On with the show - RISC OS News, Software and Information

On with the show

Published: 7th Jul 2003, 16:50:15GMT Source: drobe.co.uk
By Chris Williams

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Castle promises online FAQ, answers our questions

A lot of questions of have been asked over the weekend after Castle Technology relieved Pace of RISC OS on Friday. Today this lunchtime, Castle informed us that they're preparing an online FAQ which should clear up most of your queries when published. In the meantime, we had a few burning questions that needed answering and Castle's Managing Director Jack Lillingston was on hand to help.

Firstly, Jack assured us that Castle now owns all of RISC OS. All previous licences with Pace are preserved which means RISCOS Ltd. still have a licence to develop and distribute RISC OS 4 and as such RISCOS Ltd.'s sub-licences with companies like MicroDigital are safe. The position seems more clear now - if you want RISC OS 4 (which is 26 bit), you talk to RISCOS Ltd. and if you want RISC OS 5 (which is 32 bit), you talk to Castle. On the subject of emulators and RISC OS, Jack mentioned that he wasn't aware of any written agreement between VirtualAcorn and Pace although Castle haven't got a problem with the emulation of RISC OS hardware to run RISC OS, if that's your cup of tea.

Jack revealed that Castle and RISCOS Ltd. were in talks at a meeting last Friday and Castle are very keen to work closely with RISCOS Ltd. Jack spoke highly of RISCOS Ltd.'s work and described them as "experts" when it comes to RISC OS on the desktop. Therefore, we should expect active integration of RISC OS Select with Castle's RISC OS; RISCOS Ltd. have already spoken of this - the exact details on how such a merged version will be released to the public are still being worked on. Castle would like to see, from a maintenance and stability point of view, a single fundamental version of RISC OS which contains all the essential core modules which can be used in an embedded form and then functionality specifically for desktop users (hello, Select) can be used on top.

You see, Castle are very keen on entering the consumer electronics market and producing embedded RISC OS powered gadgets in order to push RISC OS forward. ARM are shifting more and more processors a year and Castle want to be a part of that, we were told - you may recall Castle's Neuron products. Remember that Pace produced more RISC OS powered kit than Acorn produced RiscPCs, so with any luck we may see RISC OS cropping up in places we wouldn't have thought possible. In order to get RISC OS onto newer hardware, this is where Tematic comes into the frame, a company made up of many ex-Acorn and ex-Pace engineers with whom Castle are delighted to be working with.

With this in mind, are Castle the next Acorn? Unfortunately, Castle don't own the Acorn nut logo although they were allowed to use it with their RiscPCs and A7000s but Castle would prefer to remain as just Castle, rather than Acorn Mark II.

Jack also added that he was very glad to see work like Simon Wilson's PCI TV Card project. Castle have produced an Iyonix Technical Reference Manual, which is at the printers as I type this, we're expecting news on that later this week. Castle being Castle, Jack wouldn't give out details of any future projects so we'll have to sit tight.

Finally, we asked if Castle were going to follow in RISCOS Ltd.'s footsteps and opensource some components of the OS, seeing as Castle had already published their HAL and EtherY software under the GPL. The answer was no.

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jonix 7/7/03 4:54PM	I very much like the sound of a single fundamental version of RISC OS with extra functionality developed for desktop users. I think this puts RISC OS, Castle and RISCOS Ltd. in a strong position.
piemmm 7/7/03 4:56PM	It'll be nice to see Select integrated into OS5 at some point relatively soon! Writing software that takes advantage of feature X that isn't present in version Y aint much fun. -- Ian Hawkins (g0tai)
takkaria 7/7/03 4:57PM	Bingle!
moss 7/7/03 5:06PM	I believe the phrase is "It's all good".
fylfot 7/7/03 5:07PM	So, do we support RISC OS 5 and Select integration by subscribing to ROL or will Castle be funding most of this work?
illudium 7/7/03 5:10PM	Precisely takkaria. That all looks very good. It looks like everybody is appreciating each other's talents, they want to work together and we should get a better RISC OS out of it On the subject of open source, RISCOS Ltd have opensourced one component, and it's not part of what I would call the OS. I think that printing is one clear area where opensourcing can only be a good thing.
SparkY 7/7/03 5:25PM	The Acorn thing isn't going to go away - the platform needs a clear identifiable logo and unified name and I think Acorn is perfect for it. By the way Jonix, I've a SAM Coupe on my desk beside me here! You don't own a SAM do you? -- Gavin Smith
AndrewDuffell 7/7/03 5:26PM	I wonder if castle will buy the Acorn Nut Device off HH?
thegman 7/7/03 5:31PM	I for one would hope that Castle do start to use the nut (if they were allowed), but I would not expect them to pay for it, I think they have better things to spend their money one. I think HH is rich enough that any money Castle could give him would be insignificant by his standards.
jonix 7/7/03 5:52PM	I'm going to continue with my Select subscription even after purchasing an Iyonix. *In reply to SparkY:* Yes I have a SAM, doesn't see much use though at the moment.
Snig 7/7/03 6:27PM	It's all good.
zeeb 7/7/03 6:28PM	*In reply to Sparky:* I agree that the RISC OS community really needs a good logo, but I don't think the Acorn logo is it. Too much legacy, too much baggage. I'd quite like to see some good artwork along the lines of "Sophie The Squirrel", which was discussed some time ago. Surely we must have some good artists amongst us? A goodly collection of free logos would allow people to make backdrops, car stickers, computer-case adornments, etc. All pushing the RISC OS scene, and hopefully giving people a logo to recognise, and 'get behind'. Can anyone here draw like Eric Shwartz? Lots of squirrels! (Use Google if you don't know who Eric is.)
Timothy609 7/7/03 6:29PM	flyfot: We hope Castle will be funding it, but we support them ourselves aswell!
jonix 7/7/03 6:29PM	The great thing about the nut logo is that it's simple.
SparkY 7/7/03 6:31PM	It would be so incredibly hard to start from scratch to create an identity. Nostalgia is a good thing, and I do believe people have tracked down RISC OS because of its Acorn links - I'm one of them. Difference now is that once they get interested for nostalgic reasons, then we can sell them a nice new fast machine -- Gavin Smith
imj 7/7/03 6:34PM	Castle blatantly stole ROL's cog device, so why should they have any worry about stealing the good ole nut?
sa110 7/7/03 6:50PM	It was never ROL's for them to steel it from. Doen'st Richard Hallas who designed it and as far as I know, he still holds the copyright. It was also Richard who did the icons for RO5. Having the shadow of the cog was to keep a link with RO4. -- Paul Stewart, Bletchley, Milton Keynes
Snig 7/7/03 7:05PM	Why doesn't someone design a Castle icon? Why are people so bothered about using the old Acorn logo? It was simple and easy to remember but imo ppl need to dissacociate the current RO market with the dodgy company that went bust a while back.
moss 7/7/03 7:13PM	I thought the whole point of the cog logo was that it could be used for all versions of RISC OS?
AMS 7/7/03 7:16PM	<Monty Burns sound fx> "Technical Reference manual, Simpson eh ?"</Monty Burns sound fx> Sounds good, seems like Castle have been busy - bodes well overall. The availability of the Tech Ref will help, this may accellerate further hardware/driver development - a good thing surely..... -- Annraoi McShane,
SparkY 7/7/03 7:19PM	IMJ, they didn't steal it, it was created for use for the whole platform by Richard Hallas (though sadly I don't think it's particularly good, no offence Richard!). Get over your anti-Castle nonsense IMJ, it's getting dull mate and none of your arguments are justified. -- Gavin Smith
epistaxsis_RISC OS 7/7/03 8:04PM	its all nuts!!
drjones69 7/7/03 8:53PM	Just to stick my oar in... I for one would welcome the return of the nut, despite around 5 years of hardwork and effort by many companies in the RISC OS arena, the 'Acorn Nut' still commands more respect, and re'cog'nition (sorry couldn't resist the pun), from many people than all the RISC OS marketting put together - many may see it as baggage, but at least it's baggage non-RISC OS people recognise. I'll now keep my logo-related trap shut, and eagerly await Castle's FAQ -- Ryan Hitch, Cottingham
TonyStill 7/7/03 9:58PM	Trouble is, when I tell people I have an Acorn computer, they think of Beebs...or they ask if Archimedes is still going. Surprise that we have a decent C compiler, or a Web Browser are other reactions. Castle described Iyonix as a fresh start and not an Acorn computer. I think they're right. Let's go for Richard's cog wheel: It's simple and effective and already unites the two camps in our littlle world! Tony
moss 7/7/03 10:19PM	My only problem with the cog is that it's far too similar to the KDE logo. I know it's a common whiny compliant, but it is true.
SparkY 7/7/03 10:29PM	Indeed In marketing terms, it also has no real character - it's not a particularly nice or attractive image (and I'm not referring to the quality of the art). I honestly don't think you could get it into the hearts and minds of people. I don't believe that when they see a cog, they would ever think "ahh, RISC OS"! -- Gavin Smith
moss 7/7/03 10:34PM	Yes; it's also the problem with the name IYONIX; it has no real character.
SparkY 7/7/03 10:40PM	I refuse to type Iyonix in capitals, I think it's Castle's only mistake in the last year or two -- Gavin Smith
moss 7/7/03 11:02PM	I think I'm the only one who persists
nijinsky 8/7/03 10:26AM	Ahhh the cog or the nut!!!!!!!! This is as silly as Phoebe debates 1)how to spell it 2)the yellow colour cheers Bob
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