There are probably millions of Power Macs.

I am quite sure we are going to see a very broad shift to multiple ARM cores both on desktop and servers in coming years. It has to do with saving power and making hardware smaller. With the cortexA57 64bits, coming out in a year or 2, we will see more powerful and incredibly energy efficient hardware. This is at least a path that carries a bit of the legacy of MorphOS, being is a lightweight OS and currently on efficient PPC.

The RPi is such a smart thing. Maybee not so powerful, but its cheap and its small and it will give many people who could not afford a computer to actually own one and learn programming.

A MorphOS move to ARM, would be smart to make the first release for RPi, even if it is a cheap stripped version of it (only the most essential) it could become very popular.

I cant really see why MorphOS would go for x64/86? Even if it is the most spread and exist powerful hardware, it doesnt share the energyefficient and lightweight idea, which is the trend for the future and part of the legacy of Morphos.

Tomas

> There are probably millions of Power Macs.

I don't think that machines that are only available used are considered a viable target platform by most developers.

My opinion is that WHEN the MorphOS Dev. Team finally decides to move on to a new hardware architecture, be that in 6 months from now, or 5 years down the road, they should choose the more energy efficient ARM architecture. And since they have already stated that they will most likely loose backward compatibility with Amiga 68k software during that change, why not make a complete jump with a new kernel that will also allow for the use of many existing drivers, by using an existing Linux kernel and building a new MorphOS on top of it.

Then we could use the existing Linux based UAE for backward compatibility with Amiga programs. I think this is the only feasible way forward that would allow greater flexibility, and possibly the MorphOS Dev. Team could even make it so we could run any Linux program with little or even zero changes, or recompiling, from this new version of MorphOS for ARM.

I have faith in the MorphOS Dev. Team to make such a Linux based new operating system, so that it would not be just another flavor of Linux, but a true successor of our current PPC MorphOS3.x.

[ Edited by amigadave 01.04.2013 - 17:12 ]

I recently purchased a Pi 2 B, and am UTTERLY impressed! I can run 99% of my giant PSX catalog without any major issues what so ever. Debian runs pretty darn good on it, and it can play BlueRay quality videos. Considering how well MorphOS actually works on the Efika (despite it's very very limited RAM), I can see now reason why the PI 2 could now allow for MorphOS to fully shine, UAE4All and everything.

Imagine a $35 MorphOS computer (minus case, power supply, HDMI cord, Keyboard, Mouse, and Wifi dongle.)
Now to only consider what small, low cost ARM based computers will be on the market should MorphOS decide to go the ARM route and eventually make the move. The Pi 2 B will probably be outdated by then at the and surpassed by better hardware at the same price.

Quote:

I know what you mean. I also purchased a Raspberry Pi 2, and believe that done correctly, a completely new version of MorphOS for ARM architecture (if also implemented with memory protection and SMP) would rock on the Raspberry Pi 2.

Following up on my earlier post in this thread, I sincerely believe that the MorphOS Dev. Team could make an ARM version of MorphOS using the Linux kernel, AND make this new NG version of MorphOS able to run Linux software through some kind of wrapper or layer, that would instantly give the new version of MorphOS tons of software to run, but still look and feel like the MorphOS we have come to love and respect. Weather the new MorphOS needs something like Wine to run Linux software, or some other method does not matter. I have confidence that the MorphOS Dev. Team could make something that is NOT just another Linux distribution that looks like MorphOS, but a realy NG version of MorphOS that is also capable of somehow running most Linux software.

IMO, this would be a killer version of MorphOS, which would make all other AmigaNG platforms obsolete, as I am sure that the MorphOS Dev. Team could do this better and faster than the people currently working on AEROS, which is basically the same idea.

Quote:


Not quite how it works... Sure you can use the linux kernel for drivers.

However if you want to use linux applications without "porting" you basically become a linux distro as you need to include all the dependencies required for running the applications on top of the linux kernel.

What Pascal is doing is basically running AROS hosted and piping commands to the linux side from AROS while displaying them in linux.


[ Edited by terminills 05.09.2015 - 22:47 ]

Linux = Linux.
Linux ≠ MorphOS.
Linux ≠ AROS. (or does it? AROS Usually Hosted On Linux.)

If Morph cannot port MorphOS native to the ARM Raspberry Pi Device Series, then they could use Linux. Especially considering Binary Blob or whatever difficulty encountered with porting to ARM Pi Device. If I remember, AROS Native was constructed using a Linux Binary Blob.

I do not think MorphOS should follow the same path of AROS, commonly being hosted to Linux. Or, an AEROS version of MorphOS. What if Morph developers scrap the native MorphOS?

I have confidence that MorphOS developers can reverse engineer anything. They supported the Apple AirPort Cards, which was believed to be impossible. Because of their skill level, I do not think it is necessary for them to rely on Linux. (I suppose, with the exception of hosting MorphOS websites web servers.)

I understand the use of Linux Software. Perhaps KDE? But if such as MorphOS should be created, it must be separate from MorphOS. And the Unix Linux BSD X Windows System affiliated version of MorphOS just simply cannot be called MorphOS.

Unfortunately, MorphIX already exists and it is not developed by Morph Zone Team.

Quote:

AROS native used the binary firmware from Broadcom not a Linux binary driver.

While Linux has earned my respect over the years, and does remain on a laptop and desktop of mine, I am not dying to be able to launch Linux apps from within MorphOS, nor do I have a desire to see them merged beyond using Linux as a means to boot MorphOS.

I would like to play with AEROS since it does exist, but you have to pay for it and I don't always have spare cash laying around. Plus I was not impressed with AEROS on my laptop, it seemed very bloated for a Debian distro let alone AROS distro.

[ Edited by XDelusion 05.09.2015 - 21:02 ]

Quote:

I am sure you are right, but my thinking is that our MorphOS Dev. Team is smart enough to develop something new and different, that takes advantage of the Linux kernel for drivers, plus build an interpreter, or intermediate layer of some kind that allows the new MorphOS to run Linux programs, but maybe not be just another Linux distro.

I suppose they could even use a different kernel that provides all the drivers we need, but I believe that building some kind of Linux compatibility, or emulator, or interpreter, of some kind that would allow us to run most, or all Linux software, would increase the chances of success greatly. We would instantly have tons of software available to us, and existing Linux developers could more easily develop new software for MorphOS as well.

Perhaps my idea is not feasible, but I assume nothing is impossible until someone actually tries to do it and fails repeatedly, or proves the idea is flawed from the very beginning with some hard facts. Even then, there is usually always a way around obstacles, but sometimes the effort is not worth the results.

Edit: On second thought, I guess it would just be better if we could more easily recompile Linux software to run on the new MorphOS, instead of trying to implement an X-Window replacement on MorphOS. I suppose that just by switching to ARM or x64, it will make some things easier to port to MorphOS in the future.

[ Edited by amigadave 05.09.2015 - 19:00 ]

> MorphOS developers [...] supported the Apple AirPort Cards, which was believed
> to be impossible.

By whom? Certainly not by anybody who had been aware of the fact that Linux and BSD started to support AirPort Extreme 8.5 years before

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=6237&forum=3&start=337

> MorphIX already exists and it is not developed by Morph Zone Team.

Morph Zone Team?

Quote:

At least one of the MorphOS Dev. Team stated at one time or another that the AirPort Extreme would NOT be supported in future versions of MorphOS. This was somewhere between MorphOS3.1 and MorphOS3.5 I think, so I was pleasantly surprised when support of the built-in AirPort Extreme was announced for MorphOS.

>>> MorphOS developers [...] supported the Apple AirPort Cards, which was believed
>>> to be impossible.

>> By whom? Certainly not by anybody who had been aware of the fact that Linux
>> and BSD started to support AirPort Extreme 8.5 years before
>> https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=6237&forum=3&start=337

> At least one of the MorphOS Dev. Team stated at one time or another that
> the AirPort Extreme would NOT be supported in future versions of MorphOS.

But did he actually state it was impossible to support it, or just that it wouldn't be supported (for whatever reason besides impossibility)?

Edit: This comment was originally a reply to that comment, which was spun off by the powers that be into another thread, together with other comments.


Update:

> https://www.patreon.com/posts/dromaiidae-emu-24407987
> [...] https://github.com/michalsc/Emu68

https://www.patreon.com/posts/m68k-based-30711890

[ Edited by Andreas_Wolf 17.01.2020 - 21:17 ]

Update:

> https://www.patreon.com/posts/m68k-based-30711890

https://www.patreon.com/posts/in-case-you-want-31318081
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhvu_2NS08k

And as I have stated before... As soon as MorphOS becomes Linux or a Linux derivative I walk away from it completely.

No, just no.

> As soon as MorphOS becomes Linux or a Linux derivative
> I walk away from it completely.

Then you might be pleased to hear that MorphOS (or AROS for that matter) wouldn't magically turn into Linux or a Linux derivative just by being ported to the Raspberry Pi ;-)

I understand that, but if you read what AmigaDave said then you will understand why I said that.

@Amigadave
"And since they have already stated that they will most likely loose backward compatibility with Amiga 68k software during that change, why not make a complete jump with a new kernel that will also allow for the use of many existing drivers, by using an existing Linux kernel and building a new MorphOS on top of it.

Then we could use the existing Linux based UAE for backward compatibility with Amiga programs. I think this is the only feasible way forward that would allow greater flexibility, and possibly the MorphOS Dev. Team could even make it so we could run any Linux program with little or even zero changes, or recompiling, from this new version of MorphOS for ARM."

> if you read what AmigaDave said then you will understand why I said that.

Sorry, it wasn't obvious that your comment #99 was an answer to 6-year old comment #86.

If this is not future for Amiga and MorphOS operating sytem, I do not know what it is.

https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-400/

Cheap affordable hardware, ARM based, single platform to develop drivers for. Enough power for low footprint OS.
Power will grow as times goes by. large user base.

All in all, I think that is the way to go.

[ Edited by Lokz 13.01.2022 - 14:12 ]