New version of Meerkat viewer

Fabulous Hax just announced the release of a new version of the Meerkat viewer.

The Meerkat site is

http://www.meerkatviewer.org.

There's a list of the new features at

http://meerkatviewer.org/wiki/Main_Page#Latest_Version

Latest Version

As of June 2009, we are pleased to bring you regularly updated Meerkat binaries. Releases will be more frequent in the beginning, while we quickly fix minor bugs introduced during the closed development cycle of Meerkat.

0.1.4 (July 20, 2009) change log:

* Added new remote for quick graphics options. Located right next to the volume sliders on the main screen.
* Improved avatar radar.
* Import/export works for full permission objects.
* Fixed audio sliders.
* IM encryption.
* Double click inventory items to wear.
* "Worn items" tab in Inventory.
* "Web login key" allows login to certain grids by clicking a link to get a temporary anonymous login.
* Phantom avatar and sit anywhere functionality.
* "Command line chatbar" option allows you to do some neat things by typing a command in chat.
* Always fly mode.
* Disable logout/login/teleport screens.
* Show avatar look at beacons.
* Added an option for "Allow concurrent viewers" to the Meerkat preferences panel.
* "View Avatar Joints" option in the "Meerkat" menu shows beacons for the joints of the avatar skeleton for precision alignment of attachments.
* Fixed megaprim creation via manual size entry.
* Added a ">10m prims" option to the main build tool (ctrl-3) for toggling Linden grid constraints (for building Linden grid compatible content in opensim).
* Increased precision of size and rotation controls.
* Added Torley's 240 windlight presets.
* Added an option to change windlight preset from the main UI.
* Edit Avatar mode shows avatar height.
* the usual various bug fixes not worth describing.
* Windows version runs faster due to some compiler optmizations.

0.1.3 change log:

* Added double click teleport
* Added a preference panel (only the toggle for double click TP currently works)
* Fixed individual volume sliders
* Restored -loginuri functionality
* Added support for web_login_key and a grid parameter
* Fixed a few minor grid manager bugs/crashes
* Automatic download of proper Vivox codec for voice support
* Fixed broken avatar texture and dialog spam after grid teleport
* Added Avatar appearance import/export

List wise sounds very much like Greenlife - not disparaging Meerkat, have not tried it ever. If either of you have tried both, any thing put this one over the top in favor from GL?

Awww sweet! Thanx for posting that.

O.K. - The initial good & bad

PROBLEM:

1- Meerkat Appearance Editor mode shows: AGENT HEIGHT - NOT PRIM HEIGHT, which is automatically wrong, and it also displays the incorrect Agent height by 1".
2 - Fonts are not SL standard in the inventory window - are are they just bigger and i can't find where to shrink them?

GOOD THING:

1- It can use up to 1GB Video Ram on my vid card.
2- RLV is added

Oh and for those that have not used Meerkat. Here is the best feature for Content Creators/Builders:

Content import/export: Bring objects, scripts, and textures that you've created to other grids or work offline in OpenSim.

- Restrained Life features are not enabling.

- When editing link objects in a large build, parts of the build near the linked object being edited disappear and then reappear a few seconds after you stop editing the linked object.

The RLV features not working is rather

I usually use Cool Viewer but it's not being updated anymore. Is this one better? I recognize pretty much all the same features.

not getting any sound at all with this latest Meerkat viewer, same with the previous version.

Using the official SL viewer and Snowglobe sound works fine.

I have no music streams that will play.

I seen that listed in their Jira Briana, same here including all sounds.

On the other end of the scale to Briana installed it on my little Asus Eee PC and definately an improved performance to the official viewer and cool viewer. Especially like that you can change draw distance by text command, so for local work can wack it down to 16m instantly...

the radar and preference are ports from greenlife, nothing wrong with that, that is what open source is for, takeing parts of other viewers that you like add your own ideas and glue it all together, the building options are very good, stabilety wise I prefer greenlife emerald.
The RLV functions are not activating.
selecting meerkcat->radar chat crashes the viewer.

I'm not yet confident using meerkat as production viewer but I am keeping an eye on it.

For my day to day use I stick with cool sl viewer (henrie version) because it is the most feature rich and stable viewer with RLV.

If I need a radar in a laggy sim I switch to emerald (the radar is the only thing cool sl viewer realy misses) a pitty emerald crashes after a period of inactivety.

A viewer for meerkats?

hakuna matata

So, not to take side on the issue, but to bring up a point: This viewer is open source and hence includes complete code released public to copy any object parameters seen.
It *does*, in this compiled version, include what amounts to a single if-statement checking the permission flag before running the copy.

This single condition in an open source release amounts to the difference between being praised for great development, and being nailed to the wall and having literal death threats, as per the Rezzable open source tool to copy object parameters?

I get that there is certainly a "show of good faith" in including it, which the Rezzable version arguably lacked, but it *is* releasing the full source for a comparable tool.

ETA: Just to make my point entirely clear here: I am honestly curious if people feel that the fact that the immediately available compiled executable contains the check is enough, since it *does* put a damper on the "instant usability"; you have to have a certain level of experience (or at least know somebody with it) to check out and compile your own version (and remove the permission check in the process).

This one also comes with Hakuna Matata and a cute mascot! If the greenies were fuzzy things would be different, you betcha.

it's probably more to do with the fact that the copy function is just one of many function and not the main goal of the viewer.

granted it is a function I haven't seen in a mainstream viewer yet, no doubt the griefer builds already have something like it, it might even be ported and modded from a greifer build.

another difference is that this viewer won't be usefull to scriptkiddies for stealing things but they already got plenty of toys for that so it hardly matters.

There are at least 3 permissions checks happening in the prim backup code, a few of them are well obfuscated and won't be disabled by your casual content thief.

And if a public version with content theft tools ever does surface, we will very quickly be reporting the viewers unique hash to Linden and other grid owners so they can ban the malicious client.

My biggest worry are all the people running around in a panic telling everyone how easy it is to steal content by changing one line of code, possibly leading to people actually attempting to do so. You need to relax, remember that we are the good guys and that we have the same concerns in regard to our own SL intellectual property.

Content theft would be much less of a problem if we just dealt with it properly: ban the users from your property and AR them, or find out what client they're using so it can be investigated by Linden.

This.

And FIX RLV!

RLV is not implemented at all but is a high priority. The next release will have very few new features but we will be addressing all the major crashes and audio/video issues that have cropped up lately.

We need help! We're a very small team and looking for contributors and testers. Contact info is on the site.

Just to play the devils advocate, that is *exactly* what Rezzable said.

(Again, I'm not picking on you. I am honestly curious where people in general feel the line goes. We *certainly* saw *extremely* strong reactions when it was overstepped, and it didn't seem to be a gradual ramp-up.)

Rezzable is selling content theft services and tools, we're not selling anything, just hoping for more investors

It seems to be running between fantasyland and frontierland.

"releasing as open source", which is what people were freaking out about, is not "selling". Also, they weren't selling or giving away related services at all. You just stepped over the line.