Architecture Working Group

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.

Getting started

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

• What you can do:
  • Join the sldev mailing list and use the tag [AWG] in the subject line of mail you send. Also, read the weekly list summary SLDev Traffic.
  • Read the documents in your area of expertise and comment on them in the AWG wiki or on list.
  • Attend meetings (see below).
  • Help keep the community organized: triage agenda items for meetings, post work items, etc.

Meetings

AWG 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.

• AWG Meeting 2 is tentatively scheduled for 2008 Jan 31.
• AWG Meeting 1: Agenda, transcript, work items, participant responses and other resources.

Zero's Office Hours

Engineering Director Zero Linden hosts technical discussions about Second Life Grid development at his office hours 2x/week. Date, time, location and transcripts available at User:Zero Linden.

NB: Task-based work groups are encouraged to self-organize community meetings to move forward particular work areas and discuss hot topics as needed. See Resources below.

Process

• Use sldev and meetings to discuss ideas and organize work.
• Develop documents (designs, use cases, etc.) in user space of wiki. Move to main sections below after community vetting.
• Use discussion tab in wiki to provide feedback on documents.

Best Practices

Community Standards

• Participate: in a friendly, helpful and constructive way.
• Distracting or disruptive behavior may be grounds for loss of AWG membership.
• Out-of-scope and off-topic discussions should be held outside of the main AWG wiki area, e.g., in your user space or The Incubator.

Wiki editing and documents

• Documents should begin as working drafts in your wiki user space.
• Documents should be vetted by the community for technical quality and clarity. After vetting by the community, they can be moved into the main document categories below.
• Collaboration is as valuable and appreciated as authorship.
• Linden Lab reserves the right to edit this wiki as needed.

SLDev

• Follow the list guidelines.
• Flag AWG-related posts by using the [AWG] tag in the subject line.
• Responses should be on topic and collegial.
• If the content of a thread changes, please change the subject line.
• Please do NOT use the list as an IRC/chat stand-in. One-line responses and snarky asides clutter the list and make it less readable.

Documents and Resources

Design Documents

The current state of the group's design:

• Second Life Grid: Description, motivation and goals.
  • Architectural Principles
• Structural Design
  • Agent Domain
• Second Life Grid Protocols
  • Foundation Protocols
  • Login
  • Teleport
• Glossary

Resources

Related efforts, groups and work:

• AWG Implementations: Projects working to achieve interoperability with the project
• The Incubator: A place for new ideas and concepts
• AW Groupies: The people that make up the AWG
• Viewpoint Advocacy Groups: A set of groups developing ideas around particular issues