[Opensim-dev] Make ODE and Meshmerizer the default options?

[dz]

Justin,

The wiki still has sections indicating that some linux platforms may require
a rebuild of the ODE software.  This may be me mis-reading the wiki, or it
may be old info.
Because we run on 64 bit linux (Ubuntu 9.04 server), we do Mono and ODE
builds from source anyway.  It would seem, however, that if some of the
linux platforms will not run ODE "out of the box", it may be a reason to
stick to the current default.  Im sorry I dont have any way to test and see
if the wiki information is outdated.

If ODE is made the default, please add some information to the wiki
documentation describing the configuration flags used to build it.  This may
provide the basis for discussions on the impact the build parameters have on
performance.  You may also want to note that using the ODE engine uses a LOT
more memory than the current defaults.

I really dont have a preference one way or the other, except to say that
having a 'default' configuration that works in the majority of installations
seems a better idea than one likely to trigger posts to forums complaining
about a "more complicated" setup.   Maybe the transition to ODE later
provides a "built in" delay for beginning administrators to get thier feet
wet, find out what they want to tweak, and might insure they look at the
wiki for directions :)

Doug Osborn

On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 11:17 AM, Justin Clark-Casey <
jjustincc at googlemail.com> wrote:

> In the OpenSim developer's meeting yesterday on OSGrid we had a discussion
> about
> making ODE the default physics engine and Meshmerizer the default mesher.
>
> Currently, basicphysics is the default physics engine but the general
> response
> was that everybody quickly switches to ODE since objects can only be
> phantom
> under basicphysics.
>
> The disadvantage with switching to ODE is that 64 bit Windows users would
> have
> to run bin/OpenSim.32BitLaunch.exe since there is currently no compilable
> 64 bit
> Windows ODE (though there is a Linux one).
>
> Everybody at the meeting felt that the advantages of going with ODE
> outweighed
> this disadvantage.  Does anybody on the list have a good reason for not
> switching defaults?
>
> As for meshing, ZeroMesher is currently the default.  However, this
> implements
> extremely basic meshing (non rotatable cubes).  In comparison, Meshmerizer
> is
> much more sophisticated.  There was strong feedback in the meeting that
> many
> people quickly switch to Meshmerizer and that it would be good to make this
> the
> default.  Anybody have good counter-arguments to this?  I think there is
> potentially some performance impact but users sophsticated enough to
> encounter
> that can always switch back to ZeroMesher.
>
> --
> justincc
> Justin Clark-Casey
> http://justincc.org
> _______________________________________________
> Opensim-dev mailing list
> Opensim-dev at lists.berlios.de
> https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev
>
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