[Opensim-dev] The Future of Open Simulator(?) (UNCLASSIFIED)

Mon Aug 17 17:16:27 UTC 2015

Given the enormous investment made in SL viewers, as well as in the 
server-side OpenSimulator plugins that support them, the default 
application behavior of the OpenSimulator framework is going to be 
SL-ish in the foreseeable future.There will hopefully be several 
improvements to the SL viewers made by the viewer developers with 
collaboration from us, but these will still be SL viewers. Maybe we can 
evolve them beyond recognition, but they will still be SL viewers.

Going beyond the default SL-ish application, someone needs to develop 3d 
clients that are completely different. The development of 3d clients, 
even SL viewers, is not part of the OpenSimulator project itself; it may 
come from teams that include some of the OpenSimulator core developers, 
but those are different teams and different projects. It's 3rd-party 
development, as far as the framework is concerned. (just like Diva Wifi 
is 3rd party development, even though I'm a core developer)

The most the OpenSimulator framework can, and will, do is to facilitate 
sharing of those alternative 3d applications. So if you're developing a 
Web client for OpenSimulator, the necessary server-side modules that you 
will certainly need to develop should be easily installable in binary 
form by other people running OpenSimulator. This can be made on your 
side so that people need to pay you, if that's what it takes to get you 
motivated. Ask me about it in the IRC if you want to know more about 
this, but here's the gist of it:
http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Developing_OpenSim_Addins

I have been quietly experimenting with paid licenses for these 
OpenSimulator addons; I don't plan to get rich with this, but I'm 
exploring the territory from a *technical* point of view, so that others 
can eventually make money with their own ideas for what virtual worlds 
should look like.

It is very unlikely that the OpenSimulator project will absorb those 
modules either as dlls or as part of the source code (again, it's a 
framework, it should be as small as possible), but we certainly 
encourage their development by providing a mechanism that connects 
providers and consumers, for both paid and free modules, open source or not.

On 8/17/2015 2:51 AM, M.E. Verhagen wrote:
> Well the compatibility is in these days just that there are still 
> viewers having the ability to login into opensims as well as in SL. 
> You cannot teleport from opensim to SL, send im's, share inventory or 
> something else. As I see it the compatibly with SL is just wishful 
> thinking of an opensource opensim wanting to be compatible with a more 
> and more closed source SL.
> So that implicit means the core developers will have to do diverge and 
> lay out the things they want to develop. They will longer be able to 
> say let's reverse engineer that cool new features LL has done. That 
> will lead to a roadmap ... I hope.
>
> An yes it is just a prediction of how I think opensim will look in 5 
> years time. For at least one thing is sure, opensim will still be 
> around in 5 years time :)
>
> 2015-08-17 2:39 GMT+02:00 Shaun T. Erickson <ste at smxy.org 
> <mailto:ste at smxy.org>>:
>
>     I see very little of that happening (except, maybe, the forks).
>     All these (non-core-dev) people writing to the list, with their
>     ideas of a road map and where it should go, seem to forget that
>     unless it tickles the fancy/curiosity of a core developer, or
>     helps their bottom line, financially, or is submitted by someone
>     else willing to support it and the core devs think it's useful and
>     won't conflict with what they want to do, it isn't happening. All
>     you're doing is engaging in wishful thinking.
>
>     This is not a product, no matter how we might wish it was. It's a
>     research project, for some, and the core of something that others
>     make money from. Aside from bug fixes (which they've always been
>     happy to take, if done properly), if it doesn't move either of
>     those goals forward, it's unlikely to happen.
>
>     I'm not a developer (I'm a Systems Administrator), and I most
>     certainly do not speak for any of the developers. They may
>     disagree with my assessment, and I hope they will not take offense
>     at what I've said. My comments are my own, based on hanging out
>     with them for the past six years, watching, learning and enjoying
>     the use of what they have produced (which is, to be fair,
>     impressive, to say the least). I might wish a lot of things were
>     different, but, you know what - they don't work for me (which is
>     good, because I know myself well enough to know I'd be a terrible
>     boss). I look forward to whatever else they come up with, but I
>     don't for a minute think that anyone can tell them what they
>     should or ought to be doing (well, you can, but that doesn't mean
>     they'll listen).
>
>     I do think there's two direct ways you can influence things though
>     - 1) write 3rd party modules to add functionality you want or that
>     changes/overrides existing behavior. As long as you stick to the
>     core framework, so that your module will work with core OpenSim,
>     you have free reign to do whatever you want, and 2) as some have
>     done, pay someone to implement/fix what you want.
>
>     I suppose there is a third way - fork it and do whatever you and
>     other like-minded folks want to. But this has been tried before,
>     with only a modicum of success. It *can* be done, but it's a tough
>     row to hoe.
>
>     -ste
>
>
>     On 8/16/15 7:44 PM, M.E. Verhagen wrote:
>
>         In 5 years time I see ...
>          opensim having it's own viewers
>         There will be no compatibility left with SL
>         It will have compatibility with other virtual worlds :)
>         The core will be relative bug free
>         There will be a decent road map
>         Opensim will be the apache of the virtual worlds.
>         There will be many forks of opensim.
>         There will be providers offering opensim with a one click install
>         Gadgets like the hmd devices and 3D cams will change the virtual
>         landscape forever. Opensim will adopt these changes and thrive
>         on it.
>
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