<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>Hi Doug,<br><br></div>The project is managed in a very loose manner as that is what has demonstrated the means of the success the project has achieved to date. The core team controls the core team's repository. Most (all?) developers have features they would like to see and they either develop them and contribute them as core developers, or submit them as pull requests or patches as non-core developers. Non-core developers who submit several useful features and support them are often invited to join the core team and have full core authority if they accept. The code is architected such that it should make it easy for non-core developers to add many features to their specific downstream code bases and still maintain compatibility with upstream code. Features are not usually solicited but rather we rely on code donations and we try to work with those donating code to ensure that it fits well and doesn't disrupt existing users, of which there are very many.<br><br></div>Feature suggestions and requests are welcome but bear in mind that, except under very rare circumstances, none of us are paid to develop, maintain, or support such features. We for the most part do this in our spare time on a volunteer basis. Whether this falls under the category of "hobby" or "professional" is highly subjective and such categorization is of little value. There have been times when large corporations had some of their employees develop for us but that hasn't happened for a while now. There are also many, perhaps thousands of feature ideas out there that are generously offered by the community and we have no resources available to develop such and for most, any foreseeable implementation is highly unlikely unless a developer decides that it is in their best interest to develop such a feature at their own expense and donate it to the community.<br><br></div>Soliciting and accepting outside management help is also unlikely as such help could attempt to steer the project towards it's specific goals at the expense of other equally important goals that others may have.<br><br></div>Fortunately the license allows those who cannot work within these constraints to still use and modify the code to their satisfaction, and to hopefully make the effort to pass it upstream in the future if they see fit to do so.<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Aug 13, 2015 at 7:13 AM, Maxwell, Douglas CIV USARMY ARL (US) <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:douglas.maxwell3.civ@mail.mil" target="_blank">douglas.maxwell3.civ@mail.mil</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Classification: UNCLASSIFIED<br>
Caveats: NONE<br>
<br>
Can someone explain to me why the core developers insist on control of the<br>
code, but refuse to manage the project? I ask again: what are your plans for<br>
the future of Open Simulator? It's ok to say you don't have any, let's make<br>
some!<br>
<br>
I'll throw out some ideas based on the MOSES goals and objectives:<br>
<br>
1) Scale limitations lifted. We need a system that is governed by its<br>
available hardware and network resources, not bound by software limits.<br>
<br>
2) Let's create clear definitions of "stability".<br>
<br>
3) Clear and up-to-date API documentation.<br>
<br>
4) Clear and up-to-date OS deployment guidance under numerous typical network<br>
topologies.<br>
<br>
5) Bug identification & reduction.<br>
<br>
6) Efficient ray tracing. Useful for simulation of sensors as well as<br>
naturalized bot interactions.<br>
<br>
7) N-body physics. Would be nice to have vehicles that can follow terrain<br>
and not look like Star Wars land speeders. Would also be nice to have more<br>
natural avatar movement rather than the rigid animations we use now.<br>
<br>
What are yours? Anyone?<br>
<span class=""><br>
v/r -doug<br>
<br>
Dr. Douglas Maxwell<br>
Science and Technology Manager<br>
Virtual World Strategic Applications<br>
U.S. Army Research Lab<br>
Simulation & Training Technology Center (STTC)<br>
(c) <a href="tel:%28407%29%20242-0209" value="+14072420209">(407) 242-0209</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</span><div><div class="h5">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: <a href="mailto:opensim-dev-bounces@opensimulator.org">opensim-dev-bounces@opensimulator.org</a><br>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:opensim-dev-bounces@opensimulator.org">opensim-dev-bounces@opensimulator.org</a>] On Behalf Of Justin Clark-Casey<br>
Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2015 7:40 AM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:opensim-dev@opensimulator.org">opensim-dev@opensimulator.org</a><br>
Subject: Re: [Opensim-dev] The Future of Open Simulator(?) (UNCLASSIFIED)<br>
<br>
I won't comment much over future direction. However, Overte was never a<br>
governing entity, it was set up only to manage CLAs and maybe some other<br>
things in the future (which never got realized). Power over development<br>
direction has always been with the developers.<br>
<br>
CLAs for open-source projects tend to come from corporations running those<br>
projects that are very worried about getting sued. The vast majority have no<br>
such structures. It is very debatable whether anything other than the<br>
open-source license is needed.<br>
<br>
<br>
And there are many different project structures out there. Linux, for<br>
example, is controlled by a single individual who, along with a group of<br>
authorized lieutenants, controls everything that goes into the codebase. That<br>
is an evolution since Linus used to be the sole committer (and got overwhelmed<br>
by it).<br>
<br>
The direction of evolution is not inevitably to some managing organization.<br>
Or at the very least, the developers much always be in charge of what happens<br>
to the codebase.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On Tue, Aug 11, 2015 at 5:59 PM, Maxwell, Douglas CIV USARMY ARL (US)<br>
<<a href="mailto:douglas.maxwell3.civ@mail.mil">douglas.maxwell3.civ@mail.mil</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
<br>
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED<br>
Caveats: NONE<br>
<br>
Projects evolve.<br>
<br>
I couldn't begin to estimate the amount of work that has gone into this<br>
valuable project. The potential for technical and economic success is<br>
profound and I see a bright future for the Open Simulator. That said, I fear<br>
we are at a crossroads at this time with this project.<br>
<br>
It is unclear at this time what the maintainers of the Open Simulator code<br>
have planned for the project. Is there a roadmap or some sort of<br>
goals/objectives you are working against? What development targets would you<br>
like to see met in 12, 16, and 24 months from now?<br>
<br>
The MOSES project has needs & requirements that we are stepping up and<br>
supporting with internal development, but we aren't the drivers for the Open<br>
Simulator project. We've done our own internal gap analysis and determined<br>
where in the OS code there should be investment in stability, monitoring, and<br>
scalability improvements. In short, we are returning our code to you to<br>
adhere and abide by applicable derivative source code licensing terms.<br>
<br>
I believe the removal of the Overte as a formal governing entity is a mistake<br>
if you plan to encourage participation from business and government. The CLA<br>
was viewed by my organization as a formalized relationship acknowledging the<br>
legal responsibility of open source code stewardship and use.<br>
<br>
If this were simply a hobby, then Overte and the CLA would not be needed.<br>
However, the Open Simulator is being used by businesses charging money for<br>
service, by researchers studying human behavior and technical behavior, by<br>
educators, and more. Like it or not, you have created a product that needs<br>
management and attention at a higher level than the ad-hoc method that is<br>
currently your standard operating procedures.<br>
<br>
Project management must evolve.<br>
<br>
As projects are started at the grass roots and then emerge as valued<br>
commodities, the need for different styles of management is required. A<br>
project with two active developers is different than a project with 20 or<br>
200.<br>
If the management does not evolve, then the project will be limited and<br>
growth<br>
is not possible. I encourage you to think about a new structure that can<br>
handle influx of large amounts of donated code in a short time. The kinds of<br>
investments needed to make this a world class simulator requires you to step<br>
up and begin project planning.<br>
<br>
This is a community effort.<br>
<br>
If the community values this work and would like to see it grow or even<br>
receive maintenance, then the community must voice. This code does not<br>
belong<br>
in the hands of a gov't agency or corporate entity. This code belongs in the<br>
hands of a strong non-profit that can handle grant and contract funds to pay<br>
a<br>
staff of maintainers, code reviewers, testers, and functional area code<br>
managers. This could be an Overte spin-off, or even an academic institution<br>
of some kind.<br>
<br>
I've given you a glimpse into what the next 9 months of development for the<br>
MOSES related Open Simulator issues. We came in this spring at a time when<br>
development seemed to be winding down and things were quiet after the 0.8.x<br>
releases. What will you do when we reach the logical conclusion of our work?<br>
What is next for Open Simulator?<br>
<br>
I look forward to your feedback and constructive discourse.<br>
<br>
v/r -doug<br>
<br>
Dr. Douglas Maxwell<br>
Science and Technology Manager<br>
Virtual World Strategic Applications<br>
U.S. Army Research Lab<br>
Simulation & Training Technology Center (STTC)<br>
(c) <a href="tel:%28407%29%20242-0209" value="+14072420209">(407) 242-0209</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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<br>
<br>
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