RISC OS Open Ltd

RISC OS Open Ltd (ROOL) is the company responsible for the RISC OS Open initiative.

This is a project instigated/approved by Castle Technology Ltd to publish the Castle Technology 'strand' of RISC OS development.

A joint press release by RISCOS Ltd and RISC OS Open Ltd on 27 November 2007 makes the project's purpose – and its relation with the activities of RISC OS Ltd – clearer. Link: Joint press release.

An edited extract from the press release is given below:

Since the days of Acorn, there have been two distinct strands of RISC OS development. These two strands were developed to exploit different markets and hardware platforms. The Castle Technology strand is used in a number of products, including the IYONIX pc and various set top boxes. The RISCOS Ltd strand is also used in a number of different products, including the A9home, the VirtualAcorn range of software emulators and as upgrades to existing Acorn computers via the RISC OS Select scheme.

Source code for both strands is available free of charge to developers. One strand is gradually being published under the Castle Technology Shared Source initiative by RISC OS Open Ltd. The RISCOS Ltd strand is available to Registered Developers and Hardware Manufacturers under NDA or as part of the Authorised Manufacturer Scheme, for both commercial and non-commercial exploitation.

…