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Joined: 15 Nov 2006
Posts: 396
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Hello,
Here is the press release draft to be released soon (probably on Monday) about Second Life, open for comments.
Please do not spread it until all parties have agreed on it, otherwise it will be counter-productive. It's only there for your eyes. ;p Thanks!
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Free Software Foundation and the Virtual Citizenship Association announce efforts to work towards software freedom in virtual online worlds.
Boston, January 18th 2007 – Describing their decision as "embracing the inevitable", Linden Labs, developers of the online world "Second Life", announced last week the release of their client application as free software under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
After reviewing the details of the release, and entering into a discussion with Linden Lab's representatives, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and the Virtual Citizenship Association (VCA) - the community behind the Free Ryzom Campaign - are jointly greeting Linden Labs announcement as an historic moment for software freedom in virtual online worlds.
"Linden Labs have demonstrated a high degree of openness and transparency in their decision to work towards freedom", said Xavier Antoviaque, a Founding Member of the VCA, “the way they look at online communities in general, and the philosophy behind these first steps into the Free Software world, are very encouraging.” The details of the analysis carried out by VCA and the details of the discussions held with Linden Labs can be found on the VCA Forum (link).
Peter Brown, Executive Director of the Free Software Foundation, said, "Free software is an ethical choice and we are pleased that the citizens of Second Life will have the chance to participate in that online world using free software."
For developers interested in supporting development of free software in online worlds, the question has been, will the server code (the Second Life "Grid") also be released as Free Software? It is currently only possible to alter and redistribute the users client, not the world itself. Cory Ondrejka, Chief Technical Officer for Linden Lab, demonstrated commitment to Free Software by stating they would be working on releasing the server code “as quickly as [they] can”.
In addition to the use of a proprietary dynamics engine, "Havok", which would have to be freed or replaced, Mr Ondrejka said that “the servers as currently written, are not ready to be run in non-Linden Lab environments. Fortunately, the road map to fix those issues is pretty clear to us.”
The FSF and VCA aim to stay closely engaged with the project, and are encouraging members of the free software community to participate in helping Second Life become a successful Free Software project.
About the Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of Free (as in freedom) Software - particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants - and Free Documentation for Free Software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software. Their web site, located at www.fsf.org, is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. They are headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.
About the Virtual Citizenship Association
The Virtual Citizenship Association, a community-based initiative, is already known for it attempt in late 2006 to purchase the MMORPG game Ryzom. The campaign targeted to release the source code under the terms of the GNU GPL, and the content and artwork under similar free licenses. In 25 days, the campaign raised 300 K€, including 170 K€ of donation pledges from the community. See www.ryzom.org.
The VCA primary mission is to protect elementary individual rights in online worlds, including transparency, right for privacy and participative democracy. Current actions include hosting discussions about the building of a new Free Software universe by developers from separate teams (Planeshift, Project Angela, Peragro Tempus), monitoring Second Life's client release as GPL, and preparing new campaigns.
For more information, please visit the VCA website at www.virtualcitizenship.org.
About Second Life and Linden Lab
Second Life is a 3D online world with a rapidly growing population from 100 countries around the globe, in which the Residents themselves create and build the world which includes homes, vehicles, nightclubs, stores, landscapes, clothing, and games.
The Second Life Grid is a sophisticated development platform created by Linden Lab, a company founded in 1999 by Philip Rosedale, to create a revolutionary new form of shared 3D experience. The former CTO of RealNetworks, Rosedale pioneered the development of many of today’s streaming media technologies, including RealVideo. In April 2003, noted software pioneer Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation, was named Chairman. In 2006, Philip Rosedale and Linden Lab received
WIRED’s Rave Award for Innovation in Business. Based in San Francisco, Linden Lab employs a senior team bringing together deep expertise in physics, 3D graphics and networking.
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Xavier. |
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