Editing Amiga Unix (section)

==Reception==

Although the Amiga 3000UX could deliver a "responsive" experience, performance in the graphical environment was nevertheless described as being "on par with a slow [[i386|386]] machine running [[SCO Open Desktop]]".<ref name="unixworld199112_a3000ux">{{cite magazine |last=Burgard |first=Mike |url=http://docs.unix-history.com/reviews/amiga3000ux.pdf |title=More than a Toy but No Bargain |magazine=[[UnixWorld]] | date=December 1991 | access-date=25 February 2024 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218030848/http://docs.unix-history.com/reviews/amiga3000ux.pdf | archive-date=18 December 2007 }}</ref> Another evaluation of version 1.1 of the operating system described the [[X Window System]] performance as being "monochrome and slow as molasses", with an improved version 2.0 of the system to be made available, providing colour support in conjunction with the A2410 graphics board.<ref name="info199106_unix">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/info_Issue_40_1991-06.info_Publications_US/page/n43/mode/1up | title=Amiga Unix: A Hands-On Look | magazine=.info | date=June 1991 | access-date=7 March 2024 | pages=44 }}</ref> This board was launched later in 1991, offering a {{nowrap|1024 x 1024}} resolution with [[8-bit color|8-bit colour depth]],<ref name="amazingcomputing199109_a2410">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/amazing-computing-magazine-1991-09/page/n18/mode/1up | title=A2410 Hi-Res Graphics Card | magazine=Amazing Computing | date=September 1991 | access-date=7 March 2024 | pages=17 }}</ref> having been first announced in late 1988 as a collaboration with the University of Lowell.<ref name="info198901_comdex"/> The card, based on the [[TMS34010]], had previously been demonstrated at the Uniforum Fall '89 show.<ref name="amigaworld199004_computerdujour">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/amiga-world-1990-04/page/n41/mode/1up | title=Computer du Jour: Amiga Unix | magazine=Amiga World | date=April 1990 | access-date=5 April 2024 | last1=Catchings | first1=Bill | last2=Van Name | first2=Mark L. | pages=40 }}</ref>

The Amiga 3000UX's base price of {{US$|4998}} (approximately US${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|4998|1991|r=-2}}}} today),<ref name="amigahistory_a3000ux">{{cite web | url=http://www.amigahistory.plus.com/a3000ux.html | title=Commodore Amiga 3000UX bundle | access-date=25 February 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725053956/http://www.amigahistory.plus.com/a3000ux.html | archive-date=25 July 2020 | url-status=dead }}</ref> rising to a reported ${{Format price|7713}} with graphics board (priced separately at around ${{Format price|1000}}<ref name="acguide_winter1993_a2410">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/ACs_Guide_To_The_Commodore_Amiga_Winter_93_1993_PiM_Publications_US/page/n25/mode/1up | title=A2410 High Resolution Color Graphics Card | magazine=AC's Guide | date=Winter 1993 | access-date=7 March 2024 | pages=14 }}</ref>) and colour monitor,<ref name="unixworld199112_a3000ux"/> was not especially attractive compared to other Unix workstations at the time. By the end of 1989, around a year before availability of the Amiga 3000UX, vendors such as [[Hewlett-Packard]] and Sun had already launched 68030-based models aimed at the low-end of the market. HP had started 1989 by launching its low-cost HP 9000 Model 340 workstation range with prices starting from ${{Format price|5495}}.<ref name="hpprofessional198901_hp3000m340">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/HP-Professional_Vol._03_No._01_Jan_1989/page/23/mode/1up | title=HP Announces 9000 Model 340 | magazine=HP Professional | date=January 1989 | access-date=17 April 2024 | volume=3 | issue=1 | pages=23 }}</ref> Later in the year, the [[Apollo/Domain|Apollo DN2500]], positioned as an entry-level workstation with monochrome display by HP's [[Apollo Computer|Apollo]] division, cost only ${{Format price|3990}} for a diskless model or ${{Format price|5490}} with hard disk, eliminating the distinction between workstations and [[personal computer]]s in pricing terms.<ref name="computerworld19890925_workstations">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/computerworld2339unse/page/4/mode/1up | title=PC, workstation firms prepare for price war | magazine=Computerworld | last1=Alexander | first1=Michael | date=25 September 1989 | access-date=5 March 2024 | pages=4 }}</ref> The Sun 3/80 cost ${{Format price|5990}} for a comparable entry-level product.<ref name="hpprofessional19891010_lowcost">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/HP-Professional_Vol._03_No._10_Oct_1989/page/42/mode/2up | title=Low-End Workstation Market | magazine=HP Professional | last1=Sharp | first1=Bill | date=10 October 1989 | access-date=5 March 2024 | pages=42–44, 46 }}</ref>

RISC-based competitors offering superior performance were also already available at similar price levels as competition increased, such as the [[DECstation]] 2100 (reduced to ${{Format price|5950}}), and numerous SPARC workstations were anticipated at this ${{Format price|5000}} price point during 1990.<ref name="computerworld19900507_sun">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1990-05-07_24_19/page/n7/mode/1up | title=Sun to lower stakes with Sparc entry | magazine=Computerworld | last1=Daly | first1=James | date=7 May 1990 | access-date=14 November 2023 | pages=1, 8 }}</ref> Sun's [[SPARCstation 1]], introduced alongside the 3/80,<ref name="byte198905_sun">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1989-05/page/n123/mode/2up | title=Two Powerful Systems from Sun | magazine=Byte | last1=Baran | first1=Nick | date=May 1989 | access-date=10 March 2024 | pages=108–112 }}</ref> had cost ${{Format price|8995}} for the diskless version in 1989.<ref name="hpprofessional19891010_lowcost"/> By the end of 1991, models such as the Sun [[SPARCstation IPC]] would cost ${{Format price|6695}} for a model similarly specified to the A3000UX in terms of memory, disk capacity and display, yet offer considerably better performance.<ref name="unixworld199112_a3000ux"/>

Commodore's product marketing manager indicated that the machine was intended to compete with machines from [[NeXT]] and Apple's A/UX, conceding, "We really don't see ourselves as being competitive with Sun."<ref name="computerpaper199104_a3000ux">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/issuu_dougalder_1991-04_tcp_bc-ocr/page/n18/mode/1up | title=Commodore Launches Unix Machine | magazine=The Computer Paper | volume=4 | issue=4 | date=April 1991 | access-date=7 March 2024 | pages=19, 21 }}</ref> Advertising for the system focused on Apple and NeXT as competitors, emphasising its adoption of System V, OPEN LOOK and X Window System technologies.<ref name="a3000ux_svr4_advert">{{ cite book | url=https://www.amigaunix.com/lib/exe/fetch.php/amiga-3000unix_clean.png | title=Born to Run UNIX SVR4 | publisher=Commodore Business Machines, Inc. }}</ref>  However, within a year of its launch, the Amiga 3000UX's [[Motorola 68030|68030]] was already considered "one whole generation behind" the 68040-based [[NeXTstation]],<ref name="unixworld199112_a3000ux"/> priced from ${{Format price|4995}} with greyscale display, ${{Format price|7995}} with colour display.<ref name="byte199011_next">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1990-11_OCR/page/n264/mode/1up | title=Fast New Systems from NeXT | magazine=Byte | last1=Baran | first1=Nick | last2=Linderholm | first2=Owen | date=November 1990 | access-date=25 February 2024 | pages=165–168 }}</ref> Later entry-level workstations from established vendors upheld their aggressive pricing while increasing the performance gap. For example, the Personal DECstation 5000 Model 20 provided a newer CPU and was priced from only ${{Format price|3995}} for a diskless configuration, with the faster Model 25 being available in a colour display configuration with hard disk for ${{Format price|8495}}.<ref name="unixreview199210_decstation">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_unix-review_1992-10_10_10/page/n52/mode/1up | title=Tested Mettle | magazine=Unix Review | date=October 1992 | access-date=24 April 2022 | last1=Wilson | first1=David | pages=49–50, 52, 54, 57–58 }}</ref>

Differences in the nature of Commodore's channels between the US and European markets also prevented Commodore from exploiting opportunities to sell Amiga Unix systems. Attempts had been made to target "untapped professional markets" and position the Amiga as a more serious multimedia-capable machine, also satisfying the "corporate checklist" by offering Unix and networking capabilities.<ref name="computerworld19900730_amiga">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/computerworld2431unse/page/19/mode/1up | title=Amiga: It's not just for games anymore | magazine=Computerworld | last1=Barney | first1=Douglas | date=30 July 1990 | access-date=3 June 2024 | pages=19 }}</ref> In the US market, specialist dealers played an important role in the sales effort and were considered more able to support sophisticated products based on Unix. However, European sales of the Amiga range were largely driven by high street retailers targeting a computer gaming demographic, and a shift in emphasis requiring the introduction of a capable sales and support infrastructure was perceived as being more costly than the potential earnings generated through Unix product sales. Moreover, an increasingly competitive European Unix market led to doubts that such sales would materialise, putting the European availability of Amiga Unix into question.<ref name="amigacomputing199004_unix">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/amiga-computing-issue-24-may-1990-volume-2-number-12/Amiga%20Computing%20Issue%2023%20April%201990%20(Volume%202%20Number%2011)/page/15/mode/1up | title=No Unix for Europe | magazine=Amiga Computing | date=April 1990 | access-date=3 June 2024 | pages=15 }}</ref>

In an attempt to respond to the competitive situation, Commodore released version 2.1 of Amiga Unix in early 1992, reducing the price of an Amiga 3000UX system bundle featuring 9&nbsp;MB of RAM, 200&nbsp;MB hard drive, A2410 high-resolution graphics card, Ethernet card, and colour monitor (or SCSI tape drive) for a limited period to ${{Format price|4998}}, compared to a combined retail price of ${{Format price|8495}}.<ref name="commodore_amigaunix21">{{ cite press release | url=https://groups.google.com/g/comp.unix.amiga/c/hHosIbrAIKM/m/PCk6opAsYIoJ | title=Commodore (R) Puts Power of UNIX Within More Amiga Users' Reach | publisher=Commodore Business Machines, Inc. | date=12 February 1992 | access-date=18 April 2024 }}</ref> By this time, HP had already introduced 68040-based workstations at the low end of the market, such as the HP Apollo 9000 Model 425e, available from ${{Format price|5490}} for an 8&nbsp;MB, diskless model with 19-inch greyscale monitor.<ref name="byte199110_hp9000">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1991-10_OCR/page/n306/mode/1up | title=Hewlett-Packard's 425e Shows Off the Power of the 68040 | magazine=Byte | last1=Yager | first1=Tom | date=October 1991 | access-date=29 April 2024 | pages=239–240, 242 }}</ref> In early 1992, it was reported that Commodore had appointed solution provider Applied Systems Group as the sole UK reseller of Amiga Unix. Commodore maintained claims of the platform outperforming "traditional vendors in its price bracket", also claiming to have converted numerous existing users of "Sun 4, 486 and 68000-based workstations" to the platform.<ref name="amigacomputing199202_unix">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AmigaComputingIssue045Feb92/page/n9/mode/1up | title=Unix reseller appointed | magazine=Amiga Computing | date=February 1992 | access-date=30 April 2024 | pages=10 }}</ref>

Unlike [[Apple Computer|Apple]]'s [[A/UX]] compatibility layer for [[System 7]] applications, Amiga Unix contains no compatibility layer for [[AmigaOS]] applications. Prior to the system's release, Commodore had merely indicated that the company had been "discussing" such application support.<ref name="amigaworld199004_computerdujour"/> Commodore's UK marketing manager stated that user interface guidelines would be introduced to ensure consistency between traditional Amiga and Amiga Unix applications, with Amiga Unix offering a "friendly Mac-like environment".<ref name="amigacomputing198911_earl">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AmigaComputingIssue018Nov89/page/n72/mode/1up | title=Jeff Earl: Commodore's man in the hot seat | magazine=Amiga Computing | date=November 1989 | access-date=30 April 2024 | pages=23 | quote=These guidelines will encompass Amiga Unix, so that the high flying executive can switch between an Amiga under AmigaDos. Amiga running Unix or the company mainframe running Unix, without having to be aware of which machine or operating system is doing the work.}}</ref>  With few native applications available to take advantage of the Amiga's significant multimedia capabilities, it failed to find a niche in the competitive [[Unix workstation]] market of the early 1990s beyond certain targeted deployments. For instance, computer science students at [[Virginia Tech]] were obliged to purchase the Amiga 3000UX to pursue their studies,<ref name="amazingcomputing199010_unix">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/amazing-computing-magazine-1990-10/page/n5/mode/1up | title=Unix Super Beta Site | magazine=Amazing Computing | date=October 1990 | access-date=7 March 2024 | pages=4 }}</ref> with students offered a base model providing 4&nbsp;MB of RAM, a 100&nbsp;MB hard disk, and colour monitor for around ${{Format price|4000}}.<ref name="amigaworld199104_virginiatech">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/amiga-world-1991-04/page/n12/mode/1up | title=Amiga Unix Ticking at Tech | magazine=Amiga World | date=April 1991 | access-date=7 March 2024 | pages=11 }}</ref>

Unlike typical commercial Unix distributions of the time, Amiga Unix included the [[source code]] to the vendor-specific enhancements and platform-dependent [[device driver]]s (essentially any part that wasn't owned by AT&T), allowing interested users to study or enhance those parts of the system.  However this source code was subject to the same license terms as the binary part of the system{{snd}} it was not [[free software]].  Amiga Unix also incorporated and depended upon many [[open source]] components, such as the [[GNU C Compiler]] and [[X Window System]], and included their source code.

Like many other proprietary Unix variants with small market shares, Amiga Unix vanished into the mists of computer history when its vendor, Commodore, went out of business. Today, [[Unix-like]] operating systems such as [[Minix]],<ref name="amigashopper199301_minix">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AmigaShopperIssue21Jan93/page/n85/mode/2up | title=You Little Minix! | magazine=Amiga Shopper | last1=Marshall | first1=Angus | date=January 1993 | access-date=30 April 2024 | pages=86–87 }}</ref> [[NetBSD]],<ref name="amigaformat199609_netbsd">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AmigaFormatMagazine_201902/Amiga_Format_Issue_088_1996_09_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n27/mode/2up| title=Unix for Free | magazine=Amiga Format | last1=Goodwin | first1=Simon N. | date=September 1996 | access-date=2 May 2024 | pages=28–30 }}</ref> and [[Linux]] are available for the Amiga platform.