[Opensim-dev] Farewell and thanks

[Diva Canto]

Thanks for your contributions, Dahlia!

Usually, open source projects (and closed source ones too!) have a 
relatively high turn over. In OpenSim, there were people leaving (and 
some coming) around 2010-2011, and then the team stayed more or less the 
same since then. The original founders of the project (MW, lbsa and 
Adam) left around that time. The same thing happened with libomv, as the 
only original member left is lkalif.

The reasons why people decide to contribute to open source projects are 
varied, and so are the reasons why people decide to stop contributing. 
Every one of us can go at any time. In OpenSim, there's a new wave of 
people contributing recently -- viewer developers -- and that is great.

As for the future, and speaking for myself, I want to make OpenSim be 
what it says it is: a framework for multi-user 3D applications. There is 
nothing like that out there. Unity3D is fantastic, but it's not 
multi-user out of the box and it's much more difficult to create content 
for it; making Unity3D multi-user requires a huge amount of work, and 
there are commercial solutions out there; creating content for it 
requires a steep learning curve on tools like Blender.

This vision of a multi-user 3D application framework with a simple 
content creation model has been hampered by the heavy legacy of Second 
Life and the pressure to stay compatible with it, as many developers of 
OpenSim wanted it to be SL. We're now finally seeing some will to 
evolve, thanks to Linden Lab themselves changing directions, and, as far 
as I'm concerned, that is long due!

I'm looking forward to seeing the emergence of modular, programmable 
viewers, and corresponding server-side support. We're cleaning up a lot 
of things in preparation for that. Support for legacy SL will most 
likely continue, as that is a good baseline and many people still want 
it, but it's time to move on.

On 9/6/2015 1:38 AM, Latif Khalifa wrote:
> Dahlia, I'm very sorry to see you leave the project as you were one of
> the best liaisons with the libopenmetaverse project we had. I'm more
> than little concerned with the direction Opensim project is taking
> lately, and your input was invaluable.
>
> On Sat, Sep 5, 2015 at 11:48 AM, Dahlia Trimble <dahliatrimble at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I am sad to announce that I will be leaving OpenSimulator Core. I've been
>> finding lately that I no longer have a use for this type of software and I
>> don't have the time to contribute at the level that I'd like. I know that
>> many users and several of the current Core members have a lot of ideas for
>> the direction they would like to take this software in the future and I
>> don't really want to influence them when I am not planning to continue as a
>> user or developer. Therefore I will be relinquishing my commit access and
>> moving on.
>>
>> I wish to extend my gratitude to the community for their support of me and
>> my development efforts to date, and to the fine group of users and
>> developers I've had the chance to get to know and work with over the last 8
>> years. This time spent has been a significant experience in my life and I
>> have developed many friendships and I've learned much about open source and
>> open development during this time. I can only hope that being a part of this
>> community will benefit some of you as much as it has benefited me. I have
>> much faith that this community and this software are destined for greater
>> things in the future.
>>
>> Best wishes to you all!
>> -dahlia
>>
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