Discussions and negotiations continue between Castle and RISCOS Ltd., as each side seeks to finalise a final agreement on the future of the development of RISC OS. As part of the new initiative announced during the summer, we're told that the two sides are working on "dotting the 'i's and crossing the 't's" in the agreement paperwork.The owners of RISC OS, Castle, and the developers of desktop RISC OS, RISCOS Ltd., fell out earlier in the year after Castle alleged that RISCOS Ltd. was in breach of its licence to develop and sell RISC OS, a charge RISCOS Ltd. refuted. Several dealers and manufacturers halted the shipping of RISC OS 4 in response to the legal storm, until all sides agreed to the joint initiative and resumed shipping products as per usual.
Right now, the on-going talks stem from the original joint statement, which announced that "RISCOS Ltd will be working with Castle to provide relevant features of the Select scheme to IYONIX pc users through the Merlin project". The Merlin project was launched by Castle in May to consult with users on what features they would most like to see added to RISC OS. We understand that the finer details of the arrangement between Castle and RISCOS Ltd., with respect to Merlin, are playing a large role in the on-going discussions.
Both companies spoke tentatively this week on the current state of play, however Castle managing director Jack Lillingston confirmed that above all, both companies wanted "the best for RISC OS". Paul Middleton, RISCOS Ltd.'s managing director, also reassured us that a joint announcement will be put out when ready, and an announcement to Select users would follow shortly. It's hoped that the eventual press release will address current speculation and set the record straight on the direction of RISC OS for desktop end users.
Links
Castle website
RISCOS Ltd. website