Jack Linden to Leave Linden Lab

In his latest post on the Linden Blog, Jack Linden stated he would be leaving his post at Linden Labs at the end of the year, “It’s time for me to set sail for new horizons, hang up the god powers, and journey to another grand adventure elsewhere. It has been an incredible six years, and one that has been made extra special thanks to sharing it with you, the Second Life community.”

I first met him during the “Openspace” controversy, him being the one to answer questions from an often tough crowd as to why Linden Lab was jacking the tier of Homestead sims by 66%. I don’t remember him losing his cool with the occasionally hostile questions, but I don’t recall much empathy either. Tateru Nino commented, “Certainly if there was bad news to deliver, Jack seemed to be your man for the job – and it never seemed to stress him out. There’s not many who can handle that sort of thing.”

Tateru further commented, “I’ve never figured out, exactly – even the couple brief times I worked alongside him at the Lab – if Jack was a decision-maker or a communications flunky. I believe he finished up with the title of Executive Director of Product (Land, eCommerce,Search, etc), but I was never able to figure out if he actually had a voice or influence in any of the decisions that he communicated.”

Jack’s farewell post was followed by a number of well-wishers, those saying they would miss him, and others saying although they had their differences with Jack, they had to respect him, “Jack, I will give you credit for being one of the few Lindens willing to face the masses... “ There were a few who were unimpressed, one saying “your departure is long overdue.”

Jack stated he would be back on Second Life, but as a regular resident. It is unknown whom Linden Lab plans to replace him with.

Sources: Linden Blog, "Dwell on it" , Picture by Ciaran Laval