Greetings,

Announcing OpenURU.org, a project site for the Uru community to promote Open Uru projects.

I'd like to say I was being prophetic, but the truth is, I was working on a proposal for Open Source Uru which I planned to develop with others who would join my efforts and submit it to Cyan in the Spring.

But now, with the news Cyan is actually open sourcing Uru, things have accelerated and I would like to offer the OpenURU.org domain for community use.

There is a forum now. Administration is not complete because I wasn't expecting an open house nearly so soon. But it's useable.

What I plan to offer the community in terms of resources:

Subdomains: Put up your own qualified project website on the domain.
Central forums: Everyone discusses their various projects here.
Dedicated project forums: Project leaders control their own forum and membership group.
Email: POP3 mailboxes for qualified project members.

There could be much more, but that's all I have developed so far.

Chogon (Mark DeForest, Cyan CTO) tells me "the source [will be] hosted at an open source repository, such as GoogleCode or LaunchPad. However, there will have to be a place for information about the game and where to go" and "it is not limited to those repositories."

The website still needs a home page. In the meantime, please use this link to reach the forums:

http://forums.OpenURU.org

Please feel free to register. After you are validated, you may join the Member group through your control panel to have access to post on the forum(s).

Stay tuned for updates to the landscape.


All the best to everyone,

JWPlatt

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OpenUru.org: An Uru Project Resource Site : Twitter : Perfect Speed Is Being There.

Not saying your efforts aren't appreciated, but wouldn't you want to wait until the sources are actually released? You have no idea how Cyan is planning to distribute the info yet, or what kind of open source license they are using.

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BAD is as good as BAD can be.

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Stay tuned for updates to the landscape.

No doubt such guilds as the Guild of Writers and Guild of Maintainers will be busy looking into what they can do for everyone. OpenURU.org is hoping to work with all the guilds in some way.

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OpenUru.org: An Uru Project Resource Site : Twitter : Perfect Speed Is Being There.

Membership there just tripled within 20 minutes of this announcement.

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OpenUru.org Minkata Test Shard is
OU-Minkata Shard Testers Guide (in laymen's terms)

I also think it is wise to wait for Cyan 's lead on any kind of central site or hub, so that it represents the fullest community and not just a group who wants to take control. Lets wait and see. URU and MOUL belongs to everyone and we need to follow Cyan's lead now more than ever in my humble opinion. And moreover there are Guilds that have been set up for the specific purpose of guiding this kind of effort and we dont need a private group trying to take over their role.

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URU MOUL Lives

Cris, the site was set up specifically to discuss writing proposals to Cyan seeking their approval for projects. That's all it is, not an attempt to take over anything. With this recent announcement, two of those proposals are no longer necessary. However, since the site is already in place, I think it will be a good place for serious-minded people to gather and organize new ideas and projects, utilizing what Cyan is going to make available.

And, personally, I hope the guilds - and others who wish to pursue the "storyline" as we left it in MOUL - will take advantage of it as a central place to meet and discuss how that can be accomplished.

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OpenUru.org Minkata Test Shard is
OU-Minkata Shard Testers Guide (in laymen's terms)

It's a valid concern, CrisGer, though misconceived. OpenUru.org does not pretend to be a central source for anything. The guilds already are organized and have what they need to do what they do best. They each have a purpose for which they enthusiastically contribute. I would not expect the guilds to go elsewhere for what they already have, though they are free and encouraged to collaborate with the projects. OpenUru.org has no wish to compete with them for authority for none will exist.

That said, it is the nature of open source that anyone can get involved. OpenUru.org will offer web resources to people or groups under an inclusive and descriptive domain name to organize their own projects around a community of projects. It is the hope of OpenUru.org that a diverse group of projects will lead to a synergistic environment for the exchange and development of ideas. OpenUru.org also aims to help those without the capacity to obtain or start their own websites and forums. At no cost. People with good ideas have a place to go to develop them - if they need it.

The success of the site will depend on voluntary participation. The world of open source is more equal and anyone can seize an opportunity to contribute. Much in the same way that the success of a shard or a guild will depend on what it offers to those who might be interested. People are free to choose.

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OpenUru.org: An Uru Project Resource Site : Twitter : Perfect Speed Is Being There.

Do we really need yet another forum?

See how it pans out. It might help to have a new, neutral meeting place without previous history attached.

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Resources for open-source Uru: OpenUru; rel.to
Cross-world story and project planning: Devokan forums

Out of curiosity, do we know what sorts of specs a machine needs to have in order to run the smallest unit of Uru (a shard I guess), versus the sort of configuration Cyan was running?

Incidentally, I'm going to be mostly retiring the system I'm currently using...don't think it would work as a server but who knows. I'd offer the Core i7 machine build that's going in its place, but that's gonna be my baby

ddfreyne ...no i dont think we do apart from some form of organizing to support what Cyan decides to do with the way things work, but no i certainly dont think we need any individual trying to control things..the Guilds are a much more natural nexus for support and beyond that and them ALL of us.

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URU MOUL Lives

OpenURU.org Q&A Chat Announcement

JWPlatt wrote:

Greetings,

I would like to provide an opportunity for a live Q&A chat session about OpenURU.org.

The Q&A is scheduled for Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 1:00 PM Eastern US.

Use http://rel.to/IRC/openuruchat.php and enter your name to enter the chat.


To avoid false expectations and to prepare relevant questions, I would like to briefly state what OpenURU.org is, and what it is not:

OpenURU.org is a fan site which hopes to provide a venue with resources for a diverse community of projects to encourage a cooperative environment for the exploration, development and exchange of ideas in Cyan Worlds' Myst universe and Open Source Uru. Like the intentions of Cyan Worlds' decision to open the Uru source code, the direction OpenURU.org takes, and what it will offer, depends on the needs of the projects which choose to use it. OpenURU.org currently hosts project forums, where each project may have and control its own section, and plans to install a Wiki for project use. It will also provide such things as sub-domains to host websites of approved projects under the OpenURU.org domain.

OpenURU.org is NOT affiliated in any way with Cyan Worlds. It is NOT a repository for the open source code. OpenURU.org has not communicated with Cyan Worlds about the open source project, nor has Cyan Worlds communicated with OpenURU.org. But if it is allowed to publicly store the open source code at unofficial sites, OpenURU.org will look into it.

I recommend that any projects depending on the use of the open source Uru code hold off until Cyan Worlds releases the details of their plan and we know what is possible and relevant.


Best Wishes,

JWPlatt

Brought to you by the GoMe Message delivery service. Serving the community.

Pending more information from Cyan which it appears will not happen until the new year there is no point on behalf of the community in further discussion. I am looking forward to returning to the Cavern and enjoying the wonders of MOUL and to a future of possible player made additions thru a combined Guild and relevant approved servers process.

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URU MOUL Lives

Ed Oscuro wrote:

Out of curiosity, do we know what sorts of specs a machine needs to have in order to run the smallest unit of Uru (a shard I guess), versus the sort of configuration Cyan was running?

Not at the moment, no. We await that in the new year too.

Thinking back to prologue where a shard was a server cluster, you may be able to do the same on one server now, what with cheap terabyte SATA hard drives and all.

Just a few observations:

First, while we wait for further information from Cyan, there are still things we can discuss -- much as Denis's poll and thread on CVS systems is doing.

Secondly, the MOUL forum is great as a central place for discussing general ideas across groups and individuals, but it is not set up for more detailed, technical discussion of projects.

Thirdly, individual guilds and groups have their own forums, of course, but if they wish to develop joint projects it can become messy and confusing, and well nigh impossible to keep track of progress (learnt from experience ).

Conclusion: there is a need for something like Open Uru, where projects can be clearly focused and worked on, whether by individual explorers or members from disparate groups. I'm grateful JWPlatt has set this up for the community to use if they wish to.

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Resources for open-source Uru: OpenUru; rel.to
Cross-world story and project planning: Devokan forums