# RISC OS Open

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Software company

RISC OS Open Ltd. Type Private Industry Computer software Founded Worthing, UK (20 June 2006; 20 years ago (2006-06-20)) Founder Ben Avison, Andrew Hodgkinson, Andrew Moyler, Richard Nicoll, Steve Revill Headquarters Cambridge , UK Area served Worldwide Key people Steve Revill, Co-founder and Managing director Ben Avison, Co-founder Andrew Hodgkinson, Co-founder Products RISC OS 5 Services IT consulting Website riscosopen.org

**RISC OS Open Ltd.** (also referred to as **ROOL**)[1][2] is a [limited company](/source/Private_company_limited_by_guarantee) engaged in [computer software](/source/Computer_software) and [IT consulting](/source/IT_consulting).[3] It is managing the process of publishing the [source code](/source/Source_code) to [RISC OS](/source/RISC_OS).[4] Company founders include staff who formerly worked for [Pace](/source/Pace_plc), the company which acquired RISC OS after [Acorn's demise](/source/History_of_RISC_OS#Demise_of_Acorn_Computers_Ltd).[5]

The source code publication was initially facilitated by a shared source initiative (SSI) between ROOL and [Castle Technology](/source/Castle_Technology) (CTL),[6] prior to a switch to the more widely recognised [Apache licence](/source/Apache_Licence) in October 2018.[7] ROOL hopes that by making the RISC OS source code available for free it will help stimulate development of both the RISC OS source code and the platform as a whole.[8][9]

## Operations

Ben Avison showing a [BeagleBoard](/source/BeagleBoard) in 2009

Steve Revill in 2011

ROOL set initial goals to make the source code easily available (on the [web](/source/Www)), and also to establish a [wiki](/source/Wiki), [forum](/source/Internet_forum) and [bug tracker](/source/Bug_tracker).[10] These have been available since December 2006.[11]

Operations exist to facilitate tasks related to ROOL's goals. Additionally, staff undertake development work on the code themselves. Since early 2009, ownership, development and sales of the [Acorn C/C++](/source/Acorn_C%2FC%2B%2B) tools were transferred to RISC OS Open.[12] As an extension to the initial goals, in 2011 ROOL introduced a [bounty](/source/Open_source_bounty) scheme to encourage further development.[13]

Attendance at RISC OS [computer shows](/source/Computer_show) is often arranged, with other knowledgeable coders sometimes standing in when ROOL staff are unavailable.[14] A [Facebook page](/source/Facebook_page) and [Twitter](/source/Twitter) feed was created in 2012 to communicate events via social media.[15][16]

### Publishing

A number of book titles have been published starting in 2015 with the RISC OS Style Guide, a three book set in support of the Desktop Development Environment, BBC BASIC Reference Manual and the RISC OS 5 User Guide.

### Forum

Online discussions take place on the forum. Developers can seek technical assistance with writing software, debugging, and [porting](/source/Porting) the operating system to new hardware. End users can seek assistance with applications, [emulation](/source/Emulator), and enquiries of a more general nature. A common area exists to make announcements that are broadly related to the theme of RISC OS, and discussion of future [wish list](/source/Wish_list) features or applications.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-drobe_ansen_2007_1-0)** Hansen, Martin (21 July 2007). ["RISC OS Open: One year on"](http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact1998.html). *[Drobe](/source/Drobe)*. Retrieved 13 August 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-osnews_2-0)** Holwerda, Thom (10 December 2008). ["RISCOS Ltd Might Take Legal Action Against RISC OS Open Ltd"](http://www.osnews.com/story/20632/RISCOS_Ltd_Might_Take_Legal_Action_Against_RISC_OS_Open_Ltd/). *[OSNews](/source/OSNews)*. Retrieved 13 August 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["About us: RISC OS Open Limited FAQ"](https://www.riscosopen.org/content/about). RISC OS Open. Retrieved 22 February 2011. RISC OS Open Limited (ROOL) [...] can author software for an existing hardware design or develop a complete hardware and software solution.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Welcome"](https://www.riscosopen.org/content/). RISC OS Open. Retrieved 3 January 2020. RISC OS Open (ROOL) is an organisation run on a largely voluntary basis. We are managing the process of publishing the source code to RISC OS [...]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Ex-Pace staff back RISC OS Open Ltd"](http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact1664.html). *Drobe*. 9 July 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2011. As a divisional director, Richard Nicoll, of Ely, Cambridgeshire, oversaw the 'information appliance division' in Cambridge at Pace. [...] RISC OS Open director and company secretary Steve Revill owns a 20% stake in RISC OS Open, as do each of fellow ex-Pace and ex-Tematic engineers Ben Avison and Andrew Hodgkinson [...]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Castle and ROS Open reveal plans for 2007"](http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact1786.html). *Drobe*. 20 January 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2011. [...] the shared source initiative - which is designed to get the source code to RISC OS 5 out into the open for free [...]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["RISC OS is open for business!"](https://www.riscosopen.org/news/articles/2018/10/22/risc-os-is-open-for-business). RISC OS Open. 22 October 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2020. RISC OS Open Ltd (ROOL) are hugely proud to [...] republish the source code to this popular niche operating system under the Apache 2.0 License, in a move aimed at removing existing barriers to entry for developers [...]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Cartmell, John (Summer 2007). "Interview". *Qercus*. No. 283. [Finnybank Ltd](/source/Acorn_User). We really want to stimulate development both in and around RISC OS

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Smith, Louie (November 2008). "Interview". *RISC OS Now*. No. 9. [RISC OS Now]. The whole project is based on the fundamental premise that the software will die out if there are no developers.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Cartmell, John (2006). "News". *Qercus*. No. 278. [Finnybank Ltd](/source/Acorn_User). According to Steve Revill at the South East Show, RISC OS Open Ltd. has been formed to achieve a number of goals: Provide an interface for people to get at the source code of RISC OS; Manage developer forums; Manage a faults database; Provide a wiki for people to contribute to

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["News: Official new site announcement"](https://www.riscosopen.org/news/articles/2006/12/19/official-new-site-announcement). RISC OS Open. Retrieved 18 May 2011. RISC OS Open are pleased to announce that their new web site has now gone live.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["News in brief"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140202124725/http://www.drobe.co.uk/article.php?id=2504). [Drobe](/source/Drobe). 4 May 2009. Archived from [the original](http://www.drobe.co.uk/article.php?id=2504) on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2011. RISC OS Open has taken over sales of the Acorn C/C++ development suite, known as the Norcroft compiler, which is used to build RISC OS.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Bounties"](https://www.riscosopen.org/content/documents/bounties). RISC OS Open. Retrieved 16 May 2011. The RISC OS Open bounty scheme allows the community to sponsor development of features and fixes in RISC OS.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-iconbar_retro_reunited_14-0)** Mellor, Phil (14 September 2009). ["Retro Reunited and Acorn World 2009"](http://www.iconbar.com/Retro_Reunited_and_Acorn_World_2009/news1228.html). *[The Icon Bar](/source/The_Icon_Bar)*. Retrieved 28 September 2011. [...] talk was by Robert Sprowson who was representing RISC OS Open Ltd.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-riscosopen_facebook_15-0)** ["RISC OS Open on Facebook"](https://www.riscosopen.org/news/articles/2012/03/04/risc-os-open-on-facebook). RISC OS Open. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-riscosopen_twitter_16-0)** ["Keeping up to date"](https://www.riscosopen.org/news/articles/2013/03/04/keep-up-to-date). RISC OS Open. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2023.

v t e Acorn Computers Operating systems Acorn MOS Panos ARX RISC iX RISC OS Galileo NCOS Computers 8-bit microcomputers Microcomputer Systems 2 to 5 Atom BBC Micro (Proton) Electron Business Computer BBC Master 16-bit microcomputers Communicator M19 32-bit PCs Archimedes range A4 Risc PC A7000 Set-Top Box Network Computer Phoebe Derivatives, clones, compatibles 8-bit microcomputers Prodest PC 128 S 32-bit PCs A9home ARMini (BeagleBoard-xM) BIK (BeagleBoard-xM in Kiste) Omega Mico Medi RiscStation R7500 A75 Iyonix Titanium 32-bit dev boards BeagleBoard DevKit8000 IGEPv2 Pandora PandaBoard Raspberry Pi Touch Book i.MX6

v t e RISC OS Category: RISC OS software Main companiesa Castle Technology RISC OS Open Hardware Archimedes series RiscPC series Iyonix A9home Emulation Aemulor VirtualAcorn Key softwareb ArtWorks Impression NetSurf OS components ADFS AIF file BBC BASIC Bundled applications Drag and drop Icon bar OLE Ram disk OS utilities MakeModes Books ARM system-on-chip architecture Related and historical Acorn Computers ARM Holdings Element 14 Galileo History of RISC OS Phoebe RISCOS Ltd The Electronic Font Foundry NCOS a Current companies only b Addition of major functionality

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [RISC OS Open](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC_OS_Open) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC_OS_Open?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.