Second Life

Second Life is a 3D online world with a rapidly growing population from more than 100 countries around the globe. Residents create and build the world, which includes homes, vehicles, nightclubs, stores, landscapes, clothing, and games. In January 2007, Linden Lab (creators of Second Life) released the source code of the client ("viewer") application under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

Rob Lanphier, Linden Lab's Open Source Busybody, and Mark Lentczner, who directs a software engineering studio at Linden Lab, will talk about the release of the Second Life viewer source code: what that means, what it might mean, and what it doesn't mean. He'll provide a brief overview of the technology and history of Second Life, discuss the astronomical growth in use of Second Life, and explain what Linden Lab is doing to cope with the ever-increasing stress on the system. He'll discuss some key improvements Linden Lab is making in the protocols used by the product—utilizing a Web services model to increase scalability and to decouple versioning between clients and servers, as well as server-to-server communication.

Prior to starting with Linden Lab in September 2006, Rob Lanphier worked at a number of companies, including Microsoft, Asymetrix, Conjungi, and RealNetworks, as well as working as an independent consultant specializing in MediaWiki development. During his nine years at RealNetworks, Rob was a key contributor to two important multimedia standards (RTSP and SMIL) and was a leading force behind RealNetworks' open source initiative (Helix Community).

Mark Lentczner directs a software engineering studio at Linden Lab. His studio is primarily focused on the architectural extension of Second Life and the software infrastructure to support it. He has worked in Silicon Valley for over 20 years leading engineering teams on projects including virtual machines, software tools, cell phone browsers, and audio processing. Find out more here.