Did you know that 36 community programmers have contributed 98 patches that have been included in the Second Life Viewer code so far this year? These Open Source contributors have been doing an amazing job of improving the Second Life experience for everyone. The level of participation in the Open Source Program has been thrilling, and we’re enormously grateful to all of these folks.

To show our thanks, we’ll be giving out Linden Lab Innovation Awards to the best of this year’s Open Source contributors. Nominations are now being accepted in five Open Source categories. To learn more about the Awards and Open Source, or to make a nomination then read on …

What is the Open Source Program?
In January 2007, Linden Lab released the source code to the Second Life Viewer. This means that developers from around the world are now able to collaborate with Linden Lab to refine and enhance the way the Second Life Viewer application works. A lively community of software developers has formed around this project, and as a result, hundreds of improvements (called “patches”) have been submitted. These patches are then reviewed by Linden developers, and so far about 98 patches have been rolled into the official Viewer download that you are all using. We want to thank all of our open source community for their efforts. We also want to highlight outstanding work within that community, so …

We are pleased to announce the inception of the annual Linden Lab Innovation Awards for excellence in developing the Second Life platform. This year, the awards will acknowledge Open Source contributors who have made the biggest impact on the quality and advancement of the Second Life Viewer.

We are now accepting nominations. Judges will include Linden developers and open source team members. Award winners will be announced during the Second Life Community Convention.

If you would like to nominate an open source developer or open source community contributor, or leave a comment in favor of a nomination:
1. Go to the Source Contributions list and review the open source contributors and patch descriptions.
2. Login to the Issue Tracker
[Edit:]
2a. If the person’s name is not already there, then add the person’s Second Life avatar name as a subtask to the appropriate category (below), and write a comment about what their contribution was and why you find it to be exemplary.
2b. If the name is already there, then add a comment to their subtask explaining what their contribution was and/or why you find it to be exemplary. [End edit]
Note: Linden Lab employees and family members are not eligible. Nominations are open from now through 22 July 2007 23:59 PDT.

This year’s categories are:
* Open Source Contributor of the Year
* Best Open Source Contribution
* Best Open Source Feature
* Best Open Source Bug Hunter
* Best Open Source Community Organizer

Judges will be announced separately and will include Linden developers and open source team members. These are juried awards, and they will be awarded based on a set of criteria and point system used by the judges.
A note about voting: JIRA has this nifty voting feature. You are welcome to vote for nominees you believe have merit. However, winners will not be selected by popular vote but through the juried process above.

Award winners will be announced in Second Life and during the Second Life Community Convention, held August 24-26 in Chicago, IL. A later announcement will give the date, time, and location of this event.
The Contributor of the Year will receive a MacBook Pro.

For further information about how the Awards work, see the full announcement.

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The LINDEN LAB INNOVATION AWARDS are for entertainment purposes only and have no monetary or other value. LINDEN LAB, LINDEN RESEARCH, and SECOND LIFE are trademarks or registered trademarks of Linden Research, Inc.