[opensource-dev] Moving forward with open development

[JB Hancroft]

Howard,

Can you amplify on this?  "We are going to start moving more of our Viewer
development into the open."

Which parts of the viewer, specifically?

Here's why I'm asking:
I'm concerned that there are so many divergent viewer projects, that the
end-user experience is going to be fractured.
What happens when I want "this shiny new thing" (available only with the ABC
viewer), and "that other shiny" (available only with the XYZ viewer)?

I'd like to avoid this, in the future:
   (Person 1: "Oh, you Don't Have the RubyShine-on-steroids plugin for
Snowglobe? <*smirk*>
                        Well, Everyone Knows... you just can't enjoy
high-end SL jewelry without it."
    Person 2: "Well, yeah, but I have to choose between my Super-Gizmo
Estate Mgmt Viewer, and awesome jewelry... Sigh")

I have clients today who want capabilities that LL isn't making possible,
without going down the technical path of making a custom viewer. The time
and effort, expense, and dependencies that creates... in my opinion... are
holding back further expansion of use of the SL platform.  Because of this,
I'm hearing more and more people and Companies looking at VW platforms other
than SL, with greater consideration than in the past.

Please remember... "perfect is the enemy of good enough".  For some of these
things, we don't need The Grand Plan... we need things we can work with.

Thanks,
- JB

On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 11:20 AM, Howard Look <howard at lindenlab.com> wrote:

> Hey opensource-dev@,
>
> Well, no lack of passion here recently. I want to let you know that we're
> paying very close attention and we're prepared to make some changes to how
> we manage our open development projects and work with the community.
>
> First, our intent:
>
> - We are going to start moving more of our Viewer development into the
> open. This means that some LL engineers will be working in a development
> branch that is in the open, viewable by all, and that communication and
> design activity for these projects will happen in the open. Over time, if it
> goes well, it may even become most viewer development. Q will start a
> separate thread with a proposal on branching strategy shortly.
>
> - We will continue to do some private internal development downstream of
> the external branch. As you know, we use some libraries that cannot be
> public. Also, we are obligated to protect our Second Life trademark, so the
> external branch will remain branded Snowglobe, not Second Life.
>
> - We will occasionally have projects where we defer communicating about
> them because we are still sorting out the business model or because
> we haven't gathered our own thoughts about design goals or requirements. We
> will endeavor to get opensource-dev@ involved as soon as is practical.
>
> - We have just gotten started thinking about Firefly. Our intent is not to
> exclude you, we just simply aren't ready to talk about it because we're busy
> with other things and gathering our own thoughts. Please be patient and
> assume good intent.
>
> And there are few things we need in return:
>
> - We need some better behavior on this list. While many folks have been
> constructive and helpful, many have not. Quite simply, if you can not remain
> civil, professional and constructive, please go elsewhere. Repeat offenders
> may be put under moderation.
>
> - We'd like your help finding candidates for a full-time leader of our open
> development initiative. Please see the job description here<http://lindenlab.hrmdirect.com/employment/view.php?req=50340&>
> .
>
> - If you are going to contribute to Snowglobe, you will need to complete
> the Second Life Viewer Contribution Agreement<http://secondlifegrid.net.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/SLVcontribution_agmt.pdf>. While
> not everyone is comfortable with it, we need to do it to protect our
> business interests. It also protects you. I'll draft off of Sun's FAQ<http://www.sun.com/software/opensource/contributor_agreement.jsp#ca_1>
>  and this FSF page <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.html> on the
> topic.
>
> I'm sure lots of commentary will follow, and I hope it's all constructive
> and in the spirit of working better together.
>
> Regards,
> Howard
>
>
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