[MUD-Dev] Open Source Environments (was: Open Source Online Gaming)

[scott guzman]

One of the prime advantages of having things open source things is that
you can form a level of compatibility that users really dig. This is why
things like Diku are still around today. I think that Aaron made some
very insightful comments regarding the idea that there can be problems
in having *everything* open source, but the idea of a standardized mud
programming language sounds as enticing as having a standard normal
programming languages. I'm not too sure what the similarities and
differences were in terms of languages like C and C++, but I think no
one would deny nowadays that they were a godsend. And really, there's
still plenty of money to be made in C/C++ programming environments
(Codewarrior and some of Borland's products come to mind); the same
could happen with muds. Developing free standard programming interfaces
would help everyone in the mud community to benefit from these
resources. All it takes for it to be beneficial is *2* people from
different muds, both contributing to it; and I seriously doubt that it'd
just be 2 people contributing.
    What's needed, however, is something like Be OS as opposed to
something like Linux, where the name of the game is "thou must give away
all your hard work for free after a given amount of time". I mean, it's
no coincidence that Mac OS will have Be OS as its kernel in its much
ballyhooed Mac OS X (gotta love the double entendre of Mac OS 10 and
Windows X :-) ). But wait a second, I've moved beyond a programming
language into a mudding environment, haven't I? Well, it's certainly
another thing that I think could benefit from being open source :-).
Actually, I think that in possibly as little as 10 years, virtually all
personal computer environments will be using the same, albeit
multiflavoured OS. I think this because for the past few decades, Unix
has been gaining favour like crazy. At first, it started with.. what was
it? Minicomputers? Then it dominated that arena. Now it's started moving
into the personal computer arena; Linux showed some promise, but I
personally think that one of its big breaks will be Be OS as the Mac OS
Kernel. And I think no wiz programmer is fooled by where Microsoft's
"New Technology" came from; oh sure, title changes and the microsoft way
of putting a slash the other way around (or labelling things different
names to 'prove' that their stuff is actually 'new'), but I think these
wizes know that it's just Unix with Microsoft stamped on it.
   So here's to a new Unix/Mud/Mac/PC-OS that I'm hoping to see one day
(I feel that muds will be the true killer app of the internet; It seems
to me that it'd be easier to put everything on a mud then everything on
a browser- but either way, I can't see anything other then the 2
merging; and it's been said before that browsers could become the new
operating systems; I feel that the Mud/Browser/Unix combination
definitely will).



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