2000–5000
On the comment from
AmigaOS
developer Steven Solie that he estimates the userbase at between 2000 and 5000 users:
Could this be a reliable evaluation of the amount of people across the world who will use open computing
devices when everything else has acquired locked bootloaders?
After all, the process for acquiring an AmigaOS-compatible machine is
similar to the one for an Arduino,
Raspberry Pi, or
Pandaboard: you have to know that it exists, fiddle
around in obscure websites to find it, pay money to a semi-trusted reseller without having seen the
hardware yet, then fiddle around with a bare PCB (be careful with electrostatic discharges!) in order to
install your OS in a hardware-specific way…
Neolander—Interview: AmigaOS 4 lead developer Steven Solie
There is nothing ‘open’ about a ton of cheap WinTel boxes on shelves; they’re just available, that’s
all.
One day all that will be gone for good.