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{subhead} An Open Letter to the Amiga Community{def}{p}
Article by The Campaign to Open Source AmigaOS
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November 17, 1999
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Dear Fellow Amigans,
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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 bring the community up to date on our progress.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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No Commodore.  No Escom.  No Gateway.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Best regards,{p}
Steve Crietzman{p}
President, Campaign to Open Source AmigaOS
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On behalf of our members and partners{p}
{link http://www.savetheamiga.org.uk/}http://www.savetheamiga.org.uk/{end}{p}
If you support COSA, please make it official by filling out our Open Source
AmigaOS Survey.  Thank you for your support of COSA.  We are working hard on your
behalf to ensure a bright future for AmigaOS.