[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: [OpenVerse] [Fwd: Fwd: Communities.com Announcement]
[MODERTAORS NOTE: ]Just getting back from King Richards's faire - It would take
much more than you average shark to bring the likes of me down mattey! I've got
the sea deep in me blood and no shark can take me boy,
Anthony G. Basile writes:
> I didn't know there were any other palacers on this list. I've been
> lurking on the sidelines of this list because I have felt for about a year
> now that Communities.com (previously Electric Communities) was going to do
> something (I didn't know what) which would leave the palace community
> hanging. Perhaps now is the time to become more active.
>
> At present, virtual.dyc.edu hosts 3 palaces, one an educational palace
> which CC gave our college for free. While the server will work for a long
> time, the clients will not as OS's are upgraded. The code is not open,
> and so we cannot recompile it for new platforms. Further, it is illegal
> to redistribute the binaries for the client. It will not be long before
> the community on those palaces fades away.
>
> I am now going to actively explore using openverse for educational
> purposes. My collegue and I who started virtual can program in C/C++,
> Java, Perl among others. I'm working on TCL/TK. I also can translate
> help files into Italian --- I heard there was such a need. Perhaps I may
> be of service in making OpenVerse better than anything to come out of CC.
>
> (I feel like saying something stupid at this point like, "Long live the
> Open Source Revolution!", but I shall refrain ... or did I just say it?)
>
> Anthony G. Basile, Ph. D.
> Assist. Prof. of Physics,
> Dept. of Math and Natural Sciences
> D'Youville College,
> Buffalo, NY 14201
Good for you Dr. Basile. I am a retired university educator, and
regret very much that a lot of the Internet based tools for educators
came along after I had left the scene :-(. OpenVerse is certainly one
of them. The beauty of OV is that it's immediately portable to all
conceivable platforms you or your students can use (as long as Tcl is
portable), and being OpenSource, really belongs to the community. If
(heaven forbid !!!) Cruise were swallowed by a giant shark on his next
fishing trip, OpenVerse would live on, supported by the many talented
contributors who have helped it to evolve. And of course, the price
is right for strapped departmental budgets.
The other obvious advantage of OV is that you can use the server
'engine' as the basis for whatever customised add-ins that you wish.
Academic users with a talent and bent for programming (I suspect you
are one) are free to invent all kinds of new uses and new directions,
without being crippled by the restrictions on proprietary software.
This is what happened in Molecular Biology during the informatics
revolution of the last ten years. It is safe to say that the Open
Source movement and the GNU GPL were among the major reasons for the
astounding developments in bioinformatics - in fact, for the emergence
of informatics as a distinct and respectable academic discipline.
Vive la revolution OpenSource! Vive OpenVerse!
David Tinker (HighFlyer <highflyer@openverse.org>)
Formerly Professor of Biochemistry, University of Toronto.
--
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
David O. Tinker | E-Mail address:
4311 Granville Road, Box 2030A, | dtinker@tartannet.ns.ca
RR 2, Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia | Alternate E-Mail address:
B0S 1K0 | dtinker@blunile.guild.org
| Voice: (902) 532-2916
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Plan now to visit the "Port Royal 400" Celebrations in 2005 ***
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linux Tagline Generator v3.02, Sunday, September 17, 2000, 02:06 PM:
To test a man's character, give him power.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-------------------------------------------------------
--
Cruise -
OpenVerse Visual Chat - http://openverse.org/
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe to the OpenVerse mailing list send a message
to openverse-request@openverse.org with the following word
in the BODY of the message.
UNSUBSCRIBE
If you need assistance from a human, email cruise@openverse.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
--
Cruise -
OpenVerse Visual Chat - http://openverse.org/
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe to the OpenVerse mailing list send a message
to openverse-request@openverse.org with the following word
in the BODY of the message.
UNSUBSCRIBE
If you need assistance from a human, email cruise@openverse.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------