The Footnote
Amiga Unix (Amix) was Commodore's 1990-1992 attempt to turn Amiga hardware into Unix workstations. It failed. The Amiga Unix Wiki exists to document why.
Based on AT&T System V Release 4, Amix targeted the Amiga 2500UX and 3000UX - machines with Motorola 68020/68030 CPUs, MMU accelerators, SCSI drives, and A2065 Ethernet cards. Around 1,000 beta 3000UX units shipped in early 1991. Support ended before Commodore's 1994 bankruptcy.
Why It Didn't Work
The technical case was weak. Amix couldn't run AmigaOS applications, didn't leverage the platform's graphics or sound capabilities, and cost more than competing Sun or Atari TT workstations while delivering less performance. By 1992, x86 and SPARC Unix systems had matured. A 68k-based Unix workstation was already legacy hardware.
Historians note a collapsed Sun Microsystems deal that might have positioned Amix as an entry-level workstation option. History suggests the pricing would have killed it anyway.
The Preservation Project
The community-maintained wiki documents installation (real hardware or WinUAE emulation), networking setup, dual-boot configurations, and Y2K fixes for a system that predates modern networking standards. No DHCP. No SSH. X11R4 memory leaks. An outdated compiler.
This is SVR4 archaeology, not practical enterprise tech. The wiki serves retro computing enthusiasts willing to navigate pre-Linux Unix administration.
What Enterprise Should Note
Amix illustrates a pattern: consumer hardware vendors attempting enterprise Unix pivots without the engineering resources or market positioning to execute. Commodore tried twice - a Z8000-based Commodore 900 (1983-1985, ~500 prototypes) and Amix. Both failed.
The lesson persists. Hardware differentiation doesn't compensate for ecosystem gaps, and late-market Unix ports face extinction-level competition. The wiki preserves the evidence.