Many of us politely declined the original AGA Amiga 37 offering (Pay a fee to David to be a member of AGA). It was always a bit vague but even back then I thought "what do any of us get from a website that we cannot get from YouTube/Facebook/Forums?". The thoughts back then where that the man is completely out of touch with the internet age.
Which brings me to the man. Let's be honest here. David is not Jay Miner. He didnt invent the Amiga. He wasnt on the team that did. He was a sales guy. A sales guy that did pretty well in the UK 30 years ago. Respect for what he did then and many people like to hear the stories from back in the day but he wasnt one of the original Amiga visionaries. I have likened him to a roadie in a rock band. Its still cool but you cant put the band back together from that position and you certainly dont' own the band name either. You also cannot decide one day that all the fan clubs that exist out there arent what you want and you should make a better one and everyone should follow you and pay you for the privilege.
Which brings me to my first proper point. The tone of the pitch is "things arent good enough". Well i beg to differ. Regardless of what you like Amiga wise, be it Vampires, ACA, PiStorms, Buffees, Tsunami's, Checkmates, Bifrosts, Solas... Its never been so good and it is a slap in the face from David to be told its not good enough. Everyone who has worked at Amiga hardware and software over the past 5-10 years has put their heart and soul into it. Regardless of whether I personally like the people or the products they've all worked hard to produce something. That has not been acknowledged at all and its pretty distasteful. Amiga has not thrived like this since the 90s and I doubt it can get much better than this.
Which brings me on to my second point. I have spent the last seven years of my life working to open up, document and understand things that were closed away by companies in the past. I am against anything that comes from a "company" mindset in the retro space. I want things to be available and as free as possible to make. I would not pay for information thats already free. We have thrived in the last 5 years because we've got rid of that company mindset and moved on. Anything going back in that direction is a backwards step.
No doubt there might be some that will argue that i could have been paid to do this under the AGA framework. But that misses the point of the whole thing entirely. I don't WANT to be paid. I want to be able to come and go from the project as my life permits. I don't NEED a second job. For sure i would never have done half the things that have happened in Terriblefire land if it had become a paid gig. I also want complete control over my own hobbies. There is absolutely no way I will endorse anyone who wants to "Govern" it.
Attempt to put any of my IP or work behind a paywall will be met with the strongest possible opposition. I am happy for people to enjoy what I do because I love the community. I've also no problem with the builders making a fair return for their work. But attempting to monetise my hard work and close it off is not on and I will not permit it. I am not the only one who feels this way.
The idea of channelling money into development is what Patreon and Kickstarter is for. Dave would be better running a YouTube channel and having guests on to talk about their projects and letting the viewers decide if they want to support it or not. We have so many thriving forums. Exxos, EAB, A1k, even PPA.PL
Finally, and very seriously, I have spoken to four of the people listed on the kickstarter and they all me that they had not given permission for their name to be used on it or were even asked. One person has asked to be removed from it but thus far has not.
Dr. Stephen James Leary
aka. Terrible Fire
