Question about Lindens - non controversial!

I was just wondering whether, if you meet a Linden in-world, that means they are on duty, working for LL. Are they allowed to use their Linden names when they are off-duty in-world or do they have to use private alts?

I've often wondered that too. Every one I've seen in-world has been busy doing official stuff, and it makes one wonder if they ever let these guys out to play.

they go shopping and clubbing too...

Every Linden should be forced to go through OI/HI as a completely anonymous alt.
They should then be obliged to spend a week full-time as a noob, surviving with no support from their colleagues as they learn how to be a resident.
Let them explore and learn like the rest of us.
Let them be griefed and abused, and have their ARs be ignored.
Let them find the fun stuff, meet real people and see how they react to SL.

I think that would improve everything enormously.

I agree with that 100% This was fully illustrated by a Lindens updating of the knowledge base recently, were he had to amend his assumptions from the info supplied by residents. I fully suspect a lot of Lindens have little clue what problems residents face in SL and which of the features they believe exist/work, just don't and in some cases never have. Torley seems to be the only Linden who experiences SL from the view point of the resident, his tutorials adequately (inadvertently) show what bugs exists and how rarely they get repaired.

I have seen Lindens shopping as well as helping a friend buy land from me. Don't be surprised if perhaps the alt next door is your favorite Linden!!

I've never seen a linden in world...

Yes, they do shop. A couple have bought my friend Shaggy's retro refrig and stove set from my shop!

So if they shop, they must also have a second life! Some of them, anyway.

coco

I know of some lindens who started out as residents and play their resident when they are not working

I doubt if any came into the world as a linden (unless it is the tech guys) pretty sure liasons were residents before lindens

They might not be "on the clock", but they're still representing LL so that will colour some of their responses.

One-on-one a lot of/some Lindens (usually the Liasons, probably because they're the ones who actually spend any amount of time in-world) don't neccessarily agree with the way things are (or the way LL wants them to be), but in a group they will generally be in "LL policy" mode in my experience.

Yes. If you see a Linden in-world, its a Linden, not a resident.

However, 'on duty' is a grey area. Just like I check my work-email from home at 11pm at night - that doesn't exactly make me on-duty, but I'm working.



They have to use private alts.

A couple of them bought a birthday card and cake from my shop once for a colleague's birthday.

I think they were having a party for him/her or something.

A Linden is a Linden is a Linden. It doesn't matter if he is on duty or not he should have some form of official identification. Case in point. Yesterday evening a person representing Eric Linden was going around stating he was looking for a certain resident that he was going to eject from SL. This immediately threw up a red flag and he was duly reported as an imposter to a real Linden. He could have probably pulled off the guise if he had a newer audience.

lol....lindens dont have to ask around =P

Seriously, would they have to go and ask about where to find a resident? Isnt there a way to just find em? Big Brother is watching!

I think they prolly have the 'find on map' option available for everyone or something similar. Cant be sure tho... im no linden

I wonder if I can get a Linden to sit on my lap?

Interesting answers - thanks. Actually I turned up at a venue yesterday, fairly scantily clad but 'decent', and I noticed the guy standing next to me was a Linden!

well that sure sounds more interesting than a snowball fight, i'll give you that. *gets camera*

Everyone wears multiple hats... some hats don't come off.

Not everyone gets an "off-duty" mode.

My understanding (nothing resembling an official position)...

Some Lindens spend social time in Second Life as Lindens. They are not "on-duty" performing their primary jobs, but they are still official representatives of Linden Lab. I have seen Lindens attending resident-run parties and discussions.

Some Lindens have non-Linden alternate avatars; in most cases, avatars that they likely had before they began working for Linden Lab. When they are in-world as non-Linden avatars, they are not representatives of the Lab. They should not represent themselves as employees of Linden Lab, or promise (or threaten) to act as employees of Linden Lab. The connections between these identities and Linden identities are usually not widely known to people who do not work for LL, though a few close friends might know.

Some Lindens (mostly hardcore programmers and testers) hardly ever enter Second Life for any reason other than work. A subset of those are rarely seen by the public in the main grid; nearly all their time in-world is in the beta grid or attending Linden meetings.

There are a few special Linden accounts (the ones with generic-sounding names like Tester Linden) that don't belong to a single individual, but are used for specific purposes as needed. Governor Linden is probably the most well known.

There are a handful of avatars that crossed over from one status to the other. Most famous is Torley Torgeson, who joined LL and became Torley Linden. In the other direction, Hamlet Linden, who was LL's "embedded journalist" for a while, left LL's employ (but continued his SL journalism beat) and became Hamlet Au. I know that Torley got to keep his/her inventory at the crossover, and I think Hamlet did as well, as well as getting a special last name to match his publicly identified RL last name.

I know Lindens shop! I had a Linden purchase one of my items when I was a newbie, in fact it was my first product. :^)

I have had any number of very pleasant non-official conversations with many "Lindens" over the years. But yes when they are wearing the Linden name it does carry a certain weight and they do tend to be a mindful of it.

From personal experience they can TP to anyone on the grid at any time and no security orbs wont bounce them

I had called one for a problem on our island and before I could type I would meet him at the landing area he landed next to me in an area that was security orb protected. Island and security are gone now but the memory of jumping out of skin when Coffee landed on me remains

Many Lindens started out as regular civilians and still go into SL disguised or otherwise to pusue their SL interests. Hard to beleive but they are just everyday normal people like the most of the rest of us.

/me hopes you asked for a bear..