Twenty Years of RISC OS Open
RISC OS Open celebrates two decades of transforming a proprietary operating system into a thriving open-source project, marking a significant journey from its niche origins. The article details the critical milestones, community contributions, and technological adaptations that kept the classic OS relevant. This retrospective appeals to Hacker News's appreciation for enduring software projects, legacy hardware, and the power of community-driven development.
The Lowdown
RISC OS Open (ROOL) is commemorating its 20th anniversary, reflecting on two decades of remarkable efforts to open-source and modernize the RISC OS operating system. What began in 2006 as an ambitious plan to take a proprietary OS and make it community-driven has blossomed into a vibrant ecosystem, far healthier than its predecessor.
The journey involved numerous key achievements and community collaborations:
- Initial Open-Sourcing: The very first RISC OS sources were released to the public in 2007, kicking off the initiative to make the OS accessible for community development.
- Community Infrastructure: Early efforts focused on building crucial infrastructure like nightly autobuilds and the successful Bounty Scheme, allowing the community to fund and prioritize desired features.
- Hardware Expansion & Raspberry Pi: Significant ports to new hardware platforms, notably the Raspberry Pi in 2012, which dramatically increased RISC OS's reach and introduced it to a new generation of users. Subsequent support for Pi 2, Pi 4, and Pi 400 further solidified its presence.
- Stable Releases & Modernization: Over the years, ROOL has delivered numerous stable ROM releases (e.g., RISC OS 5.20, 5.28, 5.30), integrating modern conveniences like EDID support, a native Git client, NVMe storage, and improving legacy components like the Archimedes BASIC Compiler.
- Full Apache 2.0 Release: A pivotal moment in 2018 saw RISC OS re-licensed under Apache 2.0, making it truly free for commercial and non-commercial use, fulfilling the initial ambition.
- Future-Proofing with Moonshots: The recent "Moonshots" initiative aims to secure the OS's long-term future by focusing on full-time engineering to transition to 64-bit Arm architectures, ensuring compatibility as 32-bit chips become obsolete.
This 20-year retrospective underscores the power of sustained community effort in not only preserving but actively advancing a historically significant operating system. ROOL acknowledges that the current state of RISC OS is a testament to the countless contributions from developers, testers, and enthusiasts, setting the stage for continued innovation for decades to come.