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Introducing KOSH

© John Chandler

It may seem odd but I'm actually going to talk about another operating system this month. Nope, I haven't deserted the Amiga, far from it, just introducing a new development which has so much of the Amiga community spirit, 'look and feel', and power that it's an Amiga in everything except name. No matter what your background, the Kommunity Operating System and Hardware project (KOSH for short) may well be a dream come true - no Amiga experience necessary. If you're reading this, then you're obviously very receptive to the idea of life beyond Windoze... ideal KOSH material, really.

While other visions of the Amiga's future have focused upon updating the operating system or the hardware, there has been one component left to one side - the Amiga community. Let's face it, the Amiga, for all its achievements in OS design, revolutionary hardware and integration, would have died an uncomfortable and lonely death in the post-Commodore years without community spirit. Community spirit thrives on many platforms, notably the so-called 'alternative platforms' (Linux, Mac, Palm, Acorn, BeOS, etc.), and every community expresses their own frustrations with the corporate machinery controlling their platform (yep, even Linux!).

KOSH aims to wipe the slate clean, so to speak. Put the community firmly in charge - no one person or corporation controls the system. No bankruptcy worries, no monopolistic attitudes, no marketing hype, no politics or squabbling, no abandonment - the way it should be. Linux has been a shining example of the benefits of community driven OS development, and KOSH aims to take this concept to the next logical step - introducing the strong possibility of community-oriented hardware development for good measure. With the slate clean, the community can build without the baggage of the past, without conformance to external politics - putting the emphasis back on revolution and vision in computing.

Okay, so these are hefty words with more than a little optimism and idealism. Not a line of code has been written, this is the beginning, we just have promises and words (however, if you subscribe to the open KOSH discussion lists, you'll find a LOT of wise words!) but nothing tangible as yet. Community is one thing, but what will KOSH actually offer over contemporary operating systems? Why should you install KOSH on your precious computer?

KOSH aims to deliver a highly flexible system based upon a dynamic, 'organic' environment called an 'Object Sea'. Objects in this digital sea communicate between themselves, react, create, develop and maintain according to the requirements placed upon them. From this stems the ability to customise,

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