[Opensim-users] Announcement of inventory tool (MyInventory), mostly of interest to grid operators/grid nauts

Fri Nov 16 13:48:10 UTC 2012

I think that giving a everybody a feel for what the tool is really about,
prior to going open source is an excellent idea.

I think this would be beneficial for all. The community could help identify
issues before they were "let loose in the wild", as I have said repeatedly,
MyInventory is not intended to be a tool for ripping assets, on the other
hand I am of the firm conviction that the end-user has far too little
control of his or her own inventory, and that access to content is one of
two major obstacles preventing users from adopting opensim on a wider scale.

best regards
Snowcrash

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 2:25 PM, Fleep Tuque <fleep513 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I wanted to throw one other thought out there before I head off for a
> Friday full of meetings.
>
> A few months ago, I made a blog post encouraging Second Life users to move
> beyond that platform if they wished to see the Metaverse we imagined become
> a reality.  I suggested exploring Opensim as a first step in that process,
> in part because it's an easy transition from SL to Opensim due to
> their similarities, but also because in my view, the Opensim community is
> far more forward thinking and dedicated to the Metaverse concept and ideal
> than Linden Lab probably ever was, and certainly more than Linden Lab is
> now (which is to say, not at all!).  I won't repeat the post, but feel free
> to read it if you're interested:
>
>
> http://www.fleeptuque.com/blog/2012/08/why-anyone-who-cares-about-the-metaverse-needs-to-move-beyond-second-life-now-not-later/
>
> I was shocked, flabbergasted really, by the huge response to that post.  I
> just don't see 100+ comments on my blog posts very often, and while many of
> them were nostalgic about the early years of SL, if you were to read
> through those comments, you would see the terrible impression that many
> Second Life users have about Opensim all boils down to perceived (and real)
> content theft.  In the US, they talk about large entitlements being the
> "third rail" of politics - meaning the topic is electric and any politician
> who goes near it is likely to be killed.  Copyright/IP and exporting
> content to other grids is the "third rail" of Opensim.  The mere mention of
> the topic generates enormous amounts of passion on every side of the issue.
>
> Nevertheless, these are the hard problems that innovators and pioneers
> must solve.  If it were easy, anyone could do it and we'd already be
> further along down the Metaverse path than we are.  But it isn't easy, it's
> complicated, and fraught with not only legal concerns, but ethical and
> moral ones too.  The only way to move forward is to try new things, to make
> best efforts to address as many sides of the issue as possible, and to keep
> the channels of communication and dialogue open.  Demonizing those on any
> side of the issue is likely to get us no where and only furthers the
> perception that the problems are unsolvable.
>
> From my view, Snowcrash has identified a legitimate area where Opensim
> needs more development, more eyes on the problem, and more efforts to
> achieve workable solutions.  I don't know that the tool he has designed is
> the best solution, but I do appreciate that he has asked for feedback, I do
> appreciate the commitment to open source his attempt at a solution, and I
> definitely would hate to see him killed on sight for having the gumption to
> try to approach the third rail. Someone needs to!
>
> I might suggest, Snowcrash, that when you're ready, perhaps you could
> release the tool in a limited pilot phase first and allow some of the
> developers and end users here in the community to test it, see how it
> functions, and give you additional feedback before you release it more
> widely or open the source.  It isn't just hysteria or knee-jerk reaction on
> the part of those with concern, many of us have been fighting the
> perception that Opensim is all about content theft for years, and in part
> because there HAS been a lot of theft, and it IS a tricky problem to solve.
>
> I'd like to think the community has the capacity to find a good way
> forward, even if we can't solve every problem immediately or with a single
> tool.  Still, a step forward is a step forward, and I'd be happy to
> volunteer as a pilot tester if you're open to that idea.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> - Chris/Fleep
>
>
> Chris M. Collins (SL/OS: Fleep Tuque)
> Center for Simulations & Virtual Environments Research (UCSIM)
> UCIT Instructional & Research Computing
> University of Cincinnati
> 406A Zimmer Hall
> 315 College Drive
> PO BOX 210088
> Cincinnati, OH 45221-0088
> chris.collins at uc.edu
> (513) 556-3018
>
> http://ucsim.uc.edu
>
> On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 6:56 AM, Marcus Llewellyn <
> marcus.llewellyn at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  On 11/16/2012 12:56 AM, Snowcrash Short wrote:
>>
>>  Users have right too, you know?
>>
>>
>> Absolutely. Believe me, I'm a huge supporter of user's rights. These
>> include things like (as they're known in the U.S.) fair use and first sale
>> doctrines. But I ask you not to forget forget that the ability to exercise
>> copyright or enter into a contract is *also* a user's right.  This isn't a
>> "Them against Us" issue. It's an _ALL of us_ issue. Fighting for one set of
>> rights while disregarding or undermining other rights is not a tenable
>> position.
>>
>> I've would adore it if someone were to step up and pull people together
>> into finally wrangling a framework that allows for people like Fleep to
>> share her creations freely across virtual worlds in a user friendly format,
>> while also allowing commercial creators to have a reasonable expectation of
>> the preservation of their licenses and copyrights. That should be the real
>> project here. There's too many missing pieces at the moment. Getting an
>> export flag implemented on the server and in viewers, although an imperfect
>> solution, would be an excellent way to get the ball rolling.
>>
>> Any other action, I think, will tend to be perceived as a, "I want what I
>> want, and I want it now, damn the consequences," response to the community,
>> whether or not that perception is warranted.
>>
>> Marcus
>>
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>
>
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