This is just a quick post to let you know that I didn't go AWOL or died in an airplane crash. Quite the opposite, I had a great vacation, good weather, fun, food ... really enjoyed it.
But I also had a bit of time for thinking and it became clear that I won't continue the SL project with the same intensity. There are many reasons for it, in fact too many to explain, but in a nutshell I really need to focus on my own RL business, which I neglected quite a bit over the last months.
Another part of the story is that I currently don't see much gain in investing time in the SL viewer. The last BE-s seems to run quite solid, while (at least from what I read) the new release candidate comes with new bugs and there are many fixes and patches are still stuck in the JIRA pipeline. So essentially applying my patches to 1.18.4 would mean redoing work already done and having to deal with newly introduced problems, neither of which seems to be particularly appealing.
Bottom line is that I want to spend my time more effectively, so I will put SL on the backburner until 1.18.4 goes official. If by then it is noticeably better and more solid than the official 1.18.3 I will put some Nicholaz code-candy on top :-)
I hope you will not be too disappointed, but I believe that BE-s is still a very good viewer and that you will enjoy your time in SL using it.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Vacation ...
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Mac/Linux Builds for Nicholaz Edition BE-s (Updated)
Linux:
Note:
Post your builds in the comments here and I'll update this blog post accordingly
- Robin Cornelius says: "I'm done!, AMD64 linux builds in .deb or tar.bz2 format. http://www.byteme.org.uk/secondlife-amd64/binary-packages.html". And later: "RSYNC server now available. To save download bandwidth and time, I am releasing my AMD64 builds via rsync as well. A simple command will update the secondlife files to my repository with the minimum of data transfers."
- Lilly Zenovka says: "Linux i386 build at usual place: http://emak.free.fr/src/sl-nicholaz-linux/ Cheers :)" and adds later "I now have a blog for Linux version of the secondlife viewer ! http://lilli-zenovka.blogspot.com :)"
- Balp says: "My build Linux build ubuntu i386, is updated: http://www.acc.umu.se/~balp/second_life/balp-build-s1.tar.bz2 and http://www.acc.umu.se/~balp/second_life/balp-build-s1.diff.gz. The build coexists with the official client in the same directory. And is being started with ./balp-secondlife"
- Barney Boomslang says: "Ok, Mac Universal build ready at the usual place: http://radio-boomslang.shacknet.nu/~bb/articles/nicholaz-edition-mac/index.html".
Note:
Post your builds in the comments here and I'll update this blog post accordingly
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Release: Bleeding Edge BE-s
Again a new release. There is one more crash fixed, but the main change is that Bleeding Edge should now also be independent from the Linden mandatory updates. As always have a look at the change log has all the details (it should especially be helpful for users who are new to my viewers, see the bottom of the file).
I consider this a milestone release. I'll stick with the name, but this is not Bleeding Edge anymore. It's really as good as it can get for now.
Btw, I will go on vacation for two weeks starting Friday night and when I come back will sure have to catch up with the backlog from my RL business, so don't expect much news from me over the next three weeks. During that time the Lindens will probably come out with 1.18.4 as a release-candidate and turning that into a Nicholaz Edition will start a new cycle. We will then have to see what will happen based on that.
So BE-s (or the OS-o from earlier this week) now being independent from possible Linden mandatory updates and with many crashed fixed, the current versions should give you a smooth ride on the viewer side for quite some time.
Source code is also on the server already. If you do Linux or Mac builds, just drop me a line for a blog post with platform versions.
Disclaimer: This viewer is unofficial and although I am doing my best to make it better than the release viewer, it may contain extra bugs and you will have to trust me that there is no malicious code in it. Please also understand that it runs on the main grid with your real Second Life account and inventory. Also read the disclaimer/header in the Install.txt in my archive.
First make sure you have the Linden release candiate 1.18.3.5 (download link) or the now official Linden 1.18.3.5 (download link) installed.
Then download nicholaz-BE-s.zip from my server and while the download runs, have a look at the installation instructions and the change log!
After the download completes, follow the instructions and make sure they go into the right folder!
If something goes wrong with this version, go to the previous-versions folder. BE-p to BE-r are still on the server, they are pretty good already and they also run with Linden 1.18.3.5 (both RC and official).
PS: There is an in-world group for announcements of my releases: Search, Groups, "Nicholaz"
I consider this a milestone release. I'll stick with the name, but this is not Bleeding Edge anymore. It's really as good as it can get for now.
Btw, I will go on vacation for two weeks starting Friday night and when I come back will sure have to catch up with the backlog from my RL business, so don't expect much news from me over the next three weeks. During that time the Lindens will probably come out with 1.18.4 as a release-candidate and turning that into a Nicholaz Edition will start a new cycle. We will then have to see what will happen based on that.
So BE-s (or the OS-o from earlier this week) now being independent from possible Linden mandatory updates and with many crashed fixed, the current versions should give you a smooth ride on the viewer side for quite some time.
Source code is also on the server already. If you do Linux or Mac builds, just drop me a line for a blog post with platform versions.
Disclaimer: This viewer is unofficial and although I am doing my best to make it better than the release viewer, it may contain extra bugs and you will have to trust me that there is no malicious code in it. Please also understand that it runs on the main grid with your real Second Life account and inventory. Also read the disclaimer/header in the Install.txt in my archive.
First make sure you have the Linden release candiate 1.18.3.5 (download link) or the now official Linden 1.18.3.5 (download link) installed.
Then download nicholaz-BE-s.zip from my server and while the download runs, have a look at the installation instructions and the change log!
After the download completes, follow the instructions and make sure they go into the right folder!
If something goes wrong with this version, go to the previous-versions folder. BE-p to BE-r are still on the server, they are pretty good already and they also run with Linden 1.18.3.5 (both RC and official).
PS: There is an in-world group for announcements of my releases: Search, Groups, "Nicholaz"
Monday, October 8, 2007
Heisenbug
Heisenbug (n): A bug which follows the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Either you can pinpoint where it happens, but not when. Or you can determine the time but not the location.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Release: Old School OS-o
Here is a new Old School release. It should now be safe against Linden mandatory updates (it uses a feature which logs in as a non-Linden version rather than cheating with the version number). It also has three nice crash-fixes imported from the latest Bleeding Edge, so it should be worth updating. See the change log for all the details.
Important: You need to have Linden version 1.18.0.6 (download here) installed before running this Old School version.
There is still the little goodie on the server, for those who want a more compact and appealing friends list (works with all my Old School Editions, see the readme.txt inside the file).
Disclaimer: This viewer is unofficial and although I am doing my best to make it better than the release viewer, it may contain extra bugs and you will have to trust me that there is no malicious code in it. Please also understand that it runs on the main grid with your real Second Life account and inventory. Also read the disclaimer/header in the Install.txt in my archive.
This version is for the Windows platform. It is optimized in processor independent ways. It offers all the optimizations which previously my P4 releases had, except for the processor dependent options. I'm not sure if the processor optimization made any actual difference anyway, but this should be a good balance which serves everybody.
If you choose to use this release, please first check that you have1.18.0.6 installed (otherwise get it here). Then have a look at the install instructions on my server and then download nicholaz-OS-o.zip from there.
PS: There is an in-world group for announcements of my releases: Search, Groups, "Nicholaz"
Important: You need to have Linden version 1.18.0.6 (download here) installed before running this Old School version.
There is still the little goodie on the server, for those who want a more compact and appealing friends list (works with all my Old School Editions, see the readme.txt inside the file).
Disclaimer: This viewer is unofficial and although I am doing my best to make it better than the release viewer, it may contain extra bugs and you will have to trust me that there is no malicious code in it. Please also understand that it runs on the main grid with your real Second Life account and inventory. Also read the disclaimer/header in the Install.txt in my archive.
This version is for the Windows platform. It is optimized in processor independent ways. It offers all the optimizations which previously my P4 releases had, except for the processor dependent options. I'm not sure if the processor optimization made any actual difference anyway, but this should be a good balance which serves everybody.
If you choose to use this release, please first check that you have1.18.0.6 installed (otherwise get it here). Then have a look at the install instructions on my server and then download nicholaz-OS-o.zip from there.
PS: There is an in-world group for announcements of my releases: Search, Groups, "Nicholaz"
Friday, October 5, 2007
Two More Platform Builds: Mac and Linux
I just updated the list of platform builds for version BE-r to include links to Barney's and Lilly's version. Thanks Barney and Lilly!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Havok4 Removed From the Beta Grid
The Linden blog has a post that the Havok4 engine was removed from the beta grid because of reports of inventory distortions. They hope to have it returned on Monday.
Platform Builds of the Nicholaz Edition
Eloise Pasteur, SL veteran and blogette over there at the SecondLife-Insider has posted a short note about the Mac build of my viewer. She seems to be quite happy with it, so I thought I'd pass it on to you guys who invest the time bring my version to the other platforms.
What you are doing is an important part of this project and I could do all the patching in the world, without your builds the Linux and Mac users would still use have to use the official viewer (and that would include me on the iMac) . And I really appreciate that I don't have to invest the time to deal with the intricacies of those platforms ... this is really cooperation at it's best.
What you are doing is an important part of this project and I could do all the patching in the world, without your builds the Linux and Mac users would still use have to use the official viewer (and that would include me on the iMac) . And I really appreciate that I don't have to invest the time to deal with the intricacies of those platforms ... this is really cooperation at it's best.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Linux/Mac Builds for BE-r (2x Updated)
There are wonderful people out there who have been busy beavers and compiled the latest version BleedingEdge-r for Linux and Mac (see the comments for the BE-r release).
To run them, you will need an 1.18.3.5 (official or release candidate) for the respective platform (download links).
Here is the list of builds we have so far (will update this post with new ones as people are offering them):
Thanks all! Yay! :-)
To run them, you will need an 1.18.3.5 (official or release candidate) for the respective platform (download links).
Here is the list of builds we have so far (will update this post with new ones as people are offering them):
- Tilly Ariantho says: "Here is the MacOS.X Intel binary: http://tilly-server.de/files/nicholaz-be-r-mac-intel-bin.zip :-)" (see the install.txt inside the ZIP)
- Balp says: "And Linux builds at: http://www.acc.umu.se/~balp/second_life/balp-build-r1.tar.bz2" (32bit I assume - NB)
- Robin Cornelius says: "As usual the Linux AMD64 build tar.bz2 and .debs are in there usual place: http://www.byteme.org.uk/secondlife-amd64/binary-packages.html. I have also added RPMs of the openjpeg2000 and xmlrpc-libs as well on my downloads page to help you rpm guys and girls."
- Barney Boomslang says: "Ok, my universal mac os x bleedingedge-r build is up at the usual place: http://radio-boomslang.shacknet.nu/~bb/articles/nicholaz-edition-mac/index.html" (updated with link ... that is the Mac build with patch app - NB)
- Lilly Zenovka says: "Finally, Lilly's build @ http://emak.free.fr/src/sl-nicholaz-linux/! Although there's already a linux build, this download is much smaller as it only includes the binary. This means you need to download 1.18.3.5-RC first. I'm planning to make an apt repository for all debian based systems. Ubuntu users will have latest Bleedeng Edge showing up in update-manager :) Cheers" (that is a 32bit build - NB)
Thanks all! Yay! :-)
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Release: Bleeding Edge BE-r
And again we are rrrready to (BE-r)rrruuumble!
As mentined earlier today I had a nice series of bug fixes since the weekend. Basically I could eventually make sense out of two types of crash dumps which I've seen many times and then I had a 3rd one (which I also knew from dumps) happen here while I was in the debugger hunting for left over memory.
Especially that last one was pretty nasty and may account for problems in other areas of the program, because it could randomly overwrite memory in some situations (it's just hard to tell how common those situations are), causing other areas of the program to mysteriously crash.
The result of those fixs is a release about which I am pretty thrilled. Many of the crashes fixed in the recent versions were more or less one-time crashes (stuff that I've seen only once but which seemed easy to fix), which is of course still worth the effort because they add up. But I saw those new ones over and over again, I just couldn't make sense of them as of yet. Having those fixed means that this new version has the potential to crash significantly less than the previous ones.
If this turns out well, we are indeed moving from the bleeding edge to the leading edge.
As always there are a few minor changes and the change log has all the details (it should especially be helpful for users who are new to my viewers, see the bottom of the file).
Source code is also on the server already. If you do Linux or Mac builds, just drop me a line (especially for Macs!!, hint hint). I hope I didn't break your compiles by my changes, but if I did, please let me know and I'll merge your fixes back into the viewer. Same goes if you have something useful that affects those platforms and my viewer (e.g. the Mac version could use memory footprint calculation, see dump_memory() in nbmisc.cpp).
Oh, btw, I am typing this on a Mac *wide grin*
Disclaimer: This viewer is unofficial and although I am doing my best to make it better than the release viewer, it may contain extra bugs and you will have to trust me that there is no malicious code in it. Please also understand that it runs on the main grid with your real Second Life account and inventory. Also read the disclaimer/header in the Install.txt in my archive.
First make sure you have the Linden release candiate 1.18.3.5 (download link) or the now official Linden 1.18.3.5 (download link) installed.
Then download nicholaz-BE-r.zip from my server and while the download runs, have a look at the installation instructions and the change log!
After the download completes, follow the instructions and make sure they go into the right folder!
If something goes wrong with this version, previous BE-p and BE-q are still on the server, seem rock solid and also run with 1.18.3.5 (both RC and official).
PS: There is an in-world group for announcements of my releases: Search, Groups, "Nicholaz"
As mentined earlier today I had a nice series of bug fixes since the weekend. Basically I could eventually make sense out of two types of crash dumps which I've seen many times and then I had a 3rd one (which I also knew from dumps) happen here while I was in the debugger hunting for left over memory.
Especially that last one was pretty nasty and may account for problems in other areas of the program, because it could randomly overwrite memory in some situations (it's just hard to tell how common those situations are), causing other areas of the program to mysteriously crash.
The result of those fixs is a release about which I am pretty thrilled. Many of the crashes fixed in the recent versions were more or less one-time crashes (stuff that I've seen only once but which seemed easy to fix), which is of course still worth the effort because they add up. But I saw those new ones over and over again, I just couldn't make sense of them as of yet. Having those fixed means that this new version has the potential to crash significantly less than the previous ones.
If this turns out well, we are indeed moving from the bleeding edge to the leading edge.
As always there are a few minor changes and the change log has all the details (it should especially be helpful for users who are new to my viewers, see the bottom of the file).
Source code is also on the server already. If you do Linux or Mac builds, just drop me a line (especially for Macs!!, hint hint). I hope I didn't break your compiles by my changes, but if I did, please let me know and I'll merge your fixes back into the viewer. Same goes if you have something useful that affects those platforms and my viewer (e.g. the Mac version could use memory footprint calculation, see dump_memory() in nbmisc.cpp).
Oh, btw, I am typing this on a Mac *wide grin*
Disclaimer: This viewer is unofficial and although I am doing my best to make it better than the release viewer, it may contain extra bugs and you will have to trust me that there is no malicious code in it. Please also understand that it runs on the main grid with your real Second Life account and inventory. Also read the disclaimer/header in the Install.txt in my archive.
First make sure you have the Linden release candiate 1.18.3.5 (download link) or the now official Linden 1.18.3.5 (download link) installed.
Then download nicholaz-BE-r.zip from my server and while the download runs, have a look at the installation instructions and the change log!
After the download completes, follow the instructions and make sure they go into the right folder!
If something goes wrong with this version, previous BE-p and BE-q are still on the server, seem rock solid and also run with 1.18.3.5 (both RC and official).
PS: There is an in-world group for announcements of my releases: Search, Groups, "Nicholaz"
Happy Hippo
It looks like I'm having a lucky streak.
Since Sunday I was able to fix one weird crash each day with a few minor leakish stuff thrown on top (yes, that means there is a new version coming real soon now).
Obviously the higher forces out there must have noticed that I've been a good boy lately (and I seem to have covered my tracks well when I was not, alts are a godsend) so yesterday the postman ran and brought an impressive packet.
As you can see, the packet is a lot bigger than you'd expect for a MacBook/Pro, but nice guy that I am and nice people that the Lindens are, someone bent the rules a bit and an iMac instead of a MacBook!
Now, those new fixes I spoke of, should have been rolled into version BE-r yesterday, but I guess everybody understands that a box like this can change a man's plans and priorities within a split second. :-)
Unpacking alone is something Apple really knows how to turn into an experience by itself with all those nifty details. The machine itself is incredibly nice, alu casing, impressive screen, fine keyboard ... well, it's an Apple.
Installation was easy, besides a few hiccups (like not being able to find out the MAC address of the internal WLan on the outside and accidentally wiping out the pre-installed OS.X partition while trying to sneak an extra partition into bootcamp).
Thanks to Tillie and Barney, I could immediately run SL the Nicholaz way. Oh how sweet that is on a 24" wide screen display (1920x1200) with an ATI 2600 PRO. Be careful trying that anywhere or you'll be spoiled forever.
I'm not anywhere near doing anything productive on that machine and it will be a long time before I will be able to build SL on it (see that book lying next to the computer?), but you guys out there are doing such a good job of making platform builds for the Nicholaz Edition, that I'm sure in no hurry with so many new things to explore.
In any case, that machine makes a nice addition to my personal Huston Control center at home (just for comparison, those tiny screens on the other computers are 15" and 19" displays).
Thanks everybody for making this possible with your feedbacks, nominations, votes and of course thanks Lindens for making SL open source jumping through a few extra hoops with the Hippo Awards.
But now back to something totally different ...
(that is the debugger running for version BE-r).
Since Sunday I was able to fix one weird crash each day with a few minor leakish stuff thrown on top (yes, that means there is a new version coming real soon now).
Obviously the higher forces out there must have noticed that I've been a good boy lately (and I seem to have covered my tracks well when I was not, alts are a godsend) so yesterday the postman ran and brought an impressive packet.
As you can see, the packet is a lot bigger than you'd expect for a MacBook/Pro, but nice guy that I am and nice people that the Lindens are, someone bent the rules a bit and an iMac instead of a MacBook!
Now, those new fixes I spoke of, should have been rolled into version BE-r yesterday, but I guess everybody understands that a box like this can change a man's plans and priorities within a split second. :-)
Unpacking alone is something Apple really knows how to turn into an experience by itself with all those nifty details. The machine itself is incredibly nice, alu casing, impressive screen, fine keyboard ... well, it's an Apple.
Installation was easy, besides a few hiccups (like not being able to find out the MAC address of the internal WLan on the outside and accidentally wiping out the pre-installed OS.X partition while trying to sneak an extra partition into bootcamp).
Thanks to Tillie and Barney, I could immediately run SL the Nicholaz way. Oh how sweet that is on a 24" wide screen display (1920x1200) with an ATI 2600 PRO. Be careful trying that anywhere or you'll be spoiled forever.
I'm not anywhere near doing anything productive on that machine and it will be a long time before I will be able to build SL on it (see that book lying next to the computer?), but you guys out there are doing such a good job of making platform builds for the Nicholaz Edition, that I'm sure in no hurry with so many new things to explore.
In any case, that machine makes a nice addition to my personal Huston Control center at home (just for comparison, those tiny screens on the other computers are 15" and 19" displays).
Thanks everybody for making this possible with your feedbacks, nominations, votes and of course thanks Lindens for making SL open source jumping through a few extra hoops with the Hippo Awards.
But now back to something totally different ...
(that is the debugger running for version BE-r).
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Robin Cornelius' Linux AMD64 Build (Nicholaz BE-q)
Robin Cornelius updated his previous AMD64 build of the Nicholaz Edition to version BE-q.
Here's what he said: "Just to let you know i've caught up again and have the q version of the viewer packaged up for 64bit linux systems with a tar.gz and a debian .deb package ready to roll.
http://www.byteme.org.uk/secondlife-amd64/binary-packages.html"
Please read the instructions on that page ...
Thanks Robin!
Here's what he said: "Just to let you know i've caught up again and have the q version of the viewer packaged up for 64bit linux systems with a tar.gz and a debian .deb package ready to roll.
http://www.byteme.org.uk/secondlife-amd64/binary-packages.html"
Please read the instructions on that page ...
Thanks Robin!
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