In a move that was, in their own terms, inevitable, Linden Labs announced that Second Life would make their client open source. Van Hemlock offers the first salvo of opinion.

The timing is interesting. Second Life has recently dealt with all manners of abuse, including billing security issues, stability issues, copybot, grey goo, and other degenerative attacks on the system. Releasing the source code will make it easier for attackers to find vulnerabilities, at least in the short term.

In the long term, it will probably make things better, as players add in things the game desperately needs. Like, say, a usable UI. Getting in the other things that Van Hemlock mentions, such as more integrated web apps like browsers and MSN, will also get Second Life a lot closer to where their hype says they are as well.

Still, I can’t shake this feeling that this news will result in some spectacularly bizarre news about Second Life within the next three months.