smcgee%albion.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Scott Mcgee) (11/30/90)
I am the one who asked about good stuff for an amiga to encourage my cousin to get involved in Computer Science. (Thanks to the three who took the time to reply!) Now I have another question. Where can I find out how to get OS-9 for an amiga? I use OS-9 on my system (a Tandy Color Computer - $99 while they last, Radio Shack has quit making them!) and would like to have a compatible OS to encourage him. Also, OS-9 is a great lead-in for UN*X! Any info would be greatly apreaciated! Scott Writing programs in assembler is like digging post holes with a teaspoon: it takes a long time, but you have complete control over all the dirt. ------------------------------------------#------------------------------ smcgee%albion@cs.utah.edu (Scott McGee) # Did _I_ say _That_? Really?
kdarling@hobbes.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) (11/30/90)
Unfortunately, the only currently known OS-9/Amiga port was done by a gentleman (nice guy; met him at Buscon last year) from Australia, who did it more for fun than for profit (he had a 50-license OS9 PortPak laying around from an unsold controller project, and an A2000). I say "unfortunately", because he has never found time to market it (his normal business keeps him tied up)... and because IF the port HAD been readily available last year, we would've all recommended the Amiga to the 100,000+ (and still growing) CoCo OS9 users as the best 68K path to take. (We thought it was a far better choice than the ST, because it seemed that Atari was fading out... altho I personally still use OS9/ST). But because his interest was elsewhere, the results were both bad and good: The "bad" part was that it blocked a possibly large influx of new Amiga owners, AND it disappointed several well-known Amiga hard/software companies who understand, like, and still want OS9 as an alternative Amy choice. The "good" part, as you've probably heard, was that at least three companies (more are coming!) have come up with new 68K machines. They cost less with OS9 than the original OS9/Amiga setup would have; plus they have certain hardware advantages. And it means more Motorola-based choices (yay!). Still, when we get time, we're gonna do our own Amiga port. A basic version (terminal-oriented) should only take a week or so to do. But what stops us more than anything is the lack of a "standard" (read: WD or NEC etc) disk controller in the Amiga. I've heard there is source somewhere for an IBM-style trackdisk driver... if anyone knows where, we'd be very grateful. So, the long-winded answer is: you can get OS9 for the Mac, ST, and 386s... but not for the Amiga at this time. best - kevin <kdarling@catt.ncsu.edu>