Getting Somewhere…

For over a year I have been using an open-source piece of software called OpenSim which is a reverse engineered Second Life simulator. (If you don’t know what a simulator is, it is the thing that gives you land and prims and all that happy stuff). Ever since it was released I have always felt that those servers would one day interact with the Agni grid.

Another thing that I love about the OpenSim project is the ability to run your own simulator locally. This is great for a variety of reasons. Testing scripts outside of Second Life, Building Practice, Tutorials etc. I basically love OpenSim. There are a few problems with it i’ll admit. It is still unfinished in terms of physics, inventory and usability but this will all be ironed out in the future.

So, recently the main grid was able to connect to an OpenSim server, which of course excited the hell out of me. Then this happened to appear in my feed reader. Open Grid may still be in it’s early days but it is something that makes me excited for the virtual worlds. This obviously opens up so many possibilities such as independantly run servers.

I will continue to keep watching the space and finding out what happens with OpenSim because whatever it will bring. It will be a good thing for all.

Microsoft + OpenSim?

OK, so I heard something about Microsoft and OpenSim over the weekend but I didn’t really look into it. Then I saw Radar blogged something about it and since he’s a Mac user and it mentions Microsoft I decided to take a look at it and learn about this whole Microsoft thing.

Apparently Microsoft (And I quote from Mixed Realities) say:

Zain Naboulsi, a “developer/evangelist” at Microsoft looking closely at OpenSim, told the Reuters bureau in Second Life that the company seeks to integrate at least three of its free services into the evolving open source package:

• coding tool C Sharp Express;
• SQL server express, Microsoft’s database platform to handle OpenSim’s inventory calls;
• Windows Live ID, a identity-management tool.

OK, So C Sharp Express coding for Open Sim…good I guess
SQL Server Express for Open Sim Inventory calls…good I guess
Windows Live ID management….nope not good.

Why do I think Windows Live ID for Open Sim isn’t the greatest idea for Identity Management? Because it isn’t something I would want. I would much rather prefer something like Open ID. Maybe I am wrong on this opinion but because Open Sim is open, I’d rather it use something like Open ID for the interoperability between servers.

Am I wrong in thinking this? Is Windows Live ID all that bad?

If I am wrong then it may go back to the days when I used to use the .net passport system which I hated but had to use and it drove me nuts.