User:Saijanai Kuhn/Plugins discussion

Stub for plugin discussion

Error creating thumbnail: convert-im6.q16: delegate failed `'rsvg-convert' -o '%o' '%i'' @ error/delegate.c/InvokeDelegate/1928. convert-im6.q16: unable to open file `/tmp/magick-29998diiJyoFvQiaO': No such file or directory @ error/constitute.c/ReadImage/600. convert-im6.q16: no images defined `PNG:/tmp/transform_895077b5f0a0.png' @ error/convert.c/ConvertImageCommand/3258.

This shows the possible data flows for for generic Second Life viewer plugins.

• The Second Life server is the main computer that your own computer connects to when you start Second Life. It starts a login process which allows you to eventually start roaming the Second Life world with your avatar. Without any plugins at all, the main communication is directly between your client and the current server running the land your avatar is standing on, also known as a "simulator."
• With Gridproxy, you gain the ability to intercept data as it comes to your computer or is sent out to the Second Life simulator. This allows you to add new features to Second LIfe by installing plugins that modify/insert/delete the data before it can reach its final destination. Gridproxy could create a local webpage to control a given plugin and thereby give you a robust GUI for the plugin, or, you could use the new media plugin to add a GUI on a prim in some way within the main viewer window.
• With the new media rendering plugin framework defined by Linden Lab, developers can now add new functions to Second LIfe without requiring Gridproxy. Basically, the plugin is able to draw directly onto a prim and the Second LIfe viewer is able to detect mouse-button clicks and the words you type within the prim and pass your text and mouse movement back to the media plugin. This allows for some pretty neat possiblies, like the ability to show a program window or computer screen running on a prim interactively.