I like Prokofy Neva. This may or may not mean anything to you*. Or him. If you are scratching your bonce wondering who I’m on about, then long-story-short is that Prok is a veteran of online worlds, quite a oldbie in SL terms, a landlord with huge tracts of land and one of the most outspoken people I’ve read**.
Prok fights passionately for what he believes in. Do I always agree with him? No. Do I always understand him? No. Prok sees things I and many others don’t. He draws conclusions others never consider – he may not be right, but I’ve yet to see a conclusion he has drawn that said, at its core, “Let’s give more power over all of us to a few un-elected individuals”.
Prok argues passionately with people. Do I always agree with what he says or even how he says it? No. Sometimes I’m shocked (yes, me, shocked!) by how he says things. But do you know what? It’s his sodding blog and he can say what he likes on there. If it’s your blog and you don’t like it that’s a different matter – so ban him. No one’s pretending that blogland is a fair place to live you know and I think if you ban him you may even get a special badge for your frontpage or something***.
Over on Prok’s blog, SL Record, Desmond Shang (he of Caledon fame) recently posted a wonderfully well thought out argument for the freeing of Second Life – take it away from Linden Labs and give it to the people. I’m not stupid enough to think it will be as easy as that, but by christ I think he’s right!
Go here to read the post (stick with it despite the odd formatting) and Prok’s reply below. I’ve left my own but it needs to be approved by the mod so I’ll copy it below.
Like I say, I don’t know the answers, but I know for damn sure I don’t want some coder lording it over me, taking the piss out of the way I am, making decisions that affect the way I exist in the world just because a) they can and I can’t, or b) they don’t like me for whatever spurious reason they have in their head****. I treat folks the same be they creator, consumer or observer – and I expected to be treated the same, not ostracised or ghettoised just because I can’t build or code or whatever-they-choose worth a damn. This is my world too and fuck me if I’m going to let some insecure little stain rule over it without making my voice heard.
See! I’ve gone an got all fired up now. Arsecakes! Here’s the comment – I’m off to fume*****
HBA
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* This simple statement may make you angry. So be it. I have not changed from the person you knew before you read that line so if you suddenly find yourself seeing me in a different light know that we are all multifaceted creatures and that a person should judged by his or her actions and deeds. You may like or dislike Prok. If my liking him alters how you feel about me, may I suggest you take a long look inward and grow up.
** Hey, he may not be outspoken by your standards, but I’m a quiet, reserved chap you know so he is by mine.
***Prok, I think you should design one that can be downloaded from your site.
****I wish to state I know many, many coders, scripters, builders, artists and creative, fun people who are just lovely to be around and nice, generous folks. I also know one or two right old tossers*****.
***** I need to fume due to a very recent meeting with one such arsehole who just tried to belittle me for no good reason. Tosser.
Comment from Prok’s blog:
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Hi Desmond – cracking post, really good read and pretty much lays out what I feel about SL too.
At the bottom of it, all Linden Labs have done is invent a new way for us to use and view the internet. I know Linden won’t see it that way, and I realise I can’t even begin to understand the sheer amount of hard graft and clever gubbins that went into making it work, but basically it’s a browser, but a browser that only works on their small, controlled, contained part of the internet.
In the real world, if a website vanishes then the user loses a website to view and moves on – the whole internet is not taken away. If a server goes down, then a business may suffer some loss and fall out with their provider but the internet stays where it is. But with Second Life, we all live on a knife edge of existence where one small, non-democratic company decides our fate every second of every day.
I haven’t got the brass to own a sim, I can only rent 8000sqm from a landlord who has many, many sims. But is my landlord really in any more secure position than me? Couldn’t Linden Labs just switch him off as easily as me?
Outside of SL I have a website – the provider may go under and I may lose that site for a day or two, but I can just find a new provider and I’m back where I was. The same can not be said for my wee island and all my works in SL.
I know they built it. It was their dream. They raised the money. They put in the work. But at the end of the day, tough! We own it – we the users. I know it has to be paid for. I know nothing is for free. But take a look where SL is right now, is that any better than a standard pay-for-play monthly fee multi-player online game? I don’t think so.
If they want people to take this on as the next version of the internet, they need to give it away just like the internet creators did in the 80s and 90s. They can not own it – no one can.
If they can’t or won’t do this then they are doomed because someone will – someone will make a free version and my normal web server that I pay to host my normal website will eventually host my island, only this time it won’t be a tiny 8000sqm any more and it won’t cost me £15 a month either.
Governance is more problematic, of course. I’m not happy with Big Linden watching and judging and controlling, but neither am I happy with the thought of a democracy of users whose apathy will only lead to the few interested parties effectively seizing control and forging the whole thing as they want. Prok’s FIC writ large.
I’m not sure what the answer is to that last point, but like my taste in art, I’ll know it when I see it – I just hope there are enough like minded people out there to take time to come up with the answers.
HeadBurro Antfarm.
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