[Opensim-dev] Another bit of input on alpha/beta

[steve l]

Hi there,

I am not really anybody, just a user of OpenSim. I will give you some of my
thoughts.

I watch OpenSim very carefully and run 6 little servers with various
versions on them. Yes OS has it's issues, but I think it is ready for prime
time in many many ways.

As for it's alpha status-that shocked me. OS is way beyond alpha in my
opinion. If you are going to debate alpha/ beta I think that one is already
over. OS is way beyond alpha. In my opinion you should just go to version 1
and get it over with. All good software is a work in progress. OS is
software that works very well in most ways.

Justin I know will fight tooth and nail to keep it back to pre version 1.
Justin is a perfectionist and wants it to be perfect before it hits final
release. I understand that and he does have a good point. The thing is that
you are constantly adding features to it and that adds bugs to it. My
feeling is to decide what will be a core OS and get that core to a point of
working well and call the core version 1.0. I think that basically OpenSim
is already there. All you have to decide is what constitutes the core.

The other thing here is public perception. Most of the world looks at an
alpha piece of software and says- "No way! It's alpha! It will mess up my
computer!" Even Beta software has that stigma attached to it. The public
thinks it either it doesn't work well or will mess up their machine. I know
better. I have used OS for a long time. It is a good, well designed virtual
world server. Yes it crashes sometimes. But all in all I think it is a
better thing overall than any version of Windows. Especially the earlier
versions. Nobody remembers Windows before version 3.1. Think about it. You
really need to leap to the Version 1.0 ASAP. Your public needs that.

If you want to add on more features, by all means! In my opinion features
should be modular add-ons to the core product. Kind of like Firefox does
with their add-ons. They can be there but chosen in a .ini file as they are
now. You might even think of releasing a basic core version that starts as
such and a full feature version that has more things turned on when it is
installed. Think about the different versions of Sin-On-A-Stick. You can
choose how many regions you have in the beginning- very user friendly!

You guys have a really good thing that you have created. You have put many
thousands of hours into it. It is being used by tons of people in all kinds
of environments. Some of those environments are very high level.
OpenSimulator deserves to be at version 1. If you don't someone will just
fork it and call theirs that. Then everyone will think that the forked
version is the real version. Then you guys will be left in the dust.
Marketing is everything! Just ask Bill Gates and guys at Apple!

That is my 2 cents!

Steve LaVigne
AngelFire Productions, Inc.
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