Edit: Thankfully, FJ is a Linden, meaning he has an avatar, and he has a Linden name. Subtle point? I still don’t think so…but Katt clarified below and on the main blog, so this post has been edited.
I wish I could post something intelligent about VPNs or latency pings or whatever the heck people talk about when they talk about stability. Actually, I don’t wish that - I just wish for things to work, and to be stable, and to not crash. So I have no idea whether the post by Frank Ambrose on the Second Life blog makes any sense.
What I do know is that I agree with Ciaran’s follow-up comment: isn’t it odd that Frank isn’t a Linden?
Frank has been hired to bring stability to the Grid. As I pointed out in a previous post, Frank’s background at AOL and MCI wasn’t just about geeky coding stuff, it was also connected to strategy. As he said while at AOL related to his role:
“From an operations stand point we’re the guys in the engine room, so we just need to make sure everything works. But when you see these kinds of arrangements you can really piece together a clear picture of the company’s strategy. For the folks who are out there just making things work it really becomes a satisfying experience…to help redirect the company, continue to seek growth in the company. People are very excited about the buzz that’s come back.”
So that’s good. He understands that IT isn’t done for the pure joy of wires or blade servers or whatever, but that it has to work because the strategy of the company says it has to. And Philip Rosedale has been going on about stability for some time. He’s also been going on about the new user experience for some time. And now he has two people to actually do the work, in M and Frank, while he wanders off and looks for fun little projects that can make SL seem “visiony” again, instead of sounding defensive about the potential and comparing it to Warcraft or whatever.
But it IS intriguing that Frank is no Linden. Especially in light of his involvement FJ was involved, while at AOL, on identity and trust systems. Now, sure, it was some little spin-off initiative and he was just an innocent participant, but as he said at the time:
“We are committed to open and interoperable identity solutions and we want consumers to be able to manage their identities easily and effortlessly. Doing so requires us to support a wide range of identity solutions and protocols, ranging from ultra-private to ultra-open, and everything in between - we want this range to be transparent to our consumers, allowing them to ‘just do what they want to do’
So I wonder: is there a hidden agenda in not being a Linden? does this background come in handy at all when looking at identity and trust systems, especially connected to AWG? Is that a little sneak hint at theWill FJ also be tasked with helping to develop a “range of identity solutions and protocols” that the Lab has up its sleeve in order to make SL more “real” and more appropriate for business use?
Or is it instead that the Lab is continuing its shift to the blog being more of an ad for the outside world than a communication tool with residents? In which case maybe they decided that it must seem weird to have “fake names” on a corporate blog. Growing up are we?
In the meantime, best of luck to Frank as he tries to figure out where to store all those freebie shoes clogging up the asset servers,
I don’t get your point. He is working for Linden Lab, right? So he’s a Linden, isn’t he?
Maybe you were looking for an avatar name? I don’t see why he needs that to work on infrastructure issues. Maybe he has an avatar or three but just didn’t bother to mention. Either way, what would it matter to accomplishing his tasks?
You seriously don’t see the implications if this was conscious Pais? Dear me.
Heck - why did you need an avatar name to reply to this post - just use your real name. And if you INSIST on using your avatar name like some child would, hiding behind anonymity like, well, like you have something to hide, then maybe this isn’t the Grid for you anymore.
In a community that has been based from the beginning on no cross-over to real world identity, you don’t at all find it troubling that the first time of which I’m aware a key Linden staff member isn’t using a “Linden” name?
Hmmm. Maybe what it is is they want to communicate to the rest of the world that they’re adults with names and titles. People with avatar names will become those damn kooky residents with fake personas who were part of that nutty frontier that Mitch referred to who will have to live with all the change to come and I guess decamp to openLife - or maybe you’re the one Philip referred to - the one with too much time on your hands?
And finally, if you’re saying that you don’t even think Ambrose needs to LOG IN to work on infrastructure issues, um…OK. I guess you’re right. It’s just wires, a product, a bunch of connectivity. He needs absolutely no association with the community, to attend office hours to hear people’s concerns or to meet in world with other Linden staffers (which is the main way that Linden meets, of course, seeing as they have offices on 4 continents or whatever it is).
As I said, this is either unintentional or signals a shift: the blog is for real people talking to “real people” not to kooky residents. OR, Linden is starting the shift to being able to choose whether you use your real name, a shift in policy that’s received no resident feedback other than a quick survey at log-in as to whether you’d PAY for it.
Which, if the latter is the case, then I predict the kind of split within the community that was expected when voice was introduced and a further shredding of the SL culture, such as it remains.
Thanks Dusan, good question.
Frank is a Linden. He’s FJ Linden, and I think he’s a great addition to the community of Lindens, that the practical work he’s here to do will make things in SL better for all of us.
Yikes, methinks I touched a nerve. Since it is an election weirdstorm in my meatspace, I will weasel to say my question was feigning ignorance, playing devil’s avocate, to provoke you to be more explicit about what you were really trying to imply when you point out that Frank was too frankly un-virtual.
On the other hand, a good portion of his discussion was to reference his experience and background, which was accomplished under his RL moniker - one that is well know enough to be of import both to establish an indication of what’s to come, but perhaps also to bolster confidence in the future of SL(tm).
Thanks Katt for the clarification. I have no issue with Frank’s qualifications, but I fear that Lindens won’t be Lindens anymore, that Residents will start being real people, and that we’ll all have to adopt the IBM dress code and thus I’ll have to throw out half my wardrobe. Glad to hear FJ is a Linden.
I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I was introduced to him as FJ Linden by Katt Linden via her post on twitter (http://twitter.com/Katt_Linden/statuses/920530091) and on the post that you directly referred to it says FJ Linden. He is just a “recent hire” as he said on his blog and want to introduce himself.