Extended Snowglobe FAQ
Why is this the "extended FAQ"
This is the "extended FAQ" because there is also a main FAQ. The main FAQ is meant for non-participants and newcomers who may not understand what this initiative is about, who might get confused about being thrown to a wiki just to find an FAQ. The extended FAQ is for people who are already excited about participating, and are mainly asking questions about how to do stuff.
Of course, that's only part of the answer. The other part of the answer is that we wanted to make sure that some of the FAQ was on the website to answer basic questions when we launched this initiative, while also having a place on the wiki for flexible collaboration with the community on other questions.
Where is the main FAQ?
The Main FAQ is located on the secondlife.com main website. It covers questions that non-participants might have about this initiative, and covers questions of policy that are best handled on a static website.
XXXFIXME - Temporary link to draft main FAQ for Linden Lab employees to edit: Open Source Draft FAQ (LL internal wiki)
Is there a roadmap or a timeline of Second Life being Open Source we can see?
Yes, there's a partial
What are some examples of projects (features) we've been waiting for a long time that will reasonably come faster with Open Source?
We're not sure. We have vague ideas of what people may do with this (e,g, fixing problems with video cards they happen to own, or radical reworking of user interface elements), but we're not going to pretend we're in control of what others do with the source.
How will Residents be able to collaborate on Open Source submissions? Will we be able to use Second Life itself to do it?
Possibly. The first step is to join the email lists
Are you going to be running a showcase for customized Second Life viewers with prizes for the best?
I think it'd be cool to have a system to allow Residents with certain needs have them met by offering L$ or US$ for custom clients, what do you think of that?
Is someone who builds their own Second Life viewer allowed to sell it?
How I get a copy of the code to play with?
See <a href="getit">Get it!</a>
How do I build my own Second Life viewer? What are the technical requirements?
See <a href="getit">Get it!</a>
Is there a website where I can find the homebrewed versions of Second Life that other people have created?
Not yet. When there is, it
Can I do anything I want with the Second Life client code?
Anything within the applicable licenses. The code itself is licensed under <a href="XXXFIXME">the GNU General Public License (GPL)</a>, which governs modification and redistribuition of the source code. Use of Linden Lab's servers will still be governed by <a href="XXXFIXME"></a>
Who can answer my questions about changing the Second Life code? I have some ideas for improvements but I don't understand how it works!
Ask your question on one of our forums or mailing lists. XXXFIXME - need to work out real-time chat strategy - could be an in-world developer center, or could be something as simple as IRC.
If I find a bug in Second Life, and know how to fix it, how do I submit the required code change?
See contributing page XXXFIXME
Will you continue to offer a bounty for exploits that are found once the code is open source?
Are there going to be rewards (like L$ or US$) from Linden Lab for people who implement certain features or fix certain bugs? I remember awhile back Cory had a bounty ( http://blog.secondlife.com/2006/02/08/firefox-ubrowser-and-you/ ).
Yes. [XXXFIXME - fill in details]
What's going to happen to the Feature Voting Tool? Is it going to join with the new bug-tracking system?
That is the plan. [XXXFIXME - need to shore up a plan for this]
Will source code availability make it possible for me to run my own grid on my own servers at home and not be connected to your (Linden) network?
Not really. While it's theoretically possible for anyone to create a server that is compatible with the open source viewer, it's not something that will be easy to do. While we hesitate to underestimate the ingenuity of the resident community, we don't expect that anything like this to evolve quickly. Linden Lab is not open sourcing the server infrastructure at this time; and even if we were, the system isn't designed for home deployment.
Tell me about this new open bug-tracking system which will be used with your Open Source initiative.
What's more important with Open Source SL, fixing new bugs or adding new features? There are a lot of bugs to be fixed and I think it'd be great if all the bugs could be worked on first.
How does Mono relate to the open sourcing of the Second Life viewer? Are they going to come together?
This is not related to our work on Mono, since the Mono work happens on the server. However, our pending move to Mono and our open source initiative are two ways in which we're moving Second Life toward a more open, standardized architecture.