You know what we don't see enough of in Second Life? Submarines. With all the water available across the grid, I'm surprised that there are so many boats, and so few subs. In a world where there are deep oceans and hidden grottos, underwater travel is an amazing way to explore.

To boost production of submarines and to promote the submarine as a pleasure craft, I'm re-releasing my Herring mini-sub with a new open-source script licensed under the Creative Commons. What this means is that you can get a Herring 2.0 free, rip out it's script, and use it in your own creation.

There are terms of use, of course, outlined by the non-legalese version of the license:

You are free:

* to Share ? to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work
* to Remix ? to make derivative works

Under the following conditions:

* Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
* Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same, similar or a compatible license.
* For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.
* Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
* Apart from the remix rights granted under this license, nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights. (link)

It's my hope that vehicle builders will use the Herring as a starting point for new submarines, either collaboratively or competitively. It's not a perfect script by far -- I know there are flaws in it -- so it's up to you to innovate and improve on it.

You can pick up a Herring 2 at The GNUbie Store, at Stillman Bazaar, and in the underground submarine dock at Abbotts Aerodrome.