Amiga.org has done an extensive interview with ex-Commodore Amiga system designer Dave Haynie, who designed many critical parts of the classic Amiga 2000, 3000 and 4000 desktop computers. Also Amiga Inc has released a new CAM article written by Oliver Roberts regarding AmigaOS4 datatypes.
I used to be a big Amiga fan, so this is a nice read for me. Dave Haynie is a great, great engineer.
What a depressing read.
Pass the cyanide tablets please.
Seriously though, the guy seems like he can’t get a break.
-gc
Dave Haynie is sure having fun, perhaps it look like he is a looser comparing to those that will live all their career in a “dilbert zone” but i seem to be so free about is endeivour that he’s far better that way.
I’m amaze to see that he seem so pro-beos even after all what happened. I sure be one of many to buy some PCI geekport if he would decide to desing/build them in is basement, full with OS API to go with them.
Regarding the $250 million dollars Dave mentioned as part of his dream team scenario, I really doubt it would take that much (unless he was thinking more in full hardware design and such).
At any rate, very much of what he says regarding Amiga, the community, and certain pathways are true. I’ve seen several of his posts and comments over the last ten years and find myself agreeing with a lot of what he has to say.
I’m glad he reiterated the point about PCI not being a bad thing–too many ‘Amigans’ view the PC world as this alien bad guy platform, with components and parts that seem to run incongruent to what they think the Amiga philosophy was about; when that simply isn’t the case: it’s about utilizing what is out there–that which is good–in a way better than the next guy, but more than that in a way that does what you want it to do, and when you want it done.
I think this interview alludes to the fact that an Amiga OS could be perfectly viable on ‘regular PC parts’. It definitely points to the pathway forming that is 64-Bit. Amiga OS simply needs to be a full-fledged 64-Bit Operating System (with any 32-Bit legacy stuff being put in there in such a way that if it’s ever taken out or opted out, it won’t harm the NEW operating system).
I wonder what Dave would think of an Amiga OS built on top of an exokernel. Amiga OS is already a library OS.
The funny thing is, the answers are already out there. The people who have the know-how are already there, with their background knowledge. If one day it could *just come together*, or these people meet or have just the right conversation to start a new ball rolling.
Someone should have collected enough venture captial to solidify a ‘war chest’ explicitly for the engineering department (if doing hardware) and/or (at the very least) the software team(s). A start-up company shouldn’t have paid vacations as any kind of priority, either. And only the most dedicated should have been worked with. And those who continued working without pay should have negotiated some ownership to compensate. Things like that.
The new Amiga OS has to be based around a 64-Bit desktop computer and/or server. Those devices satelliting around it are often going to be 32-bit or less and, while they wouldn’t (or, indeed, couldn’t) run the full OS, they could see an entire OS similar to the classic Amiga OS on them, which also works with or runs within the big OS. But home base is going to be the desktop/server and the next step is 64-bit. To put it another way: who is going to realistically expect to play a game like DOOM or Quake on a handheld? Maybe in a few years, as those devices get better or can handle more, but right now it’s accepted that they’re going to have what would be considered dinky little games on a desktop OS. It’s still new, though.
I agree with what Dave said in the interview, about where the new revolutions spring–about them starting with the excitement. Any new OS is going to have to make people realize that they can do more with a computer. Consumers or computer users are going to be looking for something that will let them do what they have in mind–be it music composition, creation of artwork, digital photography, day to day business, budgets, databases, and so on.
Amiga OS could provide *exactly* the same thing another personal computer OS or company has. Amiga OS could also provide something *better* (re: implementation). Amiga OS could also provide something *new* and *different* than what is found on another platform or OS. And, of course, all of these.
Competition will bring prices down, also. There are a LOT of companies that would love to see Microsoft get some real competition, simply so we could have: a) choice, b) innovation, or c) competitive pricing.
One thing that bugged me with the current Amiga was when they seemed to have thrown in the towel well before they began, saying that Microsoft had already won on the desktop. I’m a firm believer that no one has ever truly one until everyone else has given up. If it was the case of Amiga having given up, then that begged the question: why are you still bothering to try and sell me something, then? How can you justify giving up and still going through motions that will surely fail?
It takes a believer. Plain and simple. Someone who is committed (not someone who needs to be).
Dreamers also help, because, as Einstein once said, imagination is more important than knowledge. If you think any situation is hopeless, then you just haven’t thought of the solution yet. You haven’t used your brain enough.
Anyway, this was a great interview. I enjoyed reading it. Dave should be head of the engineering department at Amiga, Inc., and I would love to see his dream team come true (but that’s probably saved for an alternate reality–and if the Many Worlds Theory is correct, then I suppose I’m enjoying a new Amiga, produced by that dream team, in that alternate world) 🙂
The future of Amiga? I still have my intuition that things will work themselves out somehow. That has never left, even through my cussing at Bill McEwen in emails, back and forth (my favorite quote has to be “I’m the dictator!”–Bill McEwen). Well…
I’m writing my own 64-Bit Digital Environment, built on top of an exokernel. Inspired by Amiga (not an ‘Amiga wannabe’ OS, but more like what I ‘wanted Amiga to be’), it deviates from every other traditional OS. I won’t ‘do Windows’ with that project, and have no intention to be compatible with anything on it. Kind of a separatist venture (freedom! independence! and finally some peace!) I’ve got some wild (but practical) ideas that aren’t implemented right now on any OS that I can see (including Amiga OS). Wait til you see the user environment.
Scrollbars, for instance, have become viably optional. New website for the project, to be uploaded sometime in the future.