Another Little Feature of Emerald

Be sure the colon is the FIRST character you type...don't put a space in there. And don't put a space after the colon, either.

Excuse me? Since when is using a third party viewer against TOS?

The important word there is "subset".

The moment a third-party viewer has a function which the LL viewer lacks, it's no longer a subset, but a superset. Thus, the clause of the TOS which gives permission to use a third-party viewer does not apply, and that permission is then lacking.

Lindal: don't worry about Yumi. She's not playing with a full perm deck. I think she's arguing that it's against the ToS to create a client with features that don't exist in the SL client.

Yumi: subset doesn't imply "proper subset".

Personally, I have problems with implementing stuff like that. I've too much experience with that kind of thing going awry. But, it's not against the ToS.

PS: apologies for the bathroom humor, I couldn't resist.

Um, a "proper subset" is a subset that's not equal. There's no definition of "subset" in which the subset can contain items that are not in the larger set.

And, a full perm deck? Way too easy to cheat!

Will Emerald viewer serve me sliced toast?

oooooh, Linnie....that's neat! Thank you!

You still need a Lyndz-Matic toast launcher to do that properly.

Actually, the important word is "or."

(Though Argent is, of course, right. Every set is its own subset.)

What terms of service do you say using a third party viewer contravenes? Whoever wrote the Open Source FAQ on the website at http://secondlifegrid.net/technology-programs/virtual-world-open-source/faqhttp://secondlifegrid.net/technology-programs/virtual-world-open-source/faq doesn't seem to think so, and neither, does either Torley Linden or whoever allowed his article to remain at https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/tnt/blog/2009/09/09/q-whats-your-fave-alternate-viewer-feature seem to be under that impression.

Or have I missed the point?

I've never denied that. The TOS says, "substantially similar, or a subset". In other words, the same features, or less. Nothing allows _more_ features.

"Substantially similar" does not exclude extra features.

It does if they are not similar to ones in the existing client.

No, LL is pushing people to use unoffical software by making viewers that many people find lacking for one reason or another. If the "offical" viewers worked better for those people, the wouldn't have a need for 3rd party viewers.

Yumi appears to be trying to make the TOS say something it doesn't by putting his own interpretations into it. Let me guess, probably because he's against open source viewers in general. It is a shame that such ignorance of open source seems to abound here.

Emerald isn't against the TOS, and it is a great viewer. I'm not switching back to the main one any time soon.

Nope, I believe that the TOS _does_ say that. The fact that the Lindens haven't enforced it, or even have written articles encouraging it, sadly doesn't mean _anything_ about how the TOS is meant to be interpreted - just ask anyone with Mature land..

The purpose of the OS program was to enable residents to help out fixing bugs and to produce steamlined clients for businesses using SL as a platform - not to allow a limited number of residents to give themselves superpowers.

By that interpretation, there would never be any reason to create a third party viewer, or any other piece of open source software. The whole raison d' etre of open source is to tap into the collective smarts of the community to create a *better* product, not a piece of a product or a clone of a product.

You're just being ridiculous.

The problem is that "substantially similar" is open to interpretation. : instead of /me is substantially similar in my mind. RLV doesn't add anything which isn't also substantially similar to me either, and I think that's about the largest divergence in third party viewers I can think of. Perhaps the radar in Emerald, though similar functionality has been done in scripts for a while, which run on the official viewer.

I'm not buying it. You'd have to prove your interpretation was backed up by LL actions - which it certainly isn't.

A viewer that provides a superset of he features of the Linden viewer is still substantially similar to the Linden viewer. If I make a movie that is just like Harry Potter, except that it's got a 15 minute sex scene between Hermione and Draco Malfoy in the middle, it's still "substantially similar", even though it's a superset. Saying that it's different because of the sex scene wouldn't stand up in court.

If a colon is a superpower we're all supeheroes.

That's not the LL position.

http://secondlifegrid.net/technology-programs/virtual-world-open-source/faq#licensing

"This initiative will allow deeper industry and community collaboration, advise the development of market-driven standards, and may one day spur the development of the viewer to accelerate beyond the resources and direction of Linden Lab.

...

In the long haul, we hope this move will accelerate innovation on the Second Life Grid, enabling anyone to enhance the viewer in all sorts of ways."

Again.. unless it's in the TOS, it doesn't count. The Lindens have proven themselves quite capable of actively _advertising_ the ability to do things that are contrary to the TOS.. or even actively encouraging residents to do something that the TOS bans, turning a blind eye as long as it's convenient, and then dropping a ton of bricks on those resis' heads (ref: OpenSpaces/Homesteads... Taser.. etc..)

"In the long haul" isn't here yet. In order to meet that definition, they'd need to make it available to people who don't know C++ (ie, "anyone".

And you're right, "colon instead of /me" isn't really a functionality big enough to matter all that much - but some of the other features of Emerald, such as the ability to create illegal prims, are a bit beyond the margin (and damaging!)

"The ability to create illegal prims"?

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Yumi?

Several builders have claimed to me that the Emerald viewer can create prims that the standard viewer can't.

SleeK, OnRez and Nicholaz would all be legal by that interpretation.