated the name. I lost.
I learned two things from this. Don't travel before the documents are filed and don't let financial guys name companies. (If any of them are reading this, I'm just kidding, really).
Given recent events the company probably should have been named KAOS, but that name is taken.
Question 1.5: To quote: "KMOS, Inc. acquired the Operating System from Amiga, Inc. to bring full cross-platform, multimedia functionality to wired and wireless devices." Is there anything you would like to add to this short description?
Garry Hare: Not much. The smart money is probably on the phrase, "cross-platform". But you already knew that.
Question 1.6: How long have you been CEO of KMOS Incorporated?
Garry Hare: Since its inception.
Question 1.7: Was there a previous CEO of KMOS?
Garry Hare: No.
Question 1.8: Is KMOS Incorporated a publicly listed company or privately funded one?
Garry Hare: KMOS is privately held.
Question 1.9: Do you have a significant stake in the company yourself, besides that of your position as CEO?
Garry Hare: I have a minority stake in KMOS, which is unrelated to any operating role. I'd like a raise.
Question 1.10: Are Bill McEwen, Fleecy Moss, or Amiga Inc. employees of, or shareholders in, KMOS?
Garry Hare: No.
Question 1.11: KMOS has kept a low profile since its inception; is there a specific reason for this, and why has it now made itself prominent?
Garry Hare: KMOS' strategy (which we hope makes sense) requires me to acquire or develop several pieces of a technical puzzle. Amiga's OS is an important part, but it is only one part. It is much easier to go about this quietly. If I told you I really, really wanted to buy your car, the price has a tendency to go up. I wanted to avoid that.
As an aside, part of my job is to develop and maintain strong relationships with appropriate writers and publications. I try and reserve this relationship for major announcements; product introductions, perhaps new strategic partners and very few other topics. As none of these things are ready for announcement, I had no intention of saying anything at this time. But the situation turned a little different.
In my view some wild and reckless claims were publicly being made regarding the ownership, control and right of use of our intellectual property. When it comes to protecting IP [Intellectual Property] you have two choices. If, for example, a company was selling a product based on IP without benefit of a signed distribution agreement, you can just sit back a while and let them sell it. A little later in the process you might want to contact them and say, "hey, I think you owe me a little money".
If threats concerning IP are causing a disturbance among commercial partners or, at least as importantly, among current and future application developers you have no choice but to publicly act. We saw Genesi's Motion to Amend as just such a threat. I issued a brief press release to publications of record. I understand it got very little play on public boards but that wasn't its intent. I was simply saying that KMOS is in this game and implying that we would broadly defend and protect our assets and intellectual property. In matters like web sites, developer support programs and the like, we were totally unprepared to make such an announcement. I apologize, I would have liked to be a little more together.
Question 1.12: Who is Itec and what is their relationship to Amiga, KMOS and you?
Garry Hare: Itec has been an investor in Amiga since the purchase of the assets from Gateway. It remains an investor today. Itec is also the Senior (first place) Secured Creditor of Amiga Inc. KMOS purchased the OS asset from Itec. There is no formal relationship between the companies (KMOS and Itec). I am not involved in Itec in any way.
Part 2: Garry Hare on KMOS, Amiga Inc., Past Problems and Rumours
Question 2.1: Does KMOS have any direct stake in Amiga Inc., besides the buying of rights over the Operating System and possibly some trademark agreements?
Garry Hare: KMOS's rights are to the OS and associated naming and trademarks. We can and will, for example, ship the operating system under the Amiga One Partner agreement as "Amiga OS 4.0". Amiga retains ownership to its name, trademarks and DE product.
Question 2.2: Last year a business card appeared with your name and giving your position as CEO of Amiga Inc. did this card originate from you or Amiga Inc.?
Garry Hare: I apologize in advance for the length of my reply. I now know this is an on-going soap opera and I may as well be through.
In November, 2002, I was asked by Itec (an Amiga investor) to give my opinion on Amiga's prospects for strategic partners. I was not asked to do anything in regard to securing investment or risk money. In February, 2003, Bill McEwen asked if I would consider joining Amiga as Chairman and CEO. Ultimately I agreed, contingent on Amiga securing a minimum investment and operating capital (I'm not stupid). As you remember, early 2003 was a particularly difficult environment for raising money. I thought Amiga's chances would improve if I could attract a strategic partner or two. Toward that end, I set up several meetings at the March CTIA conference. I printed 25 business cards with the Amiga logo and my personal contact information.
At CTIA, I met with four companies where I know the senior management quite well and one where I did not. I doubt that I gave each a card as two of the CEOs are close friends and I see or speak with them frequently. They know how to reach me. In every meeting I told people that I was considering joining the Company and proceeded with a business discussion. At this point in my life I don't need a company affiliation to get a meeting.
At this same conference I ran into David Traub (his full name was previously disclosed by Mr. Buck some time ago). I've known David casually for a number of years. In one of those, "so whet are you doing" conversations, I told David I was considering joining Amiga. As any good developer would, he pitched me on a title that would be "just perfect" for the Amiga market. If I remember correctly, it was a horoscope title but I could be wrong. David asked how to reach me, I gave him a card. At the end of this conversation David said he was associated with Bill Buck who had interests in Amiga. I told him I was aware of Mr. Buck's interests.
At about the same time I ran into an old friend who publishes a well known gaming magazine. I mentioned I was thinking of joining Amiga and he asked if he could announce it if I did. I gave him a card and promised to call and send him a press release if and when, I joined. There was no such announcement.
When I returned home David Traub called and asked if I would take a call from Bill Buck. I agreed and the next day Bill Buck called and immediately asked if I was Amiga's CEO and if I could make decisions on behalf of the company. I told him that I hoped to join Amiga but had yet to do so. And, if I did join, I would certainly be able to make decisions. He began to pitch me on a couple business ideas that he felt would be mutually beneficial. I quickly responded that as long as there was litigation between the companies he would have to communicate through legal counsel. It was a short and not unpleasant conversation. At the end he advised me, I thought jokingly, not to join Amiga. As it turns out I didn't but I can't say that was due to his specific advice.
David tells me that a week or so after the call, Mr. Buck contacted him and asked that he send the business card as he wanted to know how to reach me. As an side, David has apologized way to many times for sending the card and any difficulty it may have caused me. He swears he had no idea as to the intended use. David is a good guy and has no reason to apologize. I gave him a card. None of this is his fault.
A short while later I heard that Mr. Buck had posted the card to a public board, and discussed its impact on Amiga generally and several individuals particularly. I was surprised. Mr. Buck is among a very few people that I'd discussed my relationship, or lack thereof, with Amiga. He specifically knew that I had not taken the CEO position. A few people mentioned the discussion around the issue but I ignored the matter. I was busy. I've never posted to a public board and, until several weeks ago, seldom browsed any of them. Only recently did I discover what a moo bunny was.
Several weeks ago, when I turned my attention to the Genesi/Amiga legal dispute, I read and reread every relevant post from every board. While not part of the Motions before the Court and, probably because it was about me, I paid particular attention to the business card drama. The fact that it is still discussed today, often with childish venom, is just plain ridiculous.
About those remaining business cards. My daughter cut one up for an art project. She liked the ball. Under intense interrogation she refuses to confess to ripping off any more. And for some unknown reason I gave one to one of my closest friends. He became aware of this little drama and has threatened to expose me as a "fake" CEO if I don't pay for dinner. Worse, he threatens to expose me a "fake" Chairman if I don't pay for drinks. Last Saturday, I sent him copies of the Court filings and made it clear that I have no intention of paying for a meal again in the greater Los Angeles area. Including drinks.
I found the box. There are 16 business cards left (see special offer below). A few are unaccounted for. I may have used them to "paper" Silicon Valley. Maybe not.
The bottom line. I printed 25 business cards and distributed 9. I never misrepresented myself to anyone, at any time, in any way. Mr. Buck knew I wasn't Amiga's CEO. He discussed the matter directly with me. Yet he elected to publish the card to a public board and represent it as fact. He went on to misrepresent the impact of this non-event disparaging a number of people along the way. And, Mr. Buck put words in my mouth, which doesn't make me particularly happy. You make the call.
Question 2.3: Have you at any time been the CEO of Amiga Inc.?
Garry Hare: No.
Question 2.4: Have you ever been employed by Amiga Inc.?
Garry Hare: No.
Question 2.5: Did you before KMOS involvement act as an advisor for Amiga Inc. without being employed by them?
Garry Hare: Informally, and unfortunately unpaid. From time to time bill McEwen asks for my opinion on one thing or another. I tend to give it. Sometimes he agrees. Sometimes he doesn't.
Question 2.6: Where you or KMOS involved in Amiga's recent litigation?
Garry Hare: Initially I wasn't. I saw the original complaint as a dispute over DE. It wasn't my fight. I was aware of many of the reckless claims regarding the Amiga name, trademarks and control of our intellectual property. I knew that one day it would be my fight. But not that day. I simply asked that these public claims be tracked for future reference. To be honest, I didn't see DE on the Pegasos as the end of the world. DE running on Linux could open a broader market. It could be a good thing for Amiga and the DE developers.
I know the Amiga guys didn't necessarily agree. They argued this whole suit was bogus and they had a point.
Thendic GmgH filed the original complaint with Amiga on January 3, 2003. There was a slight problem. Thendic began bankruptcy proceedings on November 7, 2002 and was declared closed due to insufficient assets (bankrupt) on January 27, 2003. Somehow this little detail was kept secret from the Court. Both Thendic and their counsel have a legal obligation to report such a material change. They didn't. No problem, Genesi was added to the complaint on February 17, 2003 arguing they were somehow an "affiliate" of Thendic. It's a little difficult to be an affiliate of a non-existent company. Kind of like accusing a dead man of stealing your car. And Genesi didn't meet the only other definition of affiliate in the agreement, common ownership of 50% or more. Together, Bill Buck and Raquel Velasco's ownership in Pegasos fell just a bit short. No problem, said Genesi, we're really the OEM. Genesi no more manufactures the Pegasos than does Vendome Investment Inc. of the Cayman Islands. OK, that's a bad example. Nobody manufactures much of anything in the Caymans. It's generally just a nice place to safely park financial assets. But, I wouldn't know anything about that.
We'll never know what might have happened if Amiga made these arguments. They didn't mount a defence. Judge Lasnik, rightly, acted on the information before him. The result is once Pegasos gets an Intent license from Tao Group, DE will be available for Linux. I understand Amiga has already taken steps to comply with the order. As I understand it, developers will be free to make their own deals. I hope this "platform" is wildly successful and the developers make a lot of money.
On March 1, 2004. Genesi filed their Motion to Amend. KMOS saw this action as Genesi seeking cover for the claims they'd publicly made. While carefully worded to mislead the Court, it was a direct threat to KMOS' intellectual property. My Board directly me to take all deliberate measures to protect our assets. I have whatever resources I need. It became my fight.
Question 2.7: There has been some speculation on the meaning of your second declaration, would you care to elaborate?
Garry Hare: The final preparation for submitting documents to the Court is a little hectic. As many of you have seen, there is a lot of stuff to check and double check. I mistakenly sent the second to the last draft of my second Declaration to the Court. The final draft contained one additional phrase, "any product based in whole, or in part, on KMOS' intellectual property and distributed or sold into commercial markets without benefit of an executed distribution agreement...". I think the rest is pretty clear.
As an side, perhaps particularly for your non - US audience, I'd like to say a word or two about The United States District Court. This is not your local, county civil court. It is far more serious. It, sensibly, requires parties to a dispute to be represented by legal council. It has very specific rules of evidence. If for example (this is just an example) you had essentially been accused of perjury and responded something like, "I believe the email attributed to 'Fleecy Moss' was and still is from 'Fleecy Moss'." that is not evidence. It is a simple statement with no supporting documentation and absolutely no refutation of the material in the Motion before the Court. You might as well say, "I think beer cans have wings". Also, Courts are about application of existing law. It needs to be cited.
Judge Lasnik is a very capable and respected Judge. While he is probably sick of it, he understand this situation. He will look at two things and two things only; the agreement in question and the law. Everything else is just noise. Speaking for myself, I would not play games with a District Court Judge.
Question 2.8: Can you comment about the strategies that have been used in this current legal dispute?
Garry Hare: Within 24 hours of the Motion to Amend a number of things happened. KMOS' corporate attorneys are in Northern California and litigation firm is in New York. It would waste time and money for either to be involved. KMOS would not join as co-defendant. This would be all Amiga. All the time. Within ten minutes of the first conference call with the Cairncross attorneys, it was decided that two motions would be presented to the Court; Amiga's Response to the Motion to Amend and, a Motion for Relief. For those of you, like me, trying to understand the U.S. legal system, Amiga did not appeal the Courts ruling. Nor did it seek dismissal. A Motion for Relief asks a District Court Judge to set aside his ruling For Cause. The implications and potential damages are quite different.
Amiga's attorneys emphasized that we had a week to gather evidence. Toward that end we put together a small work group. Qualification for membership was you had to be highly motivated, keep quiet and go without sleep for 18 days. Application for membership was over subscribed. I put on a Paul Thorn CD and went to work.
While I had absolutely no authority to do so, a week or so prior to the initial Summary Judgement, I asked everyone associated with Amiga to go silent. fleecy taking a "vacation" from Ask Fleecy (sorry AW) and Ray delaying publication of CAM was the last straw. We hoped that people would conclude Amiga was done for and continue to post goofy claims, threats and the like. I never dreamed Mr. Buck would be so cooperative.
The attorneys asked how we would gather information. We said, Mr. Buck would provide quite a bit of it. They were sceptical and wanted an example. We'd captured quite a few public posts and I have to admit that arguments from both sides shaped our thinking. But a few people stood out. In response to "Tatu", Mr. Buck wrote his, "What will happen next?" post. I sent it to the attorneys and asked, how this? Have you ever seen lawyers dance?
Early the next morning we got going. The work group asked what I would like to see. Proving I had no idea what I was talking about, I asked for every post on every board from the November 2000 date of the original agreement. There was a very long pause. One of the guys finally asked if I had any idea how many posts that meant. I guessed, "probably a couple hundred".
We settled on a little different method. Every post from Mr. Buck from the January 3, 2003 original complaint in context. Meaning the post, if any, he was responding to and any relevant posts following. That turned out to be quite a few. The floor of my office was covered with folders within the first two days. We also wanted posts from five individuals.
"Tatu". We have all your stuff.
Greg Schofield. Greg's posts were always thoughtful, well written and useful. His, "Who is the OEM?" post became the foundation for an entire legal argument and a lot of research. In the end we didn't use it. The Court has a 12 page limit on any Motion and we ended up with way to much information. But we completely developed this line of inquiry. Who knows, we might need it in the future, although I certainly hope this ends some day. I was concerned by one of Greg's posts. He correctly guessed Amiga may have gone silent on purpose. We watched for a thread but no one picked up on it. No more wild guesses, Greg. It is bad for journalism.
Bill Evans and Don Cox. Both these guys carry through with their arguments. Very interesting and well reasoned. The responses they elicit are found throughout both Amiga's Motions.
Mike Bouma. During the initial phases of research I "reached out" to a few individuals asking for help. I know some were friends of Amiga's and others probably sought to limit any personal liability. One evening I received unbelievable documents. I was already convinced that what we were dealing with was little more than misusing the Courts to steal property. This document made me angry. Around 1 AM I pick up the folder labelled Mike Bouma and read it a couple times. He knew exactly what was going on and didn't mince words about the issue. I felt better. I like you style, Mike.
If any of you run into me at a conference I'll buy you a beer... OK ...I'll buy you two. You'll need some "ID" Tatu.
A while later we added a third category; anyone Mr. Buck had called an "idiot". In most cases these "idiots" were computer enthusiasts not industry professionals. They'd ask a simple questions or make a comment and were immediately attacked, threatened and called names, mostly "idiots". I thought the "idiots" might be on to something. As an aside, I suppose it's part of board culture, but I don't get all the name calling - whether directed at Mr. Buck, Bill McEwen, Ray Akey or anybody else. But that's just me.
I know a number of people have openly questioned why their posts are included in the attachments presented to the Court. Some argue that they aren't even friends of Amiga or that their posts had nothing to do with the argument. True. But we wanted to present everything to the Court in context. The Judge can quickly get a feel for the nature of these boards; full of rumour, gossip, silliness and occasionally information. Evidence without context is suspect. Taking a couple lines of text off a web site, for example, without the entire document and an indication of who wrote it is pretty worthless.
At 6 PM on March 19 I turned off my computer and took my family to dinner. It hade been eighteen very long days and nights.
Question 2.9: Can anything good come out of what seems like an incredible waste of time and money?
Garry Hare: The process wasn't as expensive as you might think. All the research and document preparation was done internally. But it was a tremendous drain on time. From late March 1 until late March 19, four of us literally spent 12 - 18 hour days, every day, researching and drafting in support of Amiga's attorneys. One of the four lives in Europe. I don't know when he slept but he stayed up all night, every night, to help me and the attorneys. He knows how I feel about him.
Until all this broke, I'd planned to be in Germany and the UK meeting with partners and developers the week of March 15. And I was supposed to be in China the following week. Things changed.
But it turned out to be very interesting. Many of you have seen the Declarations. Obviously I talked, often frequently, with Ben, Alan and to a lesser degree Francis. We got to know one another over this process in a way that would have been impossible over a dinner or meeting. They offered their help. When I asked for specific information that wasn't readily available they got it to me - in 24 hours. In one instance, with translation from German to English. I like these guys and look forward to working with them and, I hope, they feel the same about me.
After Amiga's first filing, I received a call from the CEO of, as far as I could tell, a Company completely unrelated to the Amiga/Thendic dispute. He was very upset that he didn't get to file a Declaration. I explained that his Company wasn't involved in this dispute. He said, "so what", and offered to pay part of the legal costs. Interesting.
A fifth Company, that I had never heard of, contacted me late last week and asked how they could help. The amount of time and money it would have cost to fly around meeting five companies in different parts of the world is likely several times the legal and time costs. In a way it turned out to be very efficient, although I don't want to make a habit of this approach to business development.
We've all seen the movie. A bully rides into town and starts pushing the villagers around. One of the villagers finally stands up and says, ENOUGH! They look around and the other villagers are at their side. Amiga stood up and a lot of people and companies were at its' side. Including me.
Question 2.10: What do you think of Bill Buck?
Garry Hare: As I've mentioned I've only had one brief telephone conversation with Mr. Buck. I can't say that I know him. I try to focus on people's behaviour rather than speculate on their motivations. In this regard Mr. Buck has been very public. We can all make up our own minds.
In one regard I think Mr. Buck is quite amazing. Toward Amiga's first filing, four of us were literally working 15+ hour days researching and drafting materials on behalf of the attorneys. At the time Mr. Buck continued to post to public boards. The 48 hours preceding Amiga's "Response" filing, Mr. Buck literally wrote more than our efforts combined. And, while I seldom agree with the content, many of his posts were very well written. Quite impressive.
Question 2.11: KMOS owns and has owned for almost a year, the rights to Amiga's Operating Systems, Amiga Inc. retains rights over AmigaDE. Are there any other issues, such as competing trademarks, other intellectual property or other assets in general, that are outstanding between the two companies?
Garry Hare: I don't believe so.
Part 3: Garry Hare on: KMOS, Amiga Inc., Hyperion, Eyetech, Trademarks and etc.
Question 3.1: How would you describe the relationship between KMOS and Amiga Inc. at the present moment?
Garry Hare: The relationship has been friendly and, due to recent events, become very friendly.
Question 3.2: Again, based on the present relations between the two companies, is there a prospect of the companies working closely together in the future? And, if so, is there a current understanding of continued association in the long term by both parties?
Garry Hare: This comes down to customers. If a commercial customer specifies both KMOS and Amiga property as part of a solution, I'm pretty sure we can work something out.
Question 3.3: Hyperion has been doing an amazing job of re-inventing the Operating System, how would you describe the situation in terms of KMOS, Hyperion and the OS?
Garry Hare: We are partners. I look forward to working with Ben and the people at Hyperion.
Question 3.4: Eyetech has done a marvellous job in providing the A1 and microA1 boards, obviously they have a stake in the future of the OS. The community has long been assured that Eyetech, Hyperion and Amiga Inc. are working together in this venture, now that KMOS is involved has anything substantially changed?
Garry Hare: No. Nothing should change. Eyetech, Hyperion and KMOS have a common interest. We'd like to build an attractive market for current, and likely, future products. Alan and Ben know that, within limits, I will help in any way I can. As I didn't anticipate "going public" now, my schedule until about June, or so, is a bit of a mess. It will be difficult for me to participate in conferences and the like in the near term. I don't think that's important. Eyetech and Hyperion are doing just fine without my involvement.
Question 3.5: Would you like to make some comment on Hyperion and Eyetech's position in regard to KMOS, at least as you understand it?
Garry Hare: We are commercial partners.
Question 3.6: Given KMOS'es self-description as stated above, Amiga Inc's DE technology would seem to be a natural extension of cross-platform development, would you care to comment on this statement?
Garry Hare: I like Amiga's DE product and, particularly their distribution agreement with Microsoft and, I trust, others. Given my content background it is a natural interest. But I am focused on the requirements of a specific customer. This solution does not require DE.
Question 3.7: Amiga's OS website presumably still belongs to Amiga Inc, are there any plans to host this on a KMOS site or are relations between the two companies such that this does not matter?
Garry Hare: About the last thing I've thought about lately is web sites. If we were to put up a KMOS site today about all it would do is point you to Hyperion and Eyetech. My first site is likely a "restricted access" site in support of partners and developers. I've yet to do much on that front either.
Question 3.8: Without attempting to speak for Amiga Inc. would it be true to say that it now can concentrate on the DE/Tao developments and business opportunities and that from their point of view this separation has been of benefit? Or is it the case that KMOS simply bought up the OS asset which for whatever reason Amiga Inc. was eager to sell?
Garry Hare: One of the most difficult things for smaller companies to do is focus on a specific product or market. We all tend to jump around from one perceived opportunity to the next. I believe Amiga intends to focus on the DE market but I can't speak for them. KMOS' business relationships are concentrated in the broader telecommunication industry and we will focus there. I don't know that a single small entity can do both.
Question 3.9: Prior to the public announcement of your company's stake in Amiga technologies, Amiga Inc. drew some broad stroke objectives for the development and convergence of two technical innovations, the revived AmigaOS and DE type developments. Broadly speaking does KMOS share a similar outlook?
Garry Hare: It isn't really KMOS' view that matters. We are proceeding to meet the needs of specific customers. I guess you could say that is our "strategy". I've proven, several times, that I'm not smart enough to accurately anticipate markets. My partners might be, but I keep arguing they aren't either.
Part 4: Garry Hare: The Future
Question 4.1: Will we see OS 4.0 on the Pegasos computer?
Garry Hare: In business you never say never. To my knowledge, Hyperion, Eyetech, Amiga and, certainly KMOS, have never received a proposal from Pegasos regarding the OS.
In general, I look at potential business prospects from several angles. First, what are the financial consequences of a given deal? I tend to focus on the worst case rather than upside projections, which tend to be a little rosy. If you achieve nothing more than worst case, what are the costs and benefits? Then, how would a new business relationship affect current partners and customers? There are some deals you simply can't do. There are, of course, limits to this. Let's say for example Intel (no, we don't have a deal with Intel) wants to buy 10 million units of something that competes with a current partner selling 10,000 units. Generally something can be worked out. Finally, is there a business history with a potential partner? What is their reputation in the market? Are they managed by people that you would like doing business with? Given just this criteria, I can't envision anything that Genesi and KMOS have to talk about. Sometimes life is just too short.
Question 4.2: What about those coupons and T-shirts?
Garry Hare: I've been expecting this question. KMOS has no legal obligation to honour past promotional activities. But, I think we have an ethical one. I'm trying to work out the discount coupon situation and I believe I will. KMOS will certainly keep you posted. Given OS 4.0 isn't on the market yet, I have a little time, and if I paid $100 for something I'd certainly like to see the benefit. I have yet to see the accounting from Amiga. I don't know how many $50 and $100 discount coupons are out there. When I get this information, I will proceed. I hate it when anyone, including me, says, "trust me". It generally means they're trying to pick your pocket. So, I'm not asking any of you to trust me - let's just see if I can get this done. I'm aware of the problem and I'm trying to fix it.
Here's an answer without a question. KMOS will not be selling discount coupons!
The T-shirt situation is a little different. I don't know the details, but I'd like to stay out of the apparel business. It seems to me this should be Amiga's problem. I don't even know what the T-shirts were supposed to be. However, I'm willing to make a little side deal. If anyone would like to trade a T-shirt coupon for a "semi-collectable fake business card" (suitable for framing), we've got a deal. I only have 16 but as they are "fake" in the first place, I can probably print more. I think, although I may be wrong, this was through CAM. I'll speak to Ray. I'm serious about this. I've decided to carry real business cards. At least for now.
Question 4.3: Given your history in the broadband media industry, the need for flexible and reliable set-top boxes, console devices etc., combined with the nature of Amiga OS do you see a symbiosis between these devices and a desktop computer system? Is there a mutual benefit for catering for both, at least in the abstract speculative sense?
Garry Hare: I've worked with telecommunications companies, in Europe, the U.S. and increasingly Asia, for the last seven years. As wired and wireless bandwidth increases, which it certainly is, the operators simply can't meet their objectives with current OS suppliers. I'm reasonably aware of the problem.
One of the features that attracted us to the Amiga OS in the first place is that, by definition, it is cross-platform. Improvement in any one market should improve the others, including the desktop. If the same application played across all platforms and devices, so much the better.
Question 4.4: Again given your personal history, you seem to be in a very good position to "drum up business", your diverse background in the high flying circles mainstream technical development must be seen as an asset. Modesty aside, how do you asses yourself in regard to our favourite Operating System?
Garry Hare: Increasingly, I've come to know what I don't know. I try to surround myself with people that know far more than I do on a variety of business issues. That certainly includes technical issues, marketing, developer support and lately, legal. The first line in every job description is all employees are to try and keep me from looking stupid. Despite their best efforts I still manage to screw things up occasionally. A trait in my favour is, I read everything.
Question 4.5: Would you like to say something about the future of computing in general and allow our readers to imagine the place the Amiga OS might inhabit? Or indeed any other ideas which may bare ever so tenuously to the future of our OS?
Garry Hare: I'm afraid none of this is breakthrough thinking. The world's going mobile, from wireless laptops to PDAs, to SmartPhones and numerous stops in between. I don't think we're very far away from each home having the equivalent of a "content server", sending digital signals, probably wireless, to the TV, the stereo, the PC and many other devices. What is interesting is the implications for media. Except for one small example, I won't go into that here. A while back I was in China talking with one of the ministers concerned with economic development. He told me, outside the two major urban centres, the fastest road for increased income was becoming fluent in English. There is a tremendous demand for people in transportation, communication, hospitality and many other industries who are be bi-lingual. As computers are very expensive, he wondered if mobile phones could be used for English language learning (a company I'm very loosely associated with is now working on this application). He specifically used the example of training air traffic controllers in English, which I found a little scary - I took the train. I have no idea what the future of media will look like but I am sure I'll be surprised by it all.
Question 4.6: How long have you been using Amiga Computers and do you plan to participate in the Amiga Community?
Garry Hare: This is where I'm supposed to say, I've been using Amiga Computers since I was a child and love them more than my German Shepherd. But AmigaWorld keeps insisting that I be accurate and not evasive. How's this? I've never owned an Amiga Computer and, as far as I can remember, never touched an Amiga keyboard. A number of people I've worked with over the years certainly have. I believe Charlie Kelner programmed part of "Fractalis" on an Amiga and we used a bank of Classics to program the interleave logic in producing "Escape From CyberCity".
Over the past decade or so I've turned into a "suit", actually a faded Levi, sort of guy. My work life revolves around contracts, spreadsheets and research reports. I need a pretty full suite of business applications. I'm writing this on a fairly high end Toshiba laptop with a great screen. I also have a Powerbook G4. Mostly, I take it to meetings to look cool.
Everyone at KMOS wants an AmigaOne running 4.0. I'm trying for a "partners" discount through Alan. Negotiations continue.
Through my recent addition to public boards I've noticed that a few people demand that I explain myself. Others expect me to engage the rumour, speculation and childish behaviour in some of the discussions. I've never published to a public board and I don't have any plans to start now. Several people who work with me certainly read and post often. As long as they respect confidential information, I have absolutely no problem with that. Its a free country - at least mine was until a few years ago.
But, aside from the prospects for the future of the OS, we were attracted to Amiga for a few other reasons. The name is not as valuable as it used to be but it is a known brand and, unless I mess it up, could come back. We know there is a worldwide user base, perhaps 10,000 or so strong. And maybe 1,000 very supportive and vocal enthusiasts. We'd like to set up an early adopter program, initially between 100 and 500 users. Nokia does much the same thing with the entire population of Finland, with great success. As we bring new products to market these early adopters can purchase them at a reduced price in exchange for feedback on everything from ease of use to the quality of applications. We will have a restricted access site to make participation very easy. This should gives us a lot of flexibility. If we launched a product, say in Italy, we could draw upon our Italian early adopters, etc. We are already designing this program but there are two little problems. We don't have the web site up and we don't have a new product quite yet. We will. There could be t-shirts involved. Wait... I didn't say that.
More important, I've never felt developer support programs do a very good job of supporting developers. I'd like to change that. I am contracting with the best information management firm I know to help set a structure for information and retrieval over a restricted access site. Once we have a handle on what can be done, I'll invite more than a few developers to tell us what they would like to see. I have a few ideas but they will have many more. We have access to all the web design talent that anyone could ever ask for. I will ask our partners if they would like to be involved but, either way, it will be done. In fact, one of our customers requires it. And I certainly agree. I know many of you reading this might consider buying a computer due to the operating system installed. Most people don't know or care. They care about applications and nothing more.
It becomes simple. If the developers are successful, KMOS will be successful. If they can't survive, we won't either. One developer asked if he will have direct access to me. Of course, although anyone relying on me for technical information has completely lost their mind. Professionals will be involved. I will, however, be pretty active and open on market information and product strategy. All confidential, of course.
Since the emergency launch of information@kmos.com, we've received thousands of hits. Many seem to be from the same handful of people. They contain threats, name calling and such nonsense. I don't see any of them, they're simply deleted. We do track them as I don't want any of these people involved in the future of this Company. Except regarding children, I don't suffer childish behavior particularly well.
If the above is your idea of "community", I will be very involved. If its something else - count me out.
Question 4.7: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Garry Hare: Amiga went through two pretty thorough rounds of due diligence. Aside from the items you'd expect to find in any under capitalized company, we found that more than just Genesi concluded that Amiga couldn't defend itself and proceeded to help themselves to IP, trademarks and even distributed a commercial product without an agreement. Many of you have seen my "Declarations" and know what I'm talking about. Unfortunately before I can turn my full attention to building this Company I have to clean up these items. I prefer the company of developers to lawyers but legal issues have become part of my job.
My job description was simple, "Build this company", with two bullet points. Later they added, oh yeah, protect the intellectual property. If I would have known then what I know now, I would have insisted on a renegotiation and a new GT3 (that's a car not a PC) delivered to my door.
In one instance, due diligence issues regarding Amiga and KMOS overlap. I believe all employees should be paid for the work they do. Amiga has two well publicized labour judgements against them and I hope they are cleared soon. But a labour judgement, paid or not, does not pierce confidentiality and NDA. It appears that one former Amiga employee transferred intellectual property (now KMOS' intellectual property) to a third party for financial gain. That is a criminal act and should be treated as such. He went on to brag about it on public boards. That's not a criminal act, just not very smart. Other than that, with the possible exception of this guy in Australia, I'm not very interested in the actions of individuals.
I do think it is particularly reprehensible when an employer directs their employees to misuse others property. The employee is in a bind. Usually they need the income and can't simply walk out - although a couple did. Enough said. If you'd like to reach me on any of these matters, just drop a line to my attention at information@kmos.com. It will be confidential and it will get to me.
Question 4.8: Finally, Garry, why did you select AW for this interview?
Garry Hare: You asked. I do thank Amigaworld.net for this opportunity to answer a couple questions and I apologize for the length. It seemed necessary. I don't want anyone to conclude this is the start of an "ask Garry" column. It isn't. We will release information on matters that materially affect KMOS; certainly product releases, perhaps strategic partners and others matters that seem relevant. I'll be happy to answer questions, here on AmigaWorld if David would like, when any of these events occur. Anyone asking questions regarding business cards will be condemned to a Pegasos... ...running Windows.
You may freely redistribute this article, providing that a URL is provided to the original source, and the copyright notice remain intact.
Copyright (c) 2004 Amigaworld.net and KMOS Inc. All rights reserved.
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 26. Mar. 2004, 17:58] [Comments: 0]
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26.Mar.2004
ANN (Website)
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OpenBSD-support for Pegasos cancelled
After a public statement
of the OpenBSD developer Theo de Raadt on Wednesday that next versions of the operating
system OpenBSD will not support the Pegasos any
longer Dale Rahn who is responsible person of the Pegasos port has given some
more detailed
information about this case.
Shortly speaking Dale Rahn was asked in October 2003 to update his port which he has written
for Pegasos I. Therefore version 3.4 of OpenBSD has been also published for the Pegasos.
On October 27th, 2003 he was employed as "non-benefits employee" by Genesi with the task
to port OpenBSD to the Pegasos II. But this agreement happened only via telephone with
Bill Buck. Dale Rahn pointed out that a corresponding documentation is necessary to write
such a piece of software. He was replied that "this is no problem".
To the same time there were talkings between Genesi and ShopIP about the Pegasos Guardian
which is an OpenBSD based system for recognizing intruders in networks and which has been
introduced on the New York InfoSec-fair. All seems to be ok except a delay of nine days of
paying his salary for December which was justified by "issues of the stock exchange".
At the end of the fair it was decided to send the salary cheques to the staff. Because
Dale Rahn was there he directly got his cheque for the months of October and November.
But this cheque over 10,000 US-Dollar was written on the November 12th, 2001, two years ago.
Therefore the bank refused to cash the cheque. Later Dale Rahn saw that the other cheques
were never sent and that the mentioned account of Genesi had not sufficient money to pay all
the staff.
At the beginning of this year with 15,000 US-Dollar of salary missing he told Genesi
that he would go if he did not get his money. Then he got a salary for one month so that
he would stay. Meanwhile he also got a Pegasos II so he now could start porting OpenBSD
to it. But this lasted longer than expected because of special issues of the
new Northbridge.
Nevertheless he had no detailed documentation to do it in a accurate way the succeeded to
port it with the help of some provisional solutions. But he pointed out that he must habe
a documenation for writing the Gigabit-Ethernet-Driver needed for Guardian. But although
he was an employee of Genesi bplan did not send it.
Finally he at least got the Linux driver for the Gigabit connection although he previously
said that this would be really kind but not sufficient and that it would not be a substitute
for the documentation.
Then Dale Rahn tried to get the new firmware version of the Pegasos II.
After some "asking" on IRC he got it. But he had to recognize that OpenBSD did not work
with it. He informed Genesi and bplan and then he was only told that some things had changed
but no specific information so that he could find the bug. One week and a half later
the new boards were delivered with a newer firmware.
After this and after the message that the salaries could not be payed Dale Rahn noticed
to the March 1st, 2004. To his point of view bplan did not care about OpenBSD and the
quality of the boards. As a reply to his notice he got a confirmation and the promise
that he would get his salary for the past months.
Finally he sent a statement that it was too late to adapt the OpenBSD version and that
there would not be any possibility to create a Pegasos version in future.
As a result he got the response that he would not get any salary for the time after
February 4th. Additionally he had to pay the two Pegasos boards which were sent to
Theo de Raadt.
Altogether Dale Rahn got a payment only for five weeks instead of four and a half months.
He is now looking for a new job.
Meanwhile all hints to OpenBSD have been deleted from the official Pegasos-website.
On MorphZone
Genesi comments that the support of OpenBSD would have cancelled in any case because
the company could not afford an OpenBSD expert with a salary of 5000 Dollar monthly and
because the market had not demanded such a product.
Nevertheless the service of Dale Rahn would be appreciated.
(snx) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 26. Mar. 2004, 15:43] [Comments: 0]
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26.Mar.2004
ARCNET
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amiga-news.de: IRC-channel also available via webinterface
We want to point out still again that the official amiga-news.de-IRC-channel is now also
available via webinterface.
You only have to choose a nick name and to enter the channel "#amiganews.de" in the input
field.
Of course the channel can be also accessed with the help of an IRC-program - like AmIRC, XChat or mIRC -:
Server: de3.arcnet.vapor.com (or other servers)
Port: 6667
channel: #amiganews.de
(cr) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 26. Mar. 2004, 12:42] [Comments: 0]
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26.Mar.2004
Thilo Köhler (ANF)
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Thilo Köhler: Diverse software news
Thilo Köhler has updated some of his programs which you can download from the HD-Rec
homepage under Other Stuff.
Soon you will find the archives on Aminet.
PosTED v1.0 (New)
Little program for making notices which are always present on screen.
TuiTED v1.0 (New)
Text editor which is similar to EditPad but configurable and with HTML highlightning.
AsteroidsTR v0.6 (Update)
Asteroids clone which demonstrates the dbl_dislplay.include of AmiBlitz2.
Samplemanager v1.1 (Update)
Besides some minor improvements Samplemanager should now also work under AOS4/MOS.
Bug reports are very welcome!
TKPlayer v1.0 (Update)
Little audio player for .mp3, .wav, .aiff, .8svx, .maud and .cdda. Ideal as default tool for the corresponding file types.
(cr) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 26. Mar. 2004, 12:16] [Comments: 0]
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26.Mar.2004
ANN (Website)
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SoundFX 4.3 since March in beta test
As Stefan Kost of Sonic Pulse
reports the new version 4.3 of
SoundFX has been in beta test since March 16th and is supposed to be published soon.
Two screenshots have been added on the gallery.
SoundFX is an editor for digital samples which is modular build up. These samples
can be completed with digital effects or simply recorded, played or cut. You can get a detailed
list of its possibilities on the product site
of SoundFX.
The program is Shareware.
(snx) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 26. Mar. 2004, 10:38] [Comments: 0]
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26.Mar.2004
Genesi (E-Mail)
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Genesi: Russian version of PegasosPPC.com online
Under http://www.pegasos.org.ru/ you can find
a Russian version of the official Pegasos website PegasosPPC.com.
(snx) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 26. Mar. 2004, 10:23] [Comments: 0]
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26.Mar.2004
Kermit Woodall
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NovaDesign with new website
Nova Design which is the North American producer of the well known picture editing software
called ImageFX has a new website since today.
The new site is to make it easier to find support information for the products of
NovaDesign. Alle free updates and additional programs are also directly available.
Additionally the site is completed by an extensive gallery of ImageFX-, Alladin4D- and Cinematte-graphics.
The online-shop was also updated and supports now international
orders that means you can directly order products from Germany and other European
states.
(cr) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 26. Mar. 2004, 00:55] [Comments: 0]
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25.Mar.2004
falkemedia
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AMIGAplus 03/2004 (#145) - On tour with USB
AMIGAplus 03/2004 (#145) has been published on March 19th including the
following reports:
- Poseidon & ArakAttack (review)
- Hardware Assistent (review plus interview with Norman Walter)
- interview with Rolf-Dieter Klein (Ports of Call)
- preadsheet-workshop (TurboCalc and StarAmPlan)
- preview of the tablet-Amiga Nueron 1200
- JAmiga and the history of Java on Amiga
- Emulator-Corner
- Amiga-News
- SVCD-workshop (part 2)
- Waiting for Breakpoint 2004 (demoscene report)
- and much more
AMIGAplus 03/2004 may be subscribed or ordered directly from
falkemedia for 5 Euro including
shipping. (nba)
[News message: 25. Mar. 2004, 17:54] [Comments: 0]
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24.Mar.2004
Amigaworld.net (Website)
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AmiGBG: List of attendors expanded with Individual Computers
At the AmiGBG event
in Goteborg, Sweden on April the 3rd Individual Computers will
attend as exhibitor too to show their expansion cards like
the Catweasel, Delfina or X-Surf.
(snx) (Translation: ub)
[News message: 24. Mar. 2004, 17:03] [Comments: 0]
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24.Mar.2004
ANN (Website)
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Anniversary: The programming language Rexx becomes 25 years
The programming language Rexx, which got some meaning for the
Amiga because of ARexx, celebrate its 25th anniversary this month.
Additionally Rexx Language
Association holds its (15th) annualRexx Symposium at the
IBM research labs of Böblingen from May the 2nd to May the 6th.
(snx) (Translation: ub)
[News message: 24. Mar. 2004, 16:49] [Comments: 0]
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24.Mar.2004
ANN (Website)
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Amiga Demoscene Archive: 352 demos online now
The Amiga Demoscene
Archive is improved nearly weekly and offers currently
352 high quality demos and 3537 screen shots.
Last added:
- Twisted / Polka Brothers
- No! / Polka Brothers
- Micromonster / Contraz
- Raos / Potion & Weeds
- Atmosphere / Joker
- Around / Joker
- G-spot / Loveboat
- Plastic / Phase Truce & Nah Kolor
- Wit Premium / Freezers
The current Top 3:
1. Planet Potion / Potion (24 votes => 5/5)
2. Desert Dream / Kefrens (23 votes => 5/5)
3. State of the Art / Spaceballs (25 votes => 4.96/5) (snx) (Translation: ub)
[News message: 24. Mar. 2004, 16:41] [Comments: 0]
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24.Mar.2004
Heise Online (Website)
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"Amiga at the CeBIT" - Touring exhibition of historic computers
Heise online reports the Amiga is
at the Hanover CeBIT this year again - but
this guest performance is part of a touring exhibition of
historic computers only which our "mate" is part of as well as the
German Zuse Z25, the first mini computer classic PDP 8 by DEC
("three wall units") and other historic interesting pieces...
(snx) (Translation: ub)
[News message: 24. Mar. 2004, 07:41] [Comments: 0]
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24.Mar.2004
amiga-news.de editorial office
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amiga-news.de: optional registration at the comments (Update II)
As reported (news
from March the 9th and
March the 19th) Sven
Drieling has expanded the comment script with the possibility of an
optional and free registration using the account data from our
forum board system. Now a direct link to the profile of the
registered user has been added as a further feature.
If you click on the profile link the regarding user profile as stored at
the forum section will be shown. To change your profile click
on the link
"profile" and there again "profile" at the upper bar.
The profile offers the option to give some information about
you and your computer system (at least if you like...), it can
be determined whether the email address should be visible or not or
you can leave your www address or ICQ id. The password can be
edited also.
All users are invited to give a link to a picture there, so a
kind of user gallery might be build.
Exept a valid email address all entries are optional.
(ps) (Translation: ub)
[News message: 24. Mar. 2004, 00:13] [Comments: 0]
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23.Mar.2004
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Webshrine: The Chaos Regime (Bitmap Brothers)
"The Chaos Regime" is a lovely created tribut to the legendary "Bitmap Brothers", who are
responsible for game classics like Xenon II, Speedball or The Chaos Engine.
The website offers reviews, screenshots, magazine scans, walkthroughs, and handbooks for
all titles of the famous software company, and interviews and further background information.
(cg) (Translation: gf)
[News message: 23. Mar. 2004, 18:55] [Comments: 0]
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23.Mar.2004
www.macnews.de (ANF)
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IBM looks for third party PowerPC mobo partners
A short news of the British IT news service The Inquirer reports
that G5 processor manufacturer IBM is looking for partners manufacturing PowerPC motherboards. Two manufacturers have
made a statement at the CeBIT.
(cg) (Translation: gf)
[News message: 23. Mar. 2004, 18:48] [Comments: 0]
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23.Mar.2004
ANN (Website)
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Karate Fighter DemoScript: Version 0.99 now with 3D-Engine
With the Karate Fighter DemoScript you can create demos
running on an AGA-Amiga with 68020, on a 68060 with CyberGFX, or also under MorphOS.
In the latest Version 0.99 (1 MB) a
3D software engine is integrated and it is able to read 3D objects of Lightwave (.lwo). Examples
are contained in the archive
(snx) (Translation: gf)
[News message: 23. Mar. 2004, 12:26] [Comments: 0]
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23.Mar.2004
MorphOS-News.de (website)
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Pegasos: Linux kernel 2.6.4 available
Sven Luther has created a version of the Linux kernel 2.6.4 which supports the Pegasos. He writes:
"Hello, I have made available a 2.6.4 linux kernel for the Pegasos I & II. It will need some wider testing still, and is missing the SFS support found in the 2.4.x kernels, but has been running stable on my box since the last week or so.
The config used in the prebuilt kernel is rather limited to what I have on my box though, so if you need more, write me about it, or build your own kernel.
The patch does apply cleanly to either the 2.6.4 kernel from kernel.org, or the kernel-source-2.6.4 Debian package.
Also is now builtin the kernel, so I don't provide separate module package anymore, only the MOL modules. The stuff can be downloaded from here." (snx)
[News message: 23. Mar. 2004, 08:05] [Comments: 0]
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