The land rush to create an open source metaverse continues - it’s interesting to imagine how many microworlds there will be, but then in some ways we already know - Second Life contains as many microworlds as users, it seems, but instability on the grid, and a move to make the space more ‘business friendly’ has left the early explorers disillusioned. Once the casinos are gone, the grid is stable, age verification is in place (and all that X-rated ‘fun stuff’ parcelled off behind closed prims), and there’s nothing left to complain about and little illicit fun to be had - then what?

Well, perhaps we’ll all be jumping into VastPark and getting lost in a maze much like I often find myself stuck in the back alleys of the Internet wondering how there can be 1,452,222 search returns from my latest Google.

Current contenders include:

vastPark

Deep Grid

Reuter’s Article on Deep Grid

While OpenSim’s standalone worlds will be ready within months, building a fully-featured grid than can either compete with or connect into Second Life will take much longer. Frisby approximates interactivity between Second Life and another grid remains 18 months away, depending largely on Linden’s support for the idea.

Frisby and other OpenSim programmers hope to some day earn a living providing support to OpenSim implementations, in the same manner companies have developed industries around support for open source applications like Linux and WordPress. But he insists he’s not in competition with Linden Lab. If OpenSim together with programmers working on the viewer fix bugs or develop new features they want to see in Second Life, he plans to offer the code to Linden Lab for free. “For Second Life to grow, it will have to get better,” Frisby said. “If Linden Lab succeeds, we succeed.”