Exclusive interview with Ben Hermans! : Comment 2 of 167

Posted by Raquel and Bill (212.198.0.93) on 07-Nov-2002 06:06:58

As a caveat to this interview, and in the positive and constructive spirit that seems to be flowing back into this community (see AmiFan "Rant" below), we would like to offer Hyperion a Pegasos with our complements.

When Ben Hermans visited Thendic-France in February 2002 we provided him with CyberStormPPC documentation in hope of assisting with the OS4 development and we took him to lunch. If Ben is willing to come back, we will take him to lunch again and give him a Pegasos. As the Pegasos was developed by the same team that developed the CyberStormPPC, it seems the least we can do.

We hope that this will insure that OS4 is ready for the Pegasos and that this gesture may in some way assist Hyperion in advancing the development, which when completed will be welcomed by many Amigans.

We hope this makes our position clear.

@Ben

We have a Pegasos for you. Please come pick it up and let's bring this community back together!

Sincerely,

Raquel Velasco and Bill Buck

Exclusive interview with Ben Hermans! : Comment 7 of 167

Posted by <mailto:Raquel%20and%20Bill> (212.198.0.93) on 07-Nov-2002 07:02:02 In Reply to Comment 4 <http://www.ann.lu/comments2.cgi?view=1036645965&category=web&start=1&167>:

@Anonymous (80.202.212.211)

We thought this very public method of registering our position was the best way for all concerned to know exactly how we felt. Our post here is no more or less a means of "PR" than the interview itself.

@James

No, we are not willing to pay for a OS4 port to the machine, but giving one to Hyperion is a step in the right direction. We are completely satisfied with MorphOS, but there are some in the that community may want OS4. Certainly, there are enterprising Resellers that can obtain an OS4 license and on the same basis (hardware + OS cost) and apply it to the Pegasos. It will be a little more expensive for people who want OS4, but what are we talking about 25 to 50 Euros? For a long awaited result, it seems a small price to pay.

Anyway, the objective was to get the community to thinking collectively and cooperatively. Having this discussion in public creates accountability and puts the responsibility to move ahead where it needs to be so everything in general can advance.

Sincerely,

Raquel and Bill

as you well know, all hardware must be certified to run AmigaOS4.0 and an OEM copy must ship with each board/machine. This requires a licence, which is available from us. Giving a pegasos board to Hyperion will not get AmigaOS4.0 on to it. You've now publicly stated that you want to see AmigaOS4.0 on a Pegaasos board and we'd be delighted to see that happen. However, either you or some enterprising OEM will now need to put a specification and process in place and the licence will have to be signed before any work is done. That means meeting agreed levels of quality, sales and support as demanded by the Amiga users, dealers, developers and most important post sale support. With that in mind, do you intend replacing all existing Pegasos boards sold with the Articia chipset bug in then?

I look forwards to hearing from you through the more normal business channels and look forwards to welcoming bPlan hardware to the AmigaOS family.

fleecy moss
cto
amiga inc

whils that is true, we wouldn't be too happy to work with a company that applies double standards to some of its customers over others. Of course this is a good example of why we are demanding a certification agreement and demonstrates the value of such a mechanism to existing and potential AmigaOS customers.

cheers

fleecy moss
cto
amiga inc

Wow Fleecy!

We cannot think of anyone better to have the chance to answer in such a public forum. Thank you for posting.

As you well know, we have had this discussion before, but maybe we can try again more constructively this time. We make and distribute the Pegasos. We sell it. Hyperion is developing OS4. We have offered them a board as a healing gesture of cooperation to bring the community a little bit closer together. For the moment it stops there. Would you like to have further discussions? We can as you suggested. In the meanwhile, perhaps, the same Resellers that have been selected to distribute "Amiga" products could handle the standard you have mentioned: "meeting agreed levels of quality, sales and support as demanded by the Amiga users, dealers, developers and most important post sale support." Certainly, for the benefit of the community, you can sort this out with them directly. We should avoid our historical difficulties for the benefit of all.

As for the Articia chipset "bug" -- have you made a public announcement? The facts concerning this matter are most certainly to be made public by Mai Logic as they determine -- not us. We can only say that Gerald Carda and Thomas Knäbel were able to work with Mai directly to solve any challenges that we may have experienced. bplan has an excellent relationship with Mai. Gerald Carda spent ten days at their offices in Fremont, California in October and we are quite satisfied to move ahead with the Articia chipset. Mai has supported us well.

Finally, all Pegasos boards will be sold without defect or replaced without question. Our Betatesters are aware of this and all Betatester II buyers have received the same assurance. We are fully committed to the satisfaction of anyone who purchases a Pegasos. They will be on sale as the First Commercial Release of the Pegasos soon!

Best regards,

Raquel and Bill

This all sounds very encouraging. I look forwards to hearing from you and/or Pegasos OEMs to move this forwards.

cheers

fleecy moss
cto
amiga inc