The Imprudence Blog

Super Happy Software License Fun Time

The Imprudence 1.2 development cycle has taken a lot longer than we had hoped, but it’s finally coming to completion. With some luck, we hope to release the final version of 1.2 tonight or tomorrow!

The most recent delay was due to our efforts to ensure that we’re giving proper credit and respecting the licenses of all the various software libraries that we use and distribute with the viewer. We may be imprudent about changing the viewer UI, but we take our obligations under these licenses quite seriously.

This has been a tedious and wearisome process, as there are 50 or more libraries used by Imprudence, considering all operating systems. For each one, we have had to read and understand our obligations, verify that we are fulfilling them, and in many cases correct errors or omissions. Here are some examples of the obligations we have had to check:

• Nearly all of the libraries require that we publish its copyright and license notices, although the details vary from library to library. It generally takes 5-10 minutes per library to find the information and verify that we are giving proper credit, or to fix or add an incorrect or missing notice.
• As well as distributing the libraries with the finished Imprudence installers for our users’ convenience, we also package them up individually for use by developers who want to compile Imprudence themselves. Since those packages count as distribution, we also have to make sure we’re including proper credit in each of those packages, which is another chore in itself, adding another tedious 5 or so minutes per library. (That’s not mentioning the 20-30 minutes it took to create each package in the first place. Oof.)
• Some libraries (in particular, those licensed under the GPL or LGPL) also require that we also offer the source code if we distribute them in compiled form. So, we have had to locate and host a copy of the source code for each of those libraries alongside the compiled packages. (You can find the sources here. We are still in the process of collecting all the necessary source packages, but should be done soon.)

On average, it takes about 20 minutes per library to verify and possibly fix all the details. Multiply that by 50 libraries (it comes out to nearly 17 hours), and consider the dullness of the chore, and you’ll begin to understand how much fun it was not. But as tedious and thankless a task as it is, it’s important to ensure that the library developers are given proper credit for their work (not to mention our legal obligation to do so).

Despite all that effort, we may have made a mistake or two. (Indeed, we’ve found at least one serious mistake of this kind in Linden Lab’s own library distributions. We will be privately contacting them soon so that they can fix it.) If you find an error in the way we’ve dealt with the licenses for any of the software we distribute, please don’t hesitate to contact me so that we can put things to right as soon as possible.

Imprudence Flickr Group

Moggs Oceanlane has put together a neat Flickr group for Imprudence! There are some great snapshots there showing off new UI features (and a few bugs!) in the Imprudence Viewer. Join the group and add your own snapshots of the Imprudence Viewer in action!

The Symbol of Imprudence

The shaka sign is a Hawai'ian gesture of friendship and good times. As the symbol of this project, it stands for the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere we should always keep. We should take every turn of events in good humor, and never grow rigid or staid.

The image is intentionally rough-cut in design, to ward off harmful perfectionism. A “perfect” thing resists change, even when change would lead to further improvement. We should eschew perfection, and instead strive for true excellence via early working prototypes, feedback from real users, and a boldness to change what needs to be changed.

As we undertake this project, let this symbol remind us that it is our prerogative to throw prudence to the wind. Be bold, have fun, and make something excellent.

Logo Madness!

As you can see, we’ve got three solid candidates for the logo of the Imprudence project! (The fourth candidate, a purple hand flipping the bird, was ruled out for some reason.) All three are drafts, and will be polished up a bit for the final version. Here are their descriptions:

1. Rock Hand: Stylized purple hand with index and pinky fingers extended in a “rock out” or “horns” gesture.
2. Sign language letter I: Stylized purple hand with pinky extended in the American Manual Alphabet sign for the letter I.
3. Shaka: Stylized purple hand with thumb and pinky finger extended in a “shaka” or “hang ten” surfer gesture.

Tell us which you like — and more importantly, why — in the forums! (Or if you’re too lazy to sign up in the forums, just leave a comment here on the blog. )

Orange Island Discussion Transcript Available

If you were unable to attend the discussion yesterday for Orange Island Innovation Week but are interested in what we talked about, you’re in luck! The good folks at Orange Island have posted a transcript of the event for your downloading pleasure!

Improving Accessibility

Imagine this scenario: You’re confined to a wheelchair and have very limited use of your arms. You can’t use a physical keyboard, but you can handle a mouse or other pointing device well enough to work with an on-screen keyboard. You use Second Life; you enjoy moving around freely, talking with people, seeing all there is to see.

But one day you accidently press ‘M’ on the on-screen keyboard at the wrong time, and SL switches to mouselook mode. Exiting mouselook is a simple matter for someone fortunate enough to be able to use the keyboard, but for you, it’s impossible. You’re now completely stuck.

Continue reading ‘Improving Accessibility’