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IP of the original Commodore kinda got scattered after the breakup in the 1990s. The Youtuber AIUI have the trademarks, so they can call themselves Commodore, a

IP of the original Commodore kinda got scattered after the breakup in the 1990s. The Youtuber AIUI have the trademarks, so they can call themselves Commodore, and sell Commodore branded computers. The original C64 ROMs (along with AmigaOS) are owned by a company called Cloanto. (Well, I suspect with Amiga OS in particular, it's probably more complicated than that). Not sure if you have to licence MS BASIC separately, or if the favourable deal Jack Tramiel negotiated way back when still covers it. This split is why the mini C64/A500 units a few years back had actual Commodore software, but didn't have Commodore branding, as they could get a deal with Cloanto, but not the previous owners of the C= logo etc.

lysace 1y ago
Thanks. Odd product portfolio: https://cloanto.com/ https://cloanto.com/
zozbot234 1y ago
The new Commodore folks seem to be on friendly terms with Cloanto, so this MIT-licensed release from Microsoft is great news for them and I wonder if it was partly instigated by the Commodore developments. If only because, in principle, it saves everyone the effort and cost of having a difficult negotiation over something as silly as the purported IP value of those old BASIC ROMs.
- snvzz 1y ago
  It is a shame that, even today, none of these Commodore or Amiga ROMs are open source, or even free to use/distribute.
  - zozbot234 1y ago
    It's obviously inconvenient but I wouldn't call it "a shame". It's historically quite normal, open source/free to use just wasn't a common thing back then.
    - snvzz 1y ago
      It has nothing to do with back then, and everything to do with the IPs current owners[0]. 0. https://sites.google.com/site/amigadocuments/ https://sites.google.com/site/amigadocuments/
  - LocalH 1y ago
    They're easy to find if you want them. If you ever owned any of the relevant machines, then I'd say you're even morally in the correct. Feel free to send Commodore or Cloanto some cash for your use if you feel so inclined. Cloanto even offer packages for both C64 and Amiga that include the most relevant ROMs (and Workbenches, in the case of the Amiga).
snvzz 1y ago
>Well, I suspect with Amiga OS in particular, it's probably more complicated than that Way more complicated in fact, as documented in Amiga Documents[0]. 0. https://sites.google.com/site/amigadocuments/ https://sites.google.com/site/amigadocuments/

lysace 1y ago

Thanks. Odd product portfolio: https://cloanto.com/ https://cloanto.com/

zozbot234 1y ago

The new Commodore folks seem to be on friendly terms with Cloanto, so this MIT-licensed release from Microsoft is great news for them and I wonder if it was partly instigated by the Commodore developments. If only because, in principle, it saves everyone the effort and cost of having a difficult negotiation over something as silly as the purported IP value of those old BASIC ROMs.

snvzz 1y ago
It is a shame that, even today, none of these Commodore or Amiga ROMs are open source, or even free to use/distribute.
- zozbot234 1y ago
  It's obviously inconvenient but I wouldn't call it "a shame". It's historically quite normal, open source/free to use just wasn't a common thing back then.
  - snvzz 1y ago
    It has nothing to do with back then, and everything to do with the IPs current owners[0]. 0. https://sites.google.com/site/amigadocuments/ https://sites.google.com/site/amigadocuments/
- LocalH 1y ago
  They're easy to find if you want them. If you ever owned any of the relevant machines, then I'd say you're even morally in the correct. Feel free to send Commodore or Cloanto some cash for your use if you feel so inclined. Cloanto even offer packages for both C64 and Amiga that include the most relevant ROMs (and Workbenches, in the case of the Amiga).

snvzz 1y ago

>Well, I suspect with Amiga OS in particular, it's probably more complicated than that Way more complicated in fact, as documented in Amiga Documents[0]. 0. https://sites.google.com/site/amigadocuments/ https://sites.google.com/site/amigadocuments/