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FreeBench 2018?

Vojin Vidanovic
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Posts 1916/ 1
18 Nov 2019 00:18


No downloads, just text. I wonder could this, similar to e.g. ReactOS, provide free basis for retro gaming and AmiKit install, cutting one "source of revenue" from IP nutshell holders.

FreeBench Last updated on 09-MAY-2018
EXTERNAL LINK 

This is an attempt I made back in 2016 to create a working free workbench disk clone. (current version is 0.1).  Project started long ago, and although somewhat functional has been languishing for quite some time.

Overview:

AmigaOS seems will never be free, you always need to pay to someone or have to resort to "copies".

To avoid legal and economic issues many users and developers face, I have decided to compile an AmigaOS distribution which is built entirely upon free software replacements.

You may argue that AROS is already out there and free and so this has no sense, but have you tried using it on an Amiga?

It hurts very bad to see that despite all the great steps forward that AROS has made the past years, it still can´t replace the aging basics of an AmigaOS 3.1 system on a modest Amiga. I sincerely hope one day, AROS can become a true replacement (even an enhanced one) for real Amiga hardware, but no one seems motivated enough to actually do it.

So here comes Freebench, which tries to fill that gap. It aims to be a complete AmigaOS 3.1 replacement for real Amigas. The idea is to have aproximately the same performance and features of AmigaOS 3.1 as possible, with hopefully some few enhancements when they come at no extra space/performance cost :)

The minimum system requirements are 68000 CPU, 512KB RAM and an original Commodore kickstart 3.0 or 3.1.

Who may find this "FreeBench" thing appealing?

Anyone that doesnt wish to get into legal troubles with Patent Trolls and some users & developers that wish to distribute their software complete, dongle free ;)

Current limitations in v0.1:

-Does not work in an A4000T

-No Arexx support

-No bullet font support

-Incomplete in most parts, but boots and somehow works

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Same author has various distro projects mentioned elsewhere, but here in full details. Quite interesting, I wonder could DraCo pack or some advanced RTG one be build for Vamps, taking some options from lite ones.

BestWB (current 3.1.4 update "Community BoingBag")
EXTERNAL LINK 
BetterWB 2018
EXTERNAL LINK 
Amiga In A Box 2018
EXTERNAL LINK 
Ultimate DraCo 2018
EXTERNAL LINK 
DraCo revisited 2018
EXTERNAL LINK 


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