Opensource Obscure

Not a "tired argument": there is currently much value in what Second Life offers. http://secondlife.com/destination shows that.
Statistics show nothing like "platform death".
My daily usage of the platform shows new cool things are created every day.
New features being implemented show the platform is actively being improved.

These are facts, not feelings.

With regard to Tateru Nino, she still writes about Second Life, full time:
http://dwellonit.taterunino.net

Interestingly, she claims to be more optimist about SL than ever. Read her blog. Talk to her.

I completely agree with you: she writes in a great way and she writes about relevant aspects.

@Bongo123
they really NEEDED to update the graphics engine.

In the last months they added to Second Life:

- realtime shadows
- global illumination
- avatar phsyics
- depth of field
- texture projections
- meshes (currently in testing)
- sky presets (server-side control available in upcoming weeks)

Have a look to my YouTube channel to see these features in action.
http://www.youtube.com/opensourceobscure

1995?
Second Life didn't even exist in the 90's.

Camping?
banned in most areas thanks to the 2009 "new" policy.

Griefers and goreans?
There's SO much other than that, and it's easy to find it today.
Just have a look to http://secondlife.com/destination

@CheapHeat

Second Life "dying rapidly" ?

No, that is so NOT true.

I've been playing Second Life since 2006 too, and I kept hearing this song - "Second Life will close in the next 6 months" - and then, nothing happens.

There's only one button in the current Alpha release of Viewer 2.1 that is highlighted by default (at least in the top bar) and it's "BUY L$".

@AWM Mars

1. It's not that LL doesn't listen to users. It's that SL users are very different, with very different needs. LL simply can't listen to some users without pissing off some other users.

2. Actually, Flash IS supported inside SL platform. You should use SL some time if you talk about it.

3. A "short chat" with an executive who just got hired isn't meaningful at all and doesn't help understanding the company, especially 2 years later.

4. It's Linden Lab, not Linden Labs. It was "Linden Lab" in 2004 as well.

Most commenters aren't interested in analyzing and talking about facts - we're much more willing to "be amazed" and "rant" about "how horrible" something is, and myths are good enough for that.

I find this attitude amazingly horr...oh god, wait.

@breezer no, I don't think that's contributing to SL's decline - not that I'm actually seeing a decline in SL.

What the gamer - MMOer world thinks about SL isn't very relevant when you're pondering to use SL as a tool in a business/corporation environment.

@Harper - you're still missing my point, but the reason is probably my English isn't good enough to explain what I mean. Too bad.

Focusing on users who spend money only would miss a fundamental aspect of the Second Life environment - that is, people who spend money don't get into SL *to spend money* - they get in SL also because of their relationships with other users.
Linden Lab is directly interested in having lots of active users, even if not directly spending money, because that means more vibrant communities, and that's where spending users come from.