An anonymous reader writes "Aficionados of RISC OS are in a dilemma. With RISC OS Ltd, one of the main developers of the OS, in financial trouble, should RISC OS be open sourced? Users and developers say yes, citing the current slow development of the platform in the hands of its owners. However, Paul Middleton, RISC OS Ltd MD, said, 'It is one thing to release software as open source so that people can look at the source code and help sort out the troublesome problems that "many hands can make light work of". It is completely another to simply say that the source should be freely available to anyone to do with as they like.' Paul also had reservations regarding 'the fragmentation seen in the open source world, such as the number of different Linux distributions and end user support nightmare entailed from that situation.'" Should RISC OS be Open Sourced? Log in/Create an Account | Top | 166 comments | Search Discussion Display Options Threshold: -1: 166 comments 0: 161 comments 1: 135 comments 2: 93 comments 3: 21 comments 4: 12 comments 5: 2 comments Flat Nested No Comments Threaded Oldest First Newest First Highest Scores First Oldest First (Ignore Threads) Newest First (Ignore Threads) The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Chapter 11 is another option. (Score:4, Insightful) by Yaa 101 (664725) on Saturday October 15, @05:26PM (#13799041) (Last Journal: Tuesday June 01, @06:25PM) You have to choose Paul... [ Reply to ThisRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by Anonymous Coward (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @05:33PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by Famatra (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @05:44PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by larry bagina (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:02PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by Famatra (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:05PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by Delphiki (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:10PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by Famatra (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:13PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by utnow (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @07:34PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by aCapitalist (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @11:01PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by afabbro (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @11:08PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Chapter 11 is another option. by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:02PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Chapter 11 is another option. by torpor (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:36PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by gwernol (Score:3) Saturday October 15, @06:09PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by mikael (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @09:11PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Chapter 11 is another option. by pcmanjon (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:45PMRe:Chapter 11 is another option. by G-funk (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @09:32PM Joke of the day (Score:4, Funny) by suso (153703) * on Saturday October 15, @05:27PM (#13799044) (http://suso.org/ | Last Journal: Tuesday March 09, @01:03AM) Isn't that what the OS stands for?*ta dit boom* [ Reply to ThisRe:Joke of the day by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @05:47PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.!Boot !System !Scrap by ettlz (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @05:52PMRe:!Boot !System !Scrap by rpozz (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:26PMRe:!Boot !System !Scrap by Klivian (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @07:45PMRe:!Boot !System !Scrap by wed128 (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @09:20PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Joke of the day by chris_eineke (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:30PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. In other words... (Score:4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 15, @05:28PM (#13799052) Paul Middleton, RISC OS Ltd MD, said, 'It is one thing to release software as open source so that people can look at the source code and help sort out the troublesome problems that "many hands can make light work of". It is completely another to simply say that the source should be freely available to anyone to do with as they like.'No Paul, it's one thing to have people work for you for free, it's another for them want some kind of compensation for it. [ Reply to This Same reservations (Score:1, Informative) by Rick Zeman (15628) on Saturday October 15, @05:32PM (#13799065) Paul also had reservations regarding 'the fragmentation seen in the open source world, such as the number of different Linux distributions and end user support nightmare entailed from that situation.'"Same here. I don't think linux will really take off til you can count the number of distros on one hand. One point not mentioned is all of the distros dilute the talent pool too much, too. [ Reply to ThisRe:Same reservations by dekket (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @05:37PMRe:Same reservations by WilliamSChips (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @05:41PMRe:Same reservations by ReallyNiceGuy (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @05:45PMIt's all a business decision. by khasim (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @05:51PMRe:Same reservations by Namaseit (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:35PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Pardon my naivete, but... by rdoger6424 (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @12:39AM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Same reservations by schwaang (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @05:38PMRe:Same reservations by Cheapy (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @05:43PMRe:Same reservations by schwaang (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @05:50PMRe:Same reservations by Anonymous Coward (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @05:56PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Same reservations by An Onerous Coward (Score:3) Saturday October 15, @05:56PMMetaDistributions by Famatra (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:30PMRe:Same reservations by Jonny_eh (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @11:26PMVariety - Innovation by Lifewish (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:04PMRe:Variety - Innovation by Peter La Casse (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:45PMRe:Variety - Innovation by Fred_A (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @08:21PMRe:Variety - Innovation by Peter La Casse (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @10:22PMNo Reservations by Makarakalax (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:34PMRe:No Reservations by dave420 (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @09:07PM Re:Same reservations (Score:5, Insightful) by Jesus_666 (702802) on Saturday October 15, @06:42PM (#13799330) Fragmentation is one of Linux' strongest features. You need an easy to use desktop OS? SUSE Linux is your friend, as is Fedora Core. You need an ultra-stable OS for use in the server room? Debian Linux is your friend. You need an extremely customizable OS that can be shaped into anything? Gentoo Linux is you friend. You need somtheing that runs off a CD without requiring any kind of installation? Knoppix is your friend. You need a distro that comes with professional support? Enterprise Linuces are your friends. You need a realtime OS? Something that runs on low-powered legacy systems? Something to help you with system recovery? Whatever you need to do, whichever itch there is to scratch, Linux is your friend. Wherever you want to go today, Linux will go there with you.And now tell me that one distro is supposed to be both a end-user friendly mutimedia-capable desktop system, an embedded realtime OS, a bootable CD filled with both everything for day-to-day work as well as every single specialised program you might ever need, an ultra-stable server OS and a cutting-edge, extremely customizable OS.Most distros are there for a reason, usually because someone has specific needs. Knoppix, arguably one of the most useful and well-known distributions ever, started as a Debian mutation, as did Ubuntu. If everyone tried to keep the number of Linux distros as small as possible they probably would never have been developed - and we probably wouldn't have any kind of live CD Linux.While confusing to outsiders, fragmentation is one of the main reasons why Linux is as versatile as it is. I much prefer a versatile OS over one that is easy to keep track of. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Same reservations by MidnightBrewer (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @07:46PMRe:Same reservations by zogger (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @09:10PMRe:Same reservations by Lesrahpem (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @08:49PMRe:Same reservations by goMac2500 (Score:3) Saturday October 15, @09:40PMRe:Same reservations by BlueLightning (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @09:57PMRe:Same reservations by goMac2500 (Score:3) Saturday October 15, @10:10PMRe:Same reservations by BlueLightning (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @10:27PMRe:Same reservations by goMac2500 (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @11:10PMRe:Same reservations by aCapitalist (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @11:55PMplatform vs platform, Windows hands down by cerelib (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @12:35AM2 replies beneath your current threshold.Re:Same reservations - already there by rubycodez (Score:3) Saturday October 15, @06:56PMRe:Same reservations by pete-classic (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:59PMRe:Same reservations by ajole (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @07:30PMRe:Same reservations by iggymanz (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @08:18PMRe:Same reservations by rolfwind (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @08:27PMRe:Same reservations by ozmanjusri (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @10:04PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Alternative (Score:5, Informative) by someguy456 (607900) <someguy456@phreaker.net> on Saturday October 15, @05:32PM (#13799066) (http://someguy456.computed.net/ | Last Journal: Monday May 19, @12:59PM) For those of you looking for a RISC-like experience under linux, be sure to look at the ROX Desktop [sourceforge.net]. I've personally never used RISC, but I have fallen in love with ROX, using it, along with Xfce, on all of my machines. Together, the make a fast, modern desktop that knocks the socks off the other, traditional desktops [ Reply to ThisRe:Alternative by tobybuk (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @05:57PMRe:Alternative by wed128 (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @09:33PM2 replies beneath your current threshold. Why ask us? (Score:2) by Black Parrot (19622) on Saturday October 15, @05:33PM (#13799069) Whoever owns it can do what they please with it (modulo any contractual constraints). [ Reply to ThisRe:Why ask us? by earnest murderer (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:01PMRe:Why ask us? by KillShill (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @08:47PM Of course it should be Open Sourced. (Score:2) by GeorgeMcBay (106610) on Saturday October 15, @05:33PM (#13799070) RISC OS is completely irrelevant to the real world, so of course it should follow in the footsteps of Xara, InterBase, etc.Open Source: Where old software goes to die! [ Reply to This Re:Of course it should be Open Sourced. (Score:4, Funny) by suso (153703) * on Saturday October 15, @05:37PM (#13799093) (http://suso.org/ | Last Journal: Tuesday March 09, @01:03AM) Open Source: Where old software goes to die!I thought they went to Computer Associates? [1] [linuxmafia.com] [ Reply to This | ParentNot irrelevant see Cerilica Truism by WillAdams (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @09:17PM2 replies beneath your current threshold. Obligatory Anti MS rabble... (Score:3, Insightful) by Mysticalfruit (533341) on Saturday October 15, @05:33PM (#13799072) (Last Journal: Thursday December 16, @01:32PM) end user support nightmareObviously, you've never had to give Microsoft's support line a call...Just because an OS is being supported in different variations from different companies isn't going to deminish the support options, it's going to expand them. [ Reply to ThisRe:Obligatory Anti MS rabble... by bladesjester (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @05:51PMRe:Obligatory Anti MS rabble... by sabernet (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @09:09PM Fragmentation? (Score:4, Insightful) by Jailbrekr (73837) <jailbrekr@digitaladdiction.net> on Saturday October 15, @05:34PM (#13799078) (http://www.digitaladdiction.net) Since when does having multiple distributions constitue "fragmentation"? Its still the same core OS, just with different packages and installations. [ Reply to ThisRe:Fragmentation? by H0p313ss (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:27PMRe:Fragmentation? by killjoe (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @07:03PMRe:Fragmentation? by Makarakalax (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:46PMRe:Fragmentation? by killjoe (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:57PMRe:Fragmentation? by Bastian (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @08:46PMRe:Fragmentation? by codermotor (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:57PMRe:Fragmentation? by Bastian (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @08:32PMRe:Fragmentation? by r_a_trip (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @09:21PM the failure that is Linux (Score:3, Insightful) by vistic (556838) <vistic&asu,edu> on Saturday October 15, @05:39PM (#13799100) (http://www.public.asu.edu/~corba3/) Paul also had reservations regarding 'the fragmentation seen in the open source world, such as the number of different Linux distributions and end user support nightmare entailed from that situation. Yes... because... RISC OS is a huge financial success that has launched many big name companies and is all the rage in the computer world... whereas Linux was just a big disaster... errrm... [ Reply to ThisRe:the failure that is Linux by Bloke down the pub (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:27PMRe:the failure that is Linux by Fordiman (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @08:36PM Open source != with source (Score:4, Insightful) by Bogtha (906264) on Saturday October 15, @05:42PM (#13799117) 'It is one thing to release software as open source so that people can look at the source code and help sort out the troublesome problems that "many hands can make light work of". It is completely another to simply say that the source should be freely available to anyone to do with as they like.' Open source isn't about letting people see the source so they can work for you for free. It only works because they are getting something out of it too. Who wants to hack on something when you know it's just going to get locked up and you have to pay for the privilege of getting the new version with your changes in? [ Reply to This I would say (Score:2, Insightful) by inode_buddha (576844) on Saturday October 15, @05:42PM (#13799118) (http://steigenlinux.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday October 02, @04:46PM) I would say to the RISC OS folks that maybe you could do a Creative Commons license thing with it. That way you could open it and still retain some semblance of attribution and control. Possibly even make a buck off the "officially endorsed" version that rolls in all the user mods, etc. under the same licensing. [ Reply to ThisRe:I would say by larry bagina (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @06:20PM Who cares? (Score:1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 15, @05:43PM (#13799121) Does anyone really use RISC OS? What does it offer that other (free) alternatives don't? [ Reply to ThisRe:Who cares? by Denyer (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @08:31PM BSD won't die, Neither will Linux. RISCOS might. (Score:4, Insightful) by putko (753330) on Saturday October 15, @05:52PM (#13799148) (http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=2768 | Last Journal: Wednesday October 05, @04:08AM) One neat thing about making it open source is that it will continue to live on forever, even if there is some big hiatus where nobody works on it.That's the case with BSD -- although the market share is small, it simply can't be killed off (unless all the BSD guys die off). Even RMS admits as much -- as much as it would be nice if the developers all worked on one thing for the common good, there's just no way to kil off BSD and force people to bow down to the Penguin.Same thing with Dragonfly -- I'd be happy if they could somehow work with the NetBSD folks -- but instead, there is the Dragonfly version of BSD, and there's nothing that I, RMS or Billy Gates can do about it. [ Reply to ThisRe:BSD won't die, Neither will Linux. RISCOS might by Nimrangul (Score:3) Saturday October 15, @06:03PMRe:BSD won't die, Neither will Linux. RISCOS might by Billly Gates (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:45PMRe:BSD won't die, Neither will Linux. RISCOS might by Nimrangul (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @07:13PMRe:BSD won't die, Neither will Linux. RISCOS might by Billly Gates (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @07:26PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:BSD won't die, Neither will Linux. RISCOS might by kv9 (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @07:50PMRe:BSD won't die, Neither will Linux. RISCOS might by jaseuk (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @08:07PM RISC OS? Hey, I remember that! (Score:4, Interesting) by KillQuentin (777853) on Saturday October 15, @05:53PM (#13799153) This is so freaky - I worked on RISC OS many, many years ago.We managed to write a pretty damn good desktop OS andfit it into a MB or two. Modern PCs have 1000 timesas much memory, 100 times as many CPU cycles, 10000 timesas much disc space. I have to admit that modern PCs arebetter now, buy only if you force me to.If I keep going I'll spill my beer down my long white beard. [ Reply to ThisRe:RISC OS? Hey, I remember that! by ettlz (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @05:59PMRe:RISC OS? Hey, I remember that! by NoMercy (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @06:13PMRe:RISC OS? Hey, I remember that! by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @07:02PMRe:RISC OS? Hey, I remember that! by KillShill (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @08:50PM Well let me think... I'm in the Yes camp :) (Score:4, Informative) by NoMercy (105420) on Saturday October 15, @05:59PM (#13799183) I love RISC OS, got a machine under my desk which runs version 4.03, yes I couln't justify the cost of Select while unemployed, and now... well it's not really worth upgrading it.I'd love to have the opertunity to tinker with what makes RISC OS tick, and to see things like ADFS supported on linux properly, which can only come though a open specification or open code.My worry wouln't be fragmentation, usually one fragment dies off, and effort moves to another when it's proved to be better, or not... and if the community splits and works on two diferent things, then obviously the community was split originally and now at least theve both got the OS they prefer. My worry would be no one picking it up and doing anything with it. [ Reply to This Question. (Score:1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 15, @06:00PM (#13799188) Why not just do it and see how it turns out? Not like they've got much left to lose at this point. Besides, the GPL2 doesn't say you _can't_ sell it for money, just that you can't stop other people giving it away.They could start by making an x86 version. Then we'll see how much YellowTab is really worth. [ Reply to This Go Open Source? (Score:1) by mscdex (774392) on Saturday October 15, @06:07PM (#13799222) (http://www.communitypage.net/) I'm not sure if they should go open source, it seems like a RISCy move. [ Reply to ThisRe:Go Open Source? by Jesus_666 (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @07:40PM ARM based PDAs? (Score:1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 15, @06:11PM (#13799233) I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that RISC OS would be an amazing fit for an ARM based PDA. Add one of those cool laser keyboards and you'd have pretty much a "real" computer with a full gui in only a couple of megs of code. None of the Linux based PDAs are as "lite" and I know for sure WinCe/Pocket Pee Cee isn't as tiny.Open Source it, I say! I imagine there would be some very interesting projects spun off from the code base.-Anonymous Coward [ Reply to ThisRe:ARM based PDAs? by the morgawr (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @07:41PMRe:ARM based PDAs? by Aardpig (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @08:42PM RISCY Business (Score:2) by Doc Ruby (173196) on Saturday October 15, @06:22PM (#13799270) (http://slashdot.org/~Doc%20Ruby/journal | Last Journal: Thursday March 31, @02:48PM) They can publish the source under copyright, without any licensing that transfers the copyright to people who read the copies. The GPL is a unique license that transfers the copyright - the right to copy and distribute the received copy - on the condition that the next recipient applies the same restrictions (along with several others that distinguish the GPL from others like BSD, MIT etc). And they can always GPL such a "one hop" copyright license later, if they want the benefits of further distribution of the core technology that makes their marketshare, although they can't go back once committed to GPL. If they really don't have downside to publishing their source, as long as that's as far as it goes, they have no excuse for not just doing it already. Try it, RISCOS, you'll like it. [ Reply to ThisRe:RISCY Business by cranos (Score:1) Saturday October 15, @08:03PMRe:RISCY Business by Doc Ruby (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @09:16PMRe:RISCY Business by Doc Ruby (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @10:30PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. The OS that deserves a chance! (Score:2, Insightful) by TheBlackzone (789600) on Saturday October 15, @06:50PM (#13799368) I've been a veteran user of RISC OS since its early days and I've seen it entering the downward spiral due to a lot of wrong decisions, marketing mistakes and false business politics. I hope this time the right decision will be made.Though I do not use the OS regular anymore, I'm still an active (and paying) supporter of it just because I don't want to see it vanish. RISC OS is a great OS and has a lot of potential. But it needs so much renovation; I hardly believe that a small company like RISC OS Ltd. can do this on its own.So, to answer the question: Yes, it definitely should be made open source! [ Reply to This They can do for me... (Score:1) by BumpyCarrot (775949) on Saturday October 15, @06:51PM (#13799370) I think this would be a great idea. Hell, we could get an x86 port going and then we'd have some real fun! An OS designed for early 90s machines running on my AMD64? Go for it! Linux is a little slow for my liking ;) [ Reply to This confusion (Score:1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 15, @06:55PM (#13799387) The OP seems to have confused RISC OS Ltd with Castle Technology Ltd, they aren't the same company. It is Castle that are having cash flow problems - there engineering dept. walked out not being paid for some time See http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact1461.html [drobe.co.uk] [ Reply to This Picture of RISC across 3 monitors (Score:2, Interesting) by SsShane (754647) on Saturday October 15, @07:01PM (#13799419) http://www.drobe.co.uk/extra/geminuswideboy-huge.j pg [drobe.co.uk] [ Reply to ThisRe:Picture of RISC across 3 monitors by oPless (Score:3) Saturday October 15, @11:24PM Where has this guy been? (Score:2, Insightful) by glengineer (697939) on Saturday October 15, @07:11PM (#13799458) (Voice of Jennifer Anniston) OH MY GAWD!(/voice) Hasn't this guy seen what open source has done to revive dead/dying systems? Of course, they have to write the GPL correctly, but fer cryin' out loud, hasn't Open Source proved itself as a viable revenue generation model?RISC operating systems would be great for those appliance applications where a full-up OS doesn't fit, like toasters and automobiles, for example. And Oh, by the way, protect the "rights' of those who developed it. [ Reply to ThisRe:Where has this guy been? by csirac (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @10:37PMRe:Where has this guy been? by Blakey Rat (Score:2) Saturday October 15, @11:46PM Most dumb question EVER? (Score:1) by gcantallopsr (451114) on Saturday October 15, @07:13PM (#13799466) (http://guillem.cantallops.net/) No, of course it should NOT be open sourced. They should let it die. Yeah, that was sarcasm :-PI mean... ALL software should be Open Source (more precisely, it should be Free Software) so it could survive for at least as long as its users. The question is pointless! [ Reply to This Not to be confused with the *other* RISC/os (Score:1) by nuckfuts (690967)