Jack Linden has announced on the blog, that he is indeed leaving Linden Lab, he also briefly popped to his scheduled office hour to say goodbye.
This has been rumoured, Prok blogged about it on November 27th and had conflicting info from sources, but swayed towards the rumour being true after further confirmations, and it is indeed true. At the time I felt it was more likely Jack was going to move to San Francisco (that was another rumour Prok cited) as he’d been spending so much time in San Francisco lately, it seemed to make sense he would emigrate. I don’t know whether Jack was spending time there tying up loose ends or whether this is a shock for him, it would seem a tad cruel if he had been there for so long believing he was moving there only to have the rug pulled from under his feet.
This is a huge loss, for Linden Lab but more importantly for the residents, Jack was one of the few senior Lindens who held office hours, he would talk about issues that are less technical but very concerning, he was of course at the centre of controversial and unpopular moves, such as the Openspace price rise and the recent display names, which I personally like and use but I can see the flaws.
However with Jack you got someone who would talk to the residents, someone who would stand up and be counted and someone whom you could disagree with but still respect, which is something that Linden Lab are losing, it started when Robin left and continued on and now, Jack will soon be gone.
I am seriously concerned about the direction Linden Lab are taking, people like Jack should be being made an offer they can’t refuse to stay at the lab, that they are willing to let him go is not encouraging for the future of Linden Lab, just where is this all heading, there’s no CEO yet and the ship appears to be rudderless, are we heading for an iceberg or do they have a trick up their sleeve? A sell off seems more likely when things like this happen.
I wish Jack all the best in his future endeavours, he will be sorely missed, not by all of course, some people will think this is wonderful news, but as has been proven many times, be careful what you wish for. Linden Lab have never replaced Robin, they mislaid Catherine and now we lose Jack, I for one am not happy.