RISC OS Technologies: Mission Statement
Posted by RISC OS One Sat, 19 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT
RISC OS deserves a future shaped by working code and by the people who use it. Our work on the C Filer, WindowManager and FontManager, the conversion of assembler to C, and work toward OpenGL 4.1 support aims to make the system easier to maintain while preserving what makes it RISC OS.
For far too long, progress toward a 64-bit RISC OS has been too slow. RISC OS Open’s roadmap recognises the end of AArch32 as a major long-term issue. We want to turn that goal into visible engineering work, working builds and public tests.
RISC OS Developments owns the RISC OS intellectual property. Much of RISC OS is open source, primarily under Apache 2.0, so people can work on and fork the published code under its applicable licences. Yet entry into RISC OS Open’s official source tree remains subject to its directors’ approval. In our experience, the community has too little influence over which ideas and priorities are taken forward. We want to change that with published decisions, fair contribution rules and a genuine route from community proposal to tested code.
People must also be able to contribute without being bullied. Recent forum discussions show how personal ridicule can displace useful technical criticism. We welcome rigorous review of our work, including work made with AI-assisted tools. Criticism should identify defects and help resolve them while treating contributors with respect.
RISC OS Technologies has filed for registration as a non-profit organisation. We will never ask the community for money. We ask people to support this effort by using the tools now available, testing the software, reporting failures, sharing ideas and helping decide what RISC OS needs next.
Our aim is to replace RISC OS Open’s gatekeeping of the main development path with an accountable process that listens to the community and proves its progress in working code.