Opensim HTML on the prim: the sneak-peek preview: technical commentary

If you came in here, probably you got thrilled by the pictures on the Vint's post. Before you all rush to download the opensim, cool down for the time being :)

The code is not *yet* in the codebase, this is a working copy on Michael's development host. However, it should be in SVN soon.

Also, there are a couple of implementation alternatives - windows-only, and gecko-based, crossplatform.

I have a strong vote for taking the time to implement it properly and crossplatform - such that we can continue enjoying the platform independence - being able to run both in mono, and in windows.

Also, even when the code is in there - don't expect it to be plug and play. It is still "early morning bird" arrangement for the brave hackers (in the original, good sense of this word, not meaning the miscreants).

Once it is in the codebase, I will play with it more and then publish some less-than-human tutorials about how it can be used (and of course, you can practice on Zion and other test opensims once they pick up the code).

Update: One thing to clarify. This photos do not mean you can start randomly clicking on links once the code is there :)

Due to the architecture, what is happening (which is similar to my vnc2sl thing), is that the module retrieves the web page, and renders it as a texture on the face of the prim.

So do not expect to post right away to your blogger pages while typing in the editor windows on the prim faces inworld - that won't happen, not unless the client code changes significantly to accomodate that (at which point the whole implementation would look very very very different).

But hey, I think it's still already quite a cool thing to have :)

Stay tuned for more updates.