This is a repost. It seems to have poofed shortly after I first posted it.
We have some news… March 1 was the Third-Party Dev meeting. It ran 57 minutes… but, there was
Servers
Problems continue on the server-front. No updates on the main or RC channels. These problems are holding up viewer releases. EAM, EEP, and BoM are all waiting for server-backend stuff to update.
Any region that has run longer than 10 days will get a restart.
The server update that kills inventory UDP fetching is also held up until the server problems are solved. Actually, lots of stuff is delayed as people are pulled to work on the servers.
Viewers
New: The main viewer updated to version 6.1.0.524670, the viewer previously known as Bugsplat.
This is a significant change for users and the Lab. Users will find their Windows shortcuts or lunch icons work as expected now. Previous a ‘loader/version check’ program ran then launched the viewer. If you put a link to the main viewer EXE as is normal Windows practice, things didn’t work well. This often resulted in update looping, update with every viewer start. That is over.
Now the viewer will launch and run the updater as a child process. The update will happen on the next viewer start.
If you are having problems with viewer launch links, delete the links and reinstall over the top of the existing viewer install. It should straighten out.
For the Lab the change is about error, crash, bug reporting. If this viewer crashes, the crash report is sent to BugSplat, a commercial service, rather than to Linden’s internal crash reporting system. While there is a cost to the Lab it is less than having their people maintain the in-house reporting.
Oz is liking the new system.
This is bit of a problem for third-party developers. The existing Breakpad crash-reporting code is still present in the viewer’s code base. BugSplat integration is enabled by a CMake variable. The build using the remain Breakpad code doesn’t work well. It seems it is going to be up to the third-party devs to make the error reporting work or get a license for BugSplat, which I understand is rather expensive.
Second Life EAM Viewer version 6.1.0.524240 – This updated last week, #09. Server updates are needed before this version can be the main viewer.
Second Life EEP Viewer version 6.0.2.524683 – New. This was a Project viewer that updated in week #8. Server updates are needed before this version can be the main viewer.
Second Life Love Me Render Viewer version 6.0.2.523177 – This updated in week #04.
Second Life Project 360 Snapshot Viewer version 5.1.6.515934 – Last updated in 2018 week #10. We are at one year as of this week. The Lab intends to finish this feature. There are just too many things ahead of it.
Second Life Project Bakes On Mesh Viewer version 6.0.2.524367 – Updated last week, #8. Appearance Server updates are needed before this version can be the main viewer. Once the servers get the update it needs, we’ll see this promote to RC.
SL Maintenance Viewer Teranino, an alcoholic drink from Croatia, is in QA. It is getting the BugSplat integration. Then it will re-QA and then pop up in the RC viewers. This version has a bunch of crash fixes. That is about all Oz and Vir could remember about it.
Other Viewers
I don’t cover these two Linden viewers. They are old and out of date. They are for those still running stone-age computers.
These two versions will not be updated to work with inventory after the UDP item fetch is disabled. The result is they will NOT be able to render an avatar… I wonder if they will be able to render much of anything…
Second Life Linux Spur Viewer version 15.0.9.329906
Second Life Obsolete Platforms Viewer version 3.7.28.300847
Firestorm – Some trivia. Firestorm currently has 137k 64-bit users with 12k on 32-bit versions. The 5.0.7 64-bit version has 152k users. Don’t add the 137 and 152 together. Some people are in both numbers. Probably a significant number as people were changing over during the last 30-days the numbers cover.
Singularity – There are signs that there will soon™ be an update… Lots of people are hopping.
Other News
Move to Visual Studio 2017 is going well. Oz plans to put another person on it and be using it in a few weeks. Few?
A Second Look at Second Life Education – The Lindens have an article up about education in Second Life. Seems the SL platform is still reasonably popular with educators.
This article highlights Drax’s Drax Files video World Makers. (15 min)
This is all about the simulation of Marcdo Station in the Antarctic. It is currently summer at the south pole. So, remember your swimsuit if you visit. Sure…
The Ice Cores thing is an SL Experience. You join the Experience and get a HUD, Click the black screen to activate it. Then you can teleport to Marcado.
Backdrop City – Ever wanted to make a picture with a specific background? Backdrop City is the answer. The region is busy, lots of people. 43 were there when I last visited. So, it is laggy. But, the have so many nice backdrops.
Tinys and Giants – For a time they were having a Hover Height problem. The Lindens think they have that fixed.
Second Life Winter Web Work – There is a post in the SL Forum by Alexa Linden about improvements to the web properties. Auctions are backup and running. The JIRA system got an update. Check out the article for new features in the Marketplace.