[sldev] [POLICY] OpenSL considered harmful?

[Joshy Squashy]

OpenSL (http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Main_Page) is an open source alpha Second Life server framework.  It is extremely crippled, with limited scripting options and a large number of missing features; however, it is functional.

The laboratory at my college has been doing research using synthetic worlds in education software projects and software engineering projects for some time.  We have been following development of OpenSL for some time, as we are very excited with the possibilities of having access to the source code for both the client and server (particularly in situations when the SL server should also be some other type of server).

Though OpenSL isn't much at the moment, we are approaching the point where we plan to try OpenSL servers for some very simple projects.  However, some colleagues disagree that we should consider OpenSL, claiming they are reverse-engineering Second Life's message protocols and that having the potential for hosting "free" Second Life servers is a threat to Linden Labs so Linden Labs will either shut down OpenSL or release client versions that render OpenSL unusable.

While I don't know Linden Labs opinion on the subject, I would think that such claims don't amount to much.  Releasing a client version that renders OpenSL unusable can't really happen because the client is open source so it's a trivial matter to remove the code that prevents interoperability.  However, shutting down OpenSL I see as conceivable but unlikely; the OpenSL server is so crippled that one would need very specific reasons as to why it would be desirable to use it, and Linden Labs hasn't taken action yet.  I simply don't see Linden Labs as considering this to be a threat, particularly considering their substantial existing userbase and that my understanding is that they've been toying with the idea of releasing the server code outright themselves for some time already.

Still, my colleagues and I would be very interested in hearing Linden Labs direction in dealing with those involved in developing 3rd party Second Life server frameworks.

~Squash Otoro

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