Difference between revisions of "Architecture Working Group"

Revision as of 14:14, 29 October 2007

Next meeting: Tuesday, October 30, at 1pm-2pm PDT. Details at User:Zero Linden

About

AWG's mission is to develop the protocols that will open up the Second Life Grid from something operated solely by Linden Lab to where others can run parts of the grid.

The timeframe for this work is short. Linden Lab is committed to implementing and deploying the protocols over the next two years. In this time frame, the AWG must focus on those aspects of the protocol that enable the opening up of the grid while primarily keeping the remaining feature set of Second Life constant.

Since we all hope that this work forms a stable base for years to come, the AWG should endeavor that its designs support a variety of implementation strategies, and are amenable to future extension. There is a tension between an agile strategy of implementing only what you need today vs. the approach of designing for a range of future possibilities. Linden Lab has heavily leaned toward the agile approach. The AWG needs to lean mostly this way as well, with of course some thought given to making the protocol evolvable.

The AWG isn't meant as a wholesale redesign of the Second Life platform. While we realize that there are many possible design choices, and that there are many possible approaches, the goal here is to take what is clearly a workable design and make it open. Think HTML 1.0 and HTTP 0.9 - Neither were perfect, and there were many things that couldn't be done with them. But they were functional, open and had enough extensibility to support future HTML versions, CSS, JavaScript, etc.... making the web what it is today. The AWG must aim to do the same for virtual worlds, and realize it within the next two years.

Goal

Discuss, design and implement a scalable and open architecture for the future Second Life Grid.

Create an architecture and set of specifications which will form the basis for:

The next generation SecondLife Grid
World Wide Web scale hosting of Virtual World Content
Multiple inter-operable implementations of the complete architecture (Metaverse creation)
Allowing Individuals and Enterprises to host content, agents and virtual land

Highlights

High Level Architecture proposed by Linden Lab (see the starting point)
Participate by contributing:
- In the wiki
- Throught Viewpoint Advocacy Groups (topic oriented focal points)
- Via SLDEV sldev mailing list and use tags like [ARCH] and [AWG] in the subject line.
Process (proposal)
Glossary

See below for many more details

Participating

Membership in this group is open. Start contribution to the work, and you become a member.

Contribute to the materials and documentation in this wiki --- a lot of material is being drafted and discussed in the AW Groupies section (also, see below).
Join the sldev mailing list and use tags like [ARCH] and [AWG] in the subject line.
Meet with others for technical discussions: Zero Linden's office hours, AW Groupies.

Meetings

Formal meetings will likely be held 3-4 times/year and located in Second Life to facilitate broad participation. Meetings will be coordinated on SLDev. Group members are encouraged to self-organize smaller meetings to move forward particular work areas and discuss hot topics as needed.

Meeting 1
Chatlog from 2007/09/16 (Gigs, otakup0pe and Tao_T talk about possible forms of regions etc.)
Transcript and Slides from Tao Takashi's informal meetup on 2007/09/23
In World Chatlogs
AW Groupies

Materials

Architecture Proposals

Individual Reviews and Feedback

Discussions

DRM, IP and permissions (from the mailing list)
Initial CAPS seed
AWG initial flows

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 '''Next meeting''': Tuesday, October 30, at 1pm-2pm PDT.  Details at [[User:Zero Linden]]
+==About==
-    I have gathered my tools and my charts,
+AWG's mission is to develop the protocols that will open up the Second Life Grid from something operated solely by Linden Lab to where others can run parts of the grid.
-    My plans are finished and practical.
-    I shall roll up my sleeves — make Second Life over.
+The timeframe for this work is short.  Linden Lab is committed to implementing and deploying the protocols over the next two years.  In this time frame, the AWG must focus on those aspects of the protocol that enable the opening up of the grid while primarily keeping the remaining feature set of Second Life constant.
+Since we all hope that this work forms a stable base for years to come, the AWG should endeavor that its designs support a variety of implementation strategies, and are amenable to future extension.  There is a tension between an agile strategy of implementing only what you need today vs. the approach of designing for a range of future possibilities.  Linden Lab has heavily leaned toward the agile approach.  The AWG needs to lean mostly this way as well, with of course some thought given to making the protocol evolvable.
+The AWG isn't meant as a wholesale redesign of the Second Life platform.  While we realize that there are many possible design choices, and that there are many possible approaches, the goal here is to take what is clearly a workable design and make it open.  Think HTML 1.0 and HTTP 0.9 - Neither were perfect, and there were many things that couldn't be done with them.  But they were functional, open and had enough extensibility to support future HTML versions, CSS, JavaScript, etc.... making the web what it is today.  The AWG must aim to do the same for virtual worlds, and realize it within the next two years.
+__TOC__
 ==Goal==