Embracing the Inevitable
Monday, January 8th, 2007 at 4:15 AM by: phoenixlindenIn 1993, NCSA released their liberally licensed, but proprietary, Mosaic 2.0 browser with support for inline images arguably heralding the start of the web as we know it today. In an act of either acceptance of the inevitable or simple desperation, Netscape Communications released the bulk of the Netscape Communicator code base to form the foundation of projects as Mozilla, Firefox, and Thunderbird.
We are not desperate, and we welcome the inevitable with open arms.
Stepping up the development of the Second Life Grid to everyone interested, I am proud to announce the availability of the Second Life client source code for you to download, inspect, compile, modify, and use within the guidelines of the GNU GPL version 2.
A lot of the Second Life development work currently in progress is focused on building the Second Life Grid — a vision of a globally interconnected grid with clients and servers published and managed by different groups. Expect many changes and updates in the coming months in support of this architecture. Much of the recent work has centered on securing the code against potential threats. More recently and still in development, we are moving more of the communications to reliable and cryptographically strong secure channels.
At Linden, we have always been strong advocates of the use of open standards and the advantages of using open source products. Though Second Life makes abundant use of non-standard technologies, our basic UDP protocol message system for example, we rely on open standards and open source implementations when appropriate and available. Since many of the components that will make up this network are not yet done, we are not publishing long white papers or RFCs at this time — instead, we are giving everyone what we have along with a goal of producing those open standards with the input and assistance of the community that has brought Second Life to where it is now.
Releasing the source now is our next invitation to the world to help build this global space for communication, business, and entertainment. We are eager to work with the community and businesses to further our vision of our space.
You can join us immediately by joining the mailing list, identifying and reporting bugs, or getting the source to compile a viewer on your own.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:21 AM
I think this a great news for Second Life residents.
Let’s take our world in our hands!
January 8th, 2007 at 4:25 AM
WOW! Impressive! Thank you for your hard work Linden Lab. I look forward to seeing many productive projects from SL residents. =)
January 8th, 2007 at 4:25 AM
WooHoo!
the Second Life code is finally open-source! i just hope now someone makes an IM from it hehe to use outside of SL when people cannot log in (e.g. grid issues, graphic issues, etc). Thanks ALOT Linden Lab! 
:D 
January 8th, 2007 at 4:25 AM
Releasing the code for every yahoo to analize , modify and mess with it, will sure help building a more secure environment…. why is my own common sense constantly confused about the logic in such things…
January 8th, 2007 at 4:27 AM
P.S.: expecting Home-Operated regions
January 8th, 2007 at 4:27 AM
The links in the “Getting the source” section at https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Get_source_and_compile are broken right now.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:28 AM
P.S.: expecting home hacked accounts
January 8th, 2007 at 4:29 AM
I wonder when the first small sim for at home server will be a fact.
This to build in peace and test some functions and scripts with only a connection for inventory and chat and maybe if possible the option of inviting friends in.
I think this would be need and will give less stress on the grit but only inventory servers will have to work for you and the chat relay servers.
Just my cent in the bucked.
And I’d love to hear about others think of this idea.
Fish Kilby
January 8th, 2007 at 4:29 AM
another P.S.: How about adding iTunes support to Second Life? i mean Play Commands, and maybe Libary Browsing? hehe
January 8th, 2007 at 4:31 AM
What the…!?!?
I still can’t believe this… And the source download page is giving a 404…
January 8th, 2007 at 4:31 AM
[...] In a major move for Linden Labs, they’ve announced that the Second Life client software code is being released as open source under GNU GPL Level 2. [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 4:33 AM
@Atte and Signore
Links should be fine in a moment.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:35 AM
Path still getting error for the link
January 8th, 2007 at 4:35 AM
Bad move
Expect more grid attacks soon…
January 8th, 2007 at 4:45 AM
404: File Not Found
Hmmm… guess I need to be a little bit more patient….
- Zhe
January 8th, 2007 at 4:47 AM
Path to downloads still broken.
When is the server software available?
You folks still able to make new client software or you just dump it on the market in the hope someone else does better?
January 8th, 2007 at 4:48 AM
Part of me is dancing and shouting woohoo, and the other part is closing its eyes hoping not to be hit by a fast moving heavy object.
This is a good thing, but I’m just not convinced that the back end is secure enough to keep sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands. Here’s hoping for the best.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:49 AM
Here we go.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:50 AM
[...] were that it would happen a lot later this year but the year is only 8 days old and Linden Lab released the source code for their client today! It was mentioned a lot of times (and last time I heard it was at the SLDEVU in London whicih was [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 4:52 AM
This announcement makes me very very wary of my own future. I do believe this is a very good step towards bringing Second Life towards an open standard. The World Wide Web is only what it is today, an internationally accepted standard and one of the most used features of the internet, because of it’s open standards.
I fear for the future of content creators however. Although I’m not a fan of security through obscurity, it’s going to be a very rough few months as people work out the best ways to duplicate content by analizing what the client does with that content.
I expect to see LSL script decompilers/rippers, object duplicators ala CopyBot and much more in the coming months.
Perhaps after reading through the source code, I’ll feel a little more reassured. I can’t help but think however that, for content creators like myself, this was a little too early.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:54 AM
[...] just got word that Linden Labs decided to open the source code for the Second Life client, and I must say I love their decision. Ever since I first saw Second [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 4:55 AM
This is awesome news! Wow, this opens up so many amazing possibilities! Good job LL!
January 8th, 2007 at 4:56 AM
OK, so the code is released, and im sat thinking what the effect of that will be…
Will it mean someone can host their own island, if so can it fit onto the SL grid?
will it mean theres lots of versions that dont work together?
does it mean that land on SL will be cheaper?
Can I run a SL server at home and have my own island, or do I need to know TONS about coding?
Are our credit details still safe?
Im totally interested nin how this affects SL, it would be great if anyone who REALLY knows about this could fill us in. Id rather not hear loads of abuse, just positive stuff!
January 8th, 2007 at 4:57 AM
This is a big step for LL, I just hope they wont live to regret this. I wonder if they will take bug fix suggestions from the public now. Ofcourse they will need to be subject to review, but Im sure there are other developers like me outthere, interested in improving SecondLife
January 8th, 2007 at 4:58 AM
VERY large round of applause from me anyway.
Opening this source to the development community will do:
1. Improve the quality (stability & performance) of the client app in the long run
2. Generate some excellent utilities and spin-off applications from SL
3. Shut alot of ppl up about the amount of work Lindens have to do XD
Gawd knows how hard it is to resource good OpenGL type developers - so this really makes sense.
Linden Lab should now consider opening a project shop where bids are placed to develop required features and bugs - one way to solve the resourcing problem LLab!!!
Well done Lindens
Leaf
January 8th, 2007 at 5:01 AM
ALPHA: this is about the client side application running on your PC, not the grid servers and services.
br
Leaf
January 8th, 2007 at 5:01 AM
Cue Slashdotting in 3.. 2.. 1..
Lol, but seriously - this reminds me of the early web. Its exciting, but I’m sure not the smoothest of roads to travel. I do give Linden Lab kudos for putting it up there, now lets see what happens when a bazillion code monkeys pummel at it.
Fasten your seatbelts.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:02 AM
Congratulations to all at LL on this important step.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:04 AM
Congratulations to Linden Lab on the release of the Open Source client. Hurrah!
January 8th, 2007 at 5:04 AM
The opensource viewer is very welcome news, I am surely going to work on it and contribute changes.
Are there any plans for a community site for the viewer:
- bug tracker, potentially linked or synchronized from your internal JIRA system
- (SVN?) code repository
- etc.
I am really looking forward to fix the glitches and bugs that affect my SL experience, and hopefully contributing back some new ideas as well.
By the way, have you ever thought about a “features market”? A website similar to the old feature proposal system, where people can propose new features and fund them in L$s payments. Each feature will have a “owner/coordinator” that will be the primary developer of that feature, he will receive the funds when the feature is deemed complete by the majority of the funders and will split the funds between the other developers who contributed to the feature. A reputation system can be used to make the system a “recurring game” to prevent cheaters. I’ll post a more comprehensive description on my blog very soon.
My first contribution to the new open source era of SL will be exactly that site. I would love to know if LindenLab like or not the idea.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:05 AM
Say goodbye to any hopes of security or privacy you ever thought you had.
Broccoli
January 8th, 2007 at 5:07 AM
[...] I was very encouraged, back in October, to hear Jim Purbrick (AKA Babbage Linden) confirm Linden’s plans to “open source Second Life as soon as possible“, starting with the client and eventually opening up the server too. I’m excited to report that the first part has finally happened, and today Phoenix Linden announced the open source Second Life client. [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 5:07 AM
MarmelaGramela Doesburg
That’s what the folks at OpenSSL do with their code - they argue that the benefits of having so many eyes look over it to find and fix its flaws far outweigh the costs of having unscrupulous eyes able to see it.
Ryozu Kojima:
You do realize that Linden Lab maintains a large portion of their control over the content in Second Life by keeping the server side closed. Indeed, expect to see script decompilers, just don’t expect them to decompile scripts the client otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Releasing the client’s source is not an all-expense-paid ticket to do everything. The servers can and do deny access to certain content if the content is locked, regardless of the way the client requests the content. This means that the permissions system does provide protection to notecards and scripts and that this protection is in no way impinged upon by the releasing of the client’s source.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:08 AM
to Lord Leafblower - Thanks!!! I think I went off at the creative deep end there! thanks for telling me this, i had visions of islands hosted all over the world. cheers!
January 8th, 2007 at 5:10 AM
I want to echo Ryozu Kojima’s comments.
The big thing that helps here is that compatibility with the Linden grid will keep the software from diverging too much, SL itself will force the modified viewers to remain compatible.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:11 AM
OMG, what a smart a move. Well done Lindens
January 8th, 2007 at 5:12 AM
Congratulations guys - I’m mad at you now and then for the instability of the grid, but it is good to know that you’re still not completely converted to the dark side of ever-increasing user count :-).
Well… means I’ll be doing something else than playing SL tonight, I think…
@Broccoli: that privacy or security which was “granted” viewer-side was largely illusory anyway. It is good that the view is now open, so that everyone knows the weaknesses. The LL servers (any hope of open sourcing them so we can extend the grid beyond LL?) are our “trusted computing base”, that’s where privacy and security need to be dealt with.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:13 AM
Why isn’t the Creative Commons Share-alike Attribution Only license included under the FLOSS exception?
January 8th, 2007 at 5:13 AM
is it really true that people can say ‘goodbye to any security’ a la Broccoli’s comment? I mean seriously, would this be released if there were no protection? do u want to back up your comment broccoli? just askin…
January 8th, 2007 at 5:16 AM
Wow! That’s an impressive step and a very important decision! I really hope the community now holds true to their promise and will scrutinize the code, find and fix bugs and send in patches for everybody to use and improve. I’m excited to start helping as soon as I get it to compile
Thank you, Linden Labs!
January 8th, 2007 at 5:16 AM
I’d also like Broccoli to back that up. Are you talking about the dillusion of security you have is going to be gone? What exactly do you think thier going to take that they can’t already?
January 8th, 2007 at 5:16 AM
We had a good thing going I thought.. apparently not. We all know copybot, right? Im not sure, but I think it ll get alot worse now everyone can cobble together theire own client.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:17 AM
The silliest decision ever. We knew it was coming, but there is absolutely no security right now in the SL protocols. Once again LL is making the right decisions at the wrong time.
You thought copybot was bad ? Wait until someone comes up with a free L$ generator, a sim/grid nuker or a permission modifier. I’m pretty sure the server side of SL is creaking with the security holes that allowed that kind of hack in the past.
This goes in a complete opposite direction of turning SL into a professional platform. Professional applications need bulletproof security and reliability.
What you should have done ? First implement standard open source security protocols, like SSL or something. Then, make those servers much more robust than they are. Finally, when security is completely implemented, open source the client.
I predict that in the next couple of weeks we shall see at least one “universal object replicator” and one “grid nuker”. I sure hope I’ll be proved wrong.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:20 AM
[...] is bekend gemaakt dat het programma waarmee je Second Life betreedt vanaf nu open-source is. De gehele broncode kan [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 5:24 AM
@alpha: define “security”
The copybot, I think, was and is inevitable. Textures and other “content-y” stuff that are downloaded to the client are and have been always copyable - it was security-by-obscurity at best. The open source code will make this eminently clear (if Copybot didn’t already do that) and people will have a harder time making money with “content”. However, “services” - scripts that stay server-side, real-life services, etcetera, will always be unique and value-adding. I expect a shift in the marketplace towards this end. Content = commodity so either you grab free stuff or pay for bespoke work, services = value-adding so you’ll keep paying for them.
Is that good or bad? I don’t know. Just a fact waiting to happen. The WWW seems to have hapilly survived the exact predicament, so I’m optimistic here.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:28 AM
Given how groups like libsl, who have at least had some Linden oversight, have abused open-source SL with things like copybot, how can they be sure people won’t hack things like “check if I’m allowed into a region”?
Granted I’m no coder… but I can see much potential for abuse with this.
Broccoli
January 8th, 2007 at 5:28 AM
[...] Auch Linden Labs schreiben es: “Stepping up the development of the Second Life Grid to everyone interested, I am proud to announce the availability of the Second Life client source code for you to download, inspect, compile, modify, and use within the guidelines of the GNU GPL version 2.” [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 5:31 AM
Open-Source Client Released For Second Life
Linden Lab, makers of the virtual world of Second Life has made an open-source version of its client software available for download, and sooner than most people expected. “Releasing the source now is our next invitation to the world to help buil…
January 8th, 2007 at 5:32 AM
OMGOMGOMGOMG.
I am impressed AND scared at the same time. My 1st order of business is to look into the switch to TCP so my flaky Mac & router don’t ever, ever drop me from SL again just because some yahoo in my apartment complex turns his stupid Belkin router on. Relogging sucks. Welll, maybe the first would be to read the compilation instructions.
Any chance for a roadmap/RFC on the server-side TCP changeover?
January 8th, 2007 at 5:35 AM
[...] than probably expected by most, Linden Labs released the source-code of their SecondLife client under GPLv2 today. while this move already earned a lot of praise among the community, the biggest [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 5:35 AM
I think this is a historic day for the internet (and the world).
Long live Second Life and its continued evolution!!
January 8th, 2007 at 5:35 AM
Congratulations Linden Lab! I heartily welcome this strategy and wish you the best of luck as it finds its feet.
I’d imagine a load of patch files will be coming your way for merging.
Respect!
January 8th, 2007 at 5:37 AM
Armageddon!!!…….outta here…
January 8th, 2007 at 5:41 AM
# Broccoli Curry Says:
January 8th, 2007 at 5:28 AM PST
Given how groups like libsl, who have at least had some Linden oversight, have abused open-source SL with things like copybot, how can they be sure people won’t hack things like “check if I’m allowed into a region”?
Granted I’m no coder… but I can see much potential for abuse with this.
Broccoli
So, in other words, you have no idea what you’re talking about.
All I needed to know. Thanks.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:42 AM
Hey Lindens,
How do I register for an account to the wiki at https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki ?
January 8th, 2007 at 5:43 AM
Excellent news. As an open source fan I can’t wait to get hacking on this thing, there are a few features I want that I think I could add quite easily having looked through the code. Sadly I’m at work right now and can’t try compiling it till I get home later, can’t wait!
January 8th, 2007 at 5:44 AM
I am worried about this. But since the Lindens rarely seem to read or respond to these comments, I won’t bother going into a lot of detail about why. Perhaps the best idea for those of us who are not going to be tearing apart SL’s code is just to take a wait and see approach and see how it turns out. Maybe LL isn’t crazy after all.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:45 AM
“Given how groups like libsl, who have at least had some Linden oversight, have abused open-source SL with things like copybot, how can they be sure people won’t hack things like “check if I’m allowed into a region”?”
To copy a texture you could take screenshot of it. It was sent to client.
Also shapes were sent to client. This way CopyBot could copy it.
And things like checking permissions for regions are done on server. Having client code won’t help you hacking it.
And now something about having SL code released:
I wonder when someone will connect it with Linux Wiimote support - it will be new quality in building…
January 8th, 2007 at 5:45 AM
@Kitten Lulu
“How do I register for an account to the wiki at https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki ?”
The wiki uses your Second Life username and password.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:45 AM
I expect to see LSL script decompilers/rippers, object duplicators ala CopyBot and much more in the coming months.
I already have a script disassembler. Of course, since there’s no way of getting the compiled version of a script from the server (the only way of getting it is to snag it as it goes out to the server when you save it), it’s pretty much useless for content theft and hacking. The source is actually easier to obtain - and even that requires you to have the correct permissions.
The silliest decision ever. We knew it was coming, but there is absolutely no security right now in the SL protocols. Once again LL is making the right decisions at the wrong time.
Errm… yes there is. The server won’t just blindly do anything the client tells it; most of the security restrictions are already implemented server-side and have been for a while, barring a few mistakes and things that can only be done on the client (e.g. blocking texture/prim shape copying).
You thought copybot was bad ? Wait until someone comes up with a free L$ generator, a sim/grid nuker or a permission modifier. I’m pretty sure the server side of SL is creaking with the security holes that allowed that kind of hack in the past.
If there were any holes like this, most of them probably got found and fixed already (thanks either to libsecondlife or malicious hackers - I’m not sure how many security holes libsecondlife has reported, since neither they nor Linden Labs like to talk about it, but I’ve heard there were some.)
January 8th, 2007 at 5:48 AM
THANK YOU, YOU WONDERFUL WONDERFUL PEOPLE!
This is the best gift ever!
Welcome to the ranks of FOSS software, boys!
Now we just need a SVN/CVS server from LL, and a Linden to sign off on patches!
BRING ON THE COMMUNITY! MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK!
January 8th, 2007 at 5:49 AM
Nibb Tardis:
* Finally, when security is completely implemented, open source the client.
I’ve spotted the flaw in your argument… it wasn’t difficult. When have you ever seen “completely implemented” security? I have seen flawless security in software.
*I predict that in the next couple of weeks we shall see at least one “universal object replicator” and one “grid nuker”. I sure hope I’ll be proved wrong
Predicting security problems/sim crashers is like predicting the sun rising tomorrow — source code or not.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:49 AM
*sigh*
copybot never was and never will be an issue.
money isn’t created client side, only transfers are requested from the client.
now you can back up your prims (once someone codes it) like people keep asking.
many many more things.
My first alteration will be to get the client to send me HOME instead of logging me out when I get a sim goign down notice. And i’ll add a re-log fo when a sim crashes. *grin*
Think of the web, whatever you can do with it, you’ll be able to do in general with the SL client. However, many MORE of the things will be kept under lock and key at the servers than on the web.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:52 AM
While it’s appropriate to worry about the hackers and griefers having access to client-side source code, don’t forget that the public security experts will also have access to it. Maybe we’ll see a McAfee or Symantec or AVG plug-in for the SL client to secure all that precious content. Or maybe secure certificates for content transactions. It’s not just the bad guys who will be playing with the code.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:53 AM
Finally the future is here……….but is it too late……….
January 8th, 2007 at 5:55 AM
I am totally confused. What is this OPEN SOURCE? Do we all have to download ‘IT’? Do we need it to play SL? Do we need it, if we have land? I have no freaking clue what ya talking about, lol. What does this GNU exactly do, why do we need it?
Can someone enlighten me please, because I am beyond confused now :/
January 8th, 2007 at 5:57 AM
Having a bit of trouble with ELFIO 1.0.3 under Linux - it wants to build a static library libELFIO.a, and Second Life appears to expect a shared library libelfio.so (judging from the build instructions on the Wiki)…
January 8th, 2007 at 5:57 AM
ty
January 8th, 2007 at 5:58 AM
I love you, Linden Lab. Nothing else has to be said.
As for those with security concerns: Bullshit, peer review is what makes applications secure. Only if the public finds and knows about vulnerabilities, it can protect itself from clandestine black-hat crackers with destructive or criminal intent.
Security by obscurity is no security, and just imagine the countless people submitting bug reports and diffs improving on the code base to LL in the near and intermediate future. And new LSL and Prim editing tools will shoot out of the ground like mushrooms.
Disabled people may one time be able to use SL because someone modified the client in a way that it is more accessible. Localized versions in all sorts of languages will appear, and special ports to other operating systems, as well.
Could you imagine a PS3 or Nintendo Wii port of the client? I can. I can even see attempts to get SL to work on a PSP or future portable devices on the horizon. Pocket PCs and Mobile Phones are just entering the 3D accelerated graphics world, but will be as powerful as today’s PCs within a matter f 2 or 3 years.
This step is nothing short of spectacular. So THAT’S what the Lindens were up to - making lives (both kinds!) better.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:04 AM
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT
January 8th, 2007 at 6:04 AM
Firefox is open source and it’s way more secure than IE and anyone can download the code but you don’t hear all kinds of nightmare stories about Firefox being hacked. I don’t think there’s any reason to worry about SL being hacked any more than before. In fact, with more eyes on the code, security will likely tighten up.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:05 AM
YAY!!!!
January 8th, 2007 at 6:06 AM
I can see that this step was inevitable (after you already embraced the open source coders with wide open arms), but does it have to be at this time, with the currently most unstable grid?
The grid is already overstrained by normal use with the standard client. How stable will it be when a few thousand coders out there test their own client modifications - not to speak of hackers who will poke the server for security holes, hoping to find an easy way to gain money, to develop another godmode hack or program the next improved copy tool?
You have enough grid issues to deal with, far more than you can handle atm it seems. Do you really think all the home-brewn clients won’t hurt grid stability or security?
January 8th, 2007 at 6:13 AM
Btw, we have already seen how a hacker operates. They can’t find a way to contribute with useful thinks inworld in order to earn some money, so they try to pull a Baba and make some quick cash with malicious software. I expect a lot of new clients for sale soon, with god knows what type of hacks.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:15 AM
Hopefully this will put an end to the “US vs THEM” in regards to the grassroots opensourcers. (yeah I’ll say libSL). It’s obvious that Second Life is quickly growing beyond Linden Lab’s ability to solely control. Open sourcing the client.. which was promised long before I ever joined SL.. means that now there can be actual competetive development of “Browsers” for this “3d Web”.
As much drama and strife as this will surely stir up.. I for one will sit back and applaud LL for this bold and direct move towards fulfilling a promise made to the development community.
I will, as I always have, use the best browser for my needs and equipment. I look forward to one-day having a choice. (and an offline builder, and an ice cream cone.. get on that last one, would you?)
January 8th, 2007 at 6:16 AM
[...] client software for Windows, Mac and Linux under a GNU General Public License, version 2.0. SL post here with more developer details here. :These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 6:16 AM
:O Stunned…but delighted and now getting carried away considering machinima & snapshot potential now we can play with OpenGL rendering at source level. :woot:
January 8th, 2007 at 6:18 AM
I wanted to get in before the Usagi Show started, but I am too late.
This is great news, LL! Don’t let the chronic complainers get you down.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:18 AM
People will get creative only when they get paid for their work. If there is another SL universe that pops up but does not pay creators for their contents, I do not expect it to do as well as this metaverse. That’s just my two lindens.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:22 AM
[...] e’ stato dato pochi minuti fa, in un articolo del blog ufficiale che si richiama allo storico rilascio del codice del browser Netscape, avvenuto negli anni [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 6:23 AM
@Ehdward AGREED!
Freedom of information is always the best, whenever suppressed bad things happen….just look at….ohhhh never mind
Wow…..again I say yay! Just looking at the stuff that is here.
The explosion in people working with the source will be WONDERFUL for stability of current and creation of unknown future products.
True there will be some concern to coders testing against the production grid. I myself am responsible for at least 10 free accounts testing my regAPI connection through course of development.
Perhaps only “official” releases vetted by some review process should be allowed on the main grid. All alpha and non-approved betas should probably remain on beta grid.
I say this both as a rotten-toothed hacker and a premium conceirge tier member concerned with performance lately as I attempt to bring real world clients into SL.
Now off to code reading I go
January 8th, 2007 at 6:24 AM
Ehdward Spengler is right with his remarks about Firefox. And there are many more good trustable and secure programs being developed under Open Source. Thunderbird for example.
And as my friend, who really know what she is talking about, always says:
[b]“The Future is Open!”[/b]
Morwen.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:24 AM
Oh sheesh, great, like I don’t already have enought to read -
This is outstanding, been waiting for this.
To the folks that start making custom clients, please leave out the foul and pernicious cone of context.
Open Source Client, Hip Hip Hooray! It’s Party Time! I wish I had the programming skill to contribute, I will probably be quite challenged enough getting the code to compile.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:27 AM
>> Sakura Hilra Says:
>> People will get creative only when they get paid for their work.
Well, that’s a specious and ignorant statement is ever I heard one. People will only be creative if paid?!? Are you completely unfamiliar with the history of the world and the fundamental nature of human beings? The overwhelming majority of artists and creators (both RL and SL) are driven by the need to create, not greed. Have you been to a sandbox lately? Do you think everyone there is a working thier business model? Such a silly statement.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:28 AM
[...] there is another “grand marketing” reason behind it as well, beyond what is said at the Beyond the Inevitable by Phoenix Linden at the Official Linden Lab blog. Many think that this year of 2007 might be the [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 6:29 AM
/me laughs at the comments in llerror.h.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:29 AM
I second Ehdward Spengler’s comment about the security of Firefox v IE having jumped ship years ago, and a much better, standards compliant, web experience I have too with steady upgrades and bug fixes. I think this will only be a good thing with the possibility of greater integration with other open source and proprietary software. I recently helped a newb friend of mine showing him round SL while chatting on skype - being able to skype people from in world would be excellent - maybe from the pie menu?. I’d like to see better integration with Blender (open source 3d software) to make building and animation offline easier and without the outlay on Poser. Or direct integration with web browsers.
All in all a very good day for the SL community. Onwards and Upwards !!!
January 8th, 2007 at 6:33 AM
What would be helpful is to hear from a Linden exactly why this is good for residents - particularly those of us who have no intention of playing with the code.
Thanks in advance
January 8th, 2007 at 6:35 AM
My vote says Open Source is good. Maybe it will lead to the day we can use SL in a browser.
The List: Greatest Open Source Developments
“Open-source products tend to be driven by what features the user base is actually asking for vs. those being determined by a commercial software company’s profit motives.”
http://gobloggit.com/2007/01/06/the-list-greatest-open-source-developments/
January 8th, 2007 at 6:36 AM
PS. The linux kids are going to have a field day!
January 8th, 2007 at 6:39 AM
Congrats on the open-sourcing.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:42 AM
[...] 세컨드 라이프 클라이언트 소스 공개 Official Linden Blog » Blog Archive Embracing the Inevitable « [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 6:43 AM
SecondLife client goes GPL
Well, GPL seems to be all the craze these days - after Sun with Java, LindenLabs no w follows by Open Sourcing their viewer software under the GPL.
This is a great move for more than a single purpose. For starters, you can now add your own goodies to t…
January 8th, 2007 at 6:48 AM
Well …. this will certainly make things more stable ….. NOT! I’m seriously reconsidering not renewing and selling all my land while I still can.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:49 AM
This is an amazing Announcement .. Expect to see amazing things to come ..
Linden is following the Mozilla and Unix code offerings .
Why is Unix the most secure O.S. on the planet because it is in the hands of Hackers
who want their stuff to be secure. So I see this as a good thing.. I cant wait to see what is to come..
Who knows maybe an off line object creator.
External Chat system
or MAY I DREAM.. Audio chat
Things look amazing finally for Second Life.
Congrats Linden labs thankyou for helping us be more in control of our second life.
SuperMouse Moose
January 8th, 2007 at 6:51 AM
This is very exciting news and I think it represents a lot bigger step toward open servers than some posts have suggested. Unless I’m mistaken (which is highly possible), knowing exactly how the client interfaces with the LL servers will allow us to build our own mock servers and simply point the client to this mock server instead.
Does this go as far toward reverse engineering the server as I think it does? That is the day I’m looking forward to, i.e. when we can have our own servers plugged into the main grid.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:52 AM
[...] Second Life goes GPL Published by Jason Griffey January 8th, 2007 in Digital Culture Tags: cool, Digital Culture, Gaming, legal. cool, Digital Culture, Gaming legal Linden Labs, the proprietors of the MMORPG Second Life have done what many thought impossible: they’ve released the code for Second Life via GPL. [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 6:54 AM
@Sean Petit
I don’t consider myself greedy but I do like to get paid for my work. A big part of the attraction is being able to make money in SL. If you kill the economy, you’re going to kill SL. I doubt that will happen but don’t dismiss anyone who brings it up as some evil greedy person.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:54 AM
I am with Gillian - what are the implications for us non-coder-types
January 8th, 2007 at 7:01 AM
Offline building? Saving one’s work/rpims offline? Possibly even voice chat with vocoder plugins (I’m a dragon in SL and that what I’d like my voice to sound like rather than human). MIDI implementation? The possibilities are endless. I can’t wait! I can see good programmers worth their salt getting together to produce excellent 3rd-party clients with all sorts of useful features that LL simply hasn’t got the time or manpower to implement.
January 8th, 2007 at 7:02 AM
[...] y es la liberación del código de su cliente. Linden, la empresa responsable del mundo virtual, ha anunciado que “no están desesperados, y que reciben lo inevitable con brazos [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 7:06 AM
Will there be any chance of Linden Labs (or OS developers) developing a client-side modular plug-in architecture for the client?
That seems a much better proposition than having there be a huge number of alternate clients out there, all with different features.
January 8th, 2007 at 7:07 AM
[...] big news this morning is that Linden Labs, owners of Second Life, has opened up the source code for the client side of SL (the part users interact with, not the servers) under a GPL open source license. Fred Oliveira at [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 7:09 AM
Mmm, and visions of open-source danced in their heads.
Yes yes, open source is the way to go… but my issue has never been with the client-side so much as the server-side… LL, please let us host our own sims
January 8th, 2007 at 7:10 AM
@Ehdward Spengler
I myself sell the things I make in SL. But that’s not what drives me to create. I was commenting on the crass generalization that people only create if there’s a revenue potential. There will still be plenty of content creators left if the economy falters. And I seriously doubt that will be permitted to happen. Economies tend to be self-sustaining and self-correcting. There may be a few stumbles along the way, but you can bet someone will find a fix.
January 8th, 2007 at 7:14 AM
THAT’S SO COOL!!!!!!! Thanks Linden!!!!!!
You guys rock!!!! Opensouce FTW!!!!
January 8th, 2007 at 7:16 AM
@Sean Petit
Money is a nice incentive to create though and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
January 8th, 2007 at 7:16 AM
After reading the announcement and the replies I feel a little apprehensive. I’m fairly new to SL and know nothing about coding but seeing that it’s obvious Lindens are reading these replies and NOT offering any reassurances isn’t very reassuring.
I want/need someone who knows to tell me my personal information and credit card info is, and will continue to be, secure.
January 8th, 2007 at 7:16 AM
[...] read more | digg story [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 7:21 AM
Some people don’t like open source (or, as in the case of the use of the GPL, Free Software), which is acceptable. Thinking that open sourcing the *client* will adversely affect the economy is somewhat alarmist - certainly, bad things *could* be done, but more likely bad things will be *patched* before they are done.
The client is what you connect to SecondLife with. The server code isn’t publicly available, though from what I understand much of the infrastructure is based on open source code. LAMP servers… read somewhere Beowulf clusters.
Open Source/Free Software has a demonstrated track record in this regard - projects such as Linux, Apache, Mozilla… to name some… have already demonstrated the benefit of code as a commons.
Proprietary code, on the other hand - well, we’ll see how many patches Microsoft releases tomorrow.
If you are just a regular user, this probably won’t affect you - except, perhaps, give a more stable client with less LL resources.
Me? I’m dusting off my compiler. It’s not like I