<h3>From <a href="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Main_Page">http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Main_Page</a>:<br> <span class="mw-headline"> </span></h3><h3>I think the OpenSimulator wiki addresses your concerns very well!</h3><br>
<a href="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Main_Page">http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Main_Page</a><br><h3><br></h3><h3><span class="mw-headline">"Participating in the OpenSimulator
Community </span></h3>
<p>OpenSimulator is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source" class="external text" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source" rel="nofollow">open
source</a> project, and is powered by the community members that devote
time and energy to the effort. There are many ways to participate and
contribute to the community:
</p><br><ul><li> Participate via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat" class="external
text" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat" rel="nofollow">IRC</a> - <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/opensim" class="external text" title="irc://irc.freenode.net/opensim" rel="nofollow">#opensim</a> (for users), <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/opensim-dev" class="external text" title="irc://irc.freenode.net/opensim-dev" rel="nofollow">#opensim-dev</a>
(for developers) and <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/opensim-scripts" class="external text" title="irc://irc.freenode.net/opensim-scripts" rel="nofollow">#opensim-scripts</a>
</li><li> Participate via the mailing lists - <a href="https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-users" class="external text" title="https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-users" rel="nofollow">opensim-users</a> (for users) and <a href="https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev" class="external text" title="https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev" rel="nofollow">opensim-dev</a> (for developers).
</li><li> <a href="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/WikiStructure" title="WikiStructure">Contribute to this wiki</a>, making the
OpenSimulator documentation even better.
</li><li> Report <a href="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Bugs" title="Bugs">bugs</a>, submit <a href="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Submitting_code_to_OpenSim" title="Submitting code to OpenSim">patches</a> or submit content
contributions via our <a href="http://opensimulator.org/mantis/" class="external text" title="http://opensimulator.org/mantis/" rel="nofollow">mantis bug tracker</a>
</li><li> Create an OpenSimulator related project hosted on the <a href="http://forge.opensimulator.org/" class="external text" title="http://forge.opensimulator.org" rel="nofollow">Forge</a> or <a href="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Related_Software" class="external
text" title="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Related_Software" rel="nofollow">elsewhere</a> on the web. In the forge there are over a
dozen registered projects, and it's a great way to further extend the
OpenSimulator community.
</li><li> Participate to open content creation for OpenSimulator. More
details at <a href="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Artist_Home" title="Artist Home">Artist Home</a>.
</li><li> Blog about OpenSimulator, and let us know about that blog on <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/opensim" class="external text" title="irc://irc.freenode.net/opensim" rel="nofollow">#opensim</a> so it
can be added to <a href="http://planet.opensim.us/" class="external
text" title="http://planet.opensim.us" rel="nofollow">Planet OpenSim</a>
</li><li> Participate in one of the weekly <a href="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Office_Hours" class="mw-redirect" title="Office Hours">Office Hours</a> for OpenSimulator. We currently
have weekly office hours for development, wiki work, and testing.
</li><li> Secure project infrastructure by <a href="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Donations" title="Donations">donating</a>
to the <a href="http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Donations" title="Donations">OpenSim Project Infrastructure Fund</a>."</li></ul><br>Karen<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 2:43 PM, Melanie <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:melanie@t-data.com">melanie@t-data.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">Hi,<br>
<br>
generally, there are two ways to go about advancing development of a<br>
project. One can do it as a closed, or as an open project.<br>
<br>
With an open project, this is rather easy. You simply compensate a<br>
developer for their time to develop certain features of the program<br>
and publish the source code under the project's license.<br>
<br>
At that point, I would see no issue with using the name<br>
OpenSimulator as a name to describe the project, provided it is not<br>
used to appear to endorse a business venture or another product or<br>
service.<br>
<br>
With closed source, the use of the name should be limited to "based<br>
on OpenSimulator" when describing the product. Further or more<br>
extended use of the name would be frowned upon.<br>
<br>
Developers here, myself included, have taken payment to provide<br>
OpenSource code to the community. I am sure that you will find<br>
receptive ears when asking for certain features and offering<br>
compensation. I, myself, am not adverse to this.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Melanie<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
Drew Hart wrote:<br>
> I will contact you offlist Wordfromthe Wise. Â And what was said makes<br>
> sense. Â I guess my only concern, and I am serious about doing some serious<br>
> fundraising, is the use of the name Open Simulator. Â I guess if I raised<br>
> money and laid out my position, that I am an independent third party<br>
> interested in hiring coders to contribute to OpenSim, that should make using<br>
> the name okay (people would know I am not officially conected)? Â Also, we<br>
> would need some independent "observer/accountant" to make sure everything is<br>
> cool and the money spent wisely, but I know several that would volunteer<br>
> their time to do that (attorneys/accountants). Â So if anyone else wants to<br>
> work on fundraising, etc., contact me at <a href="mailto:drewehart@gmail.com">drewehart@gmail.com</a>. Â Or if anyone<br>
> has other ideas on how non-programmers can help the code move along, I am<br>
> open to anything. Â Even if some of the experts want to hold some training<br>
> sessions so we can learn coding - though I am not sure if that is<br>
> practicable. Â Thanks,<br>
><br>
> On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 1:02 PM, Michael Cerquoni <<a href="mailto:nebadon2025@gmail.com">nebadon2025@gmail.com</a>>wrote:<br>
><br>
>> One of the problems with OpenSimulator project doing this, is it is not an<br>
>> established company. Â There is no central office or managers for this<br>
>> project. Â That aside if you wanted to try to raise funds to hire programmers<br>
>> who will submit their code you could certainly do that, you do not need<br>
>> OpenSimulator project to do this for you. Â You could also ask some of the<br>
>> OpenSim developers directly if they are interested in working for bounty if<br>
>> you can raise the funds. Â Another problem right now is most of the<br>
>> developers are way to busy to organize fund raising events, and from my<br>
>> experience Money doesnt always solve problems, and can tend to complicate<br>
>> things to the point they never actually get done, because once the funds run<br>
>> out work just flat out stops and is very difficult to get going again. Â One<br>
>> thing you do not mention is what you would like to see finished or what you<br>
>> feel is missing or incomplete. Â OpenSimulator is a very open ended project<br>
>> and will likely always be morphing and changing, there will likely never be<br>
>> an end to its development, unlike a facebook website which has very limited<br>
>> purpose to its goals. Â I am going to assume you mean Second Life<br>
>> compatibility, this is really just a small piece of opensimulator and I will<br>
>> think that you will find that most of the people directly involved in<br>
>> OpenSimulator are not that interested in recreating second life, there are<br>
>> many avenues being pursued right now that look nothing like Second Life, one<br>
>> of the major factors really holding this project back is the lack of a<br>
>> Open-Source viewer that the OpenSimulator developers can work on that is in<br>
>> a usable state, the Second Life viewer source code is off limits to<br>
>> OpenSimulator developers and because of this making OpenSimulator be second<br>
>> life compatible is not always easy or even possible at all in some cases. Â I<br>
>> think once we see viewers like Realxtend Naali and others become more usable<br>
>> you will see OpenSimulator move even further from trying to be a second life<br>
>> clone. Â But these are just some of the reasons that I see OpenSimulator is<br>
>> taking as long as it has, and it will likely continue to take just as long<br>
>> no matter how much money you throw at it, but like i said, anyone who has<br>
>> the desire can raise funds and hire developers to get involved and<br>
>> contribute the code to this project, so please do not wait for the<br>
>> OpenSimulator developers to do this for you, as some of the developers that<br>
>> work for Intel Corp and IBM Corp, and others like Melanie and Justin have<br>
>> been paid to develop and create patches as well as for profit grids like<br>
>> Reaction Grid, so its not like this is really something that is not<br>
>> currently happening. Â Hope this helps to explain atleast a little of why<br>
>> things are the way they are.<br>
>><br>
>> Â On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 7:38 AM, Drew Hart <<a href="mailto:drewehart@gmail.com">drewehart@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>>> Â Okay, that was my catchy title that in no way means any disrespect. Â I<br>
>>> love OpenSim, have used it for years, tell everyone I meet about it and am a<br>
>>> huge fan and supporter. Â Recently a question was asked about a roadmap and<br>
>>> progress. Â I would like to expand on that. Â OpenSim has now been around for<br>
>>> a while - like years. Â Yet I can't really use it for clients. Â So here is my<br>
>>> question. Â As a non-coder, how can others help. Â For example, I would gladly<br>
>>> donate some decent money if there were a coordinated fundraising event and a<br>
>>> plan to hire a couple of full-time, very qualified developers to really move<br>
>>> this along.<br>
>>><br>
>>> Please, please, please don't take this the wrong way. Â This is NOT a<br>
>>> criticism. Â I know this is done by volunteers and I know that this is more<br>
>>> ambitious than Second Life, but have we looked at other solutions to move<br>
>>> the process along. Â I think there are a lot of people like me who would<br>
>>> contribute. Â But, and I stress this. Â Me donating say $1,000 by myself isn't<br>
>>> going to do anything. Â We would need a serious fundraising drive, and<br>
>>> specific and talented people that we could hire full-time as<br>
>>> consultants/coders to really move this along.<br>
>>><br>
>>> I would imagine I am not the first to suggest this. Â But every day I see<br>
>>> this awesome product I want to use, yet it seems months or years away from<br>
>>> stable wide-spread use.<br>
>>><br>
>>> There are now several web sites that help in fundraising. Â I am sure many<br>
>>> of you read about the NYU students that raised several hundred thousand<br>
>>> dollars in a short time so they could spend their summer coding a Facebook<br>
>>> clone (sort of). Â Now if 4 undergrads can get that kind of money for a<br>
>>> Facebook clone, why hasn't OpenSim tried something similar. Â These<br>
>>> fundraising sites are hot right now - let's take advantage of them!<br>
>>><br>
>>> Please read:<br>
>>><br>
>>> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12about.html" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12about.html</a><br>
>>><br>
>>> The article was written before they raised much more money.<br>
</div></div>>>> <<a href="http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12about.html?scp=3&sq=nyu%20programmers&st=cse" target="_blank">http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12about.html?scp=3&sq=nyu%20programmers&st=cse</a>><br>
<div class="im">>>><br>
>>><br>
>>> Drew<br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>> _______________________________________________<br>
>>> Opensim-dev mailing list<br>
>>> <a href="mailto:Opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de">Opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de</a><br>
>>> <a href="https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev" target="_blank">https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev</a><br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> --<br>
>> Michael Emory Cerquoni - Nebadon Izumi @ <a href="http://osgrid.org" target="_blank">http://osgrid.org</a><br>
>><br>
>> _______________________________________________<br>
>> Opensim-dev mailing list<br>
>> <a href="mailto:Opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de">Opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de</a><br>
>> <a href="https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev" target="_blank">https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev</a><br>
>><br>
>><br>
><br>
><br>
</div>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5">><br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> Opensim-dev mailing list<br>
> <a href="mailto:Opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de">Opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de</a><br>
> <a href="https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev" target="_blank">https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev</a><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Opensim-dev mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de">Opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev" target="_blank">https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>