Timbran

Modern Platforms for Collaborative Virtual Spaces

Old English: "to build, construct" • "to instruct, edify" • "to cut timber"

Connect to Timbran Hotel

Our public world, running mooR 2.0

Timbran is a software collective building tools for collaborative computing. We're interested in "live" environments—systems where the software isn't a static product, but a shared space that users can modify and extend while they use it.

Our primary project is mooR, infrastructure for social worlds and games that people build and program together.

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Current Projects

mooR

Infrastructure for shared, persistent worlds and games that people build and program together, from the inside, while the world runs. Worlds can be textual or graphical: mooR has even run as a Minecraft server.

  • mooR 2.0 is in code freeze on the v2.0-release branch, with a formal release to follow
  • Many people play, build and program at once; each action happens completely or not at all
  • The Meadow web client, with an in-world code editor, and support for classic MUD clients
  • Written from scratch in Rust since 2022, and able to import LambdaMOO databases

The Collective

Timbran is structured as a software collective. We believe that the people who build software should own the tools and the results of their labour. This model keeps us focused on technical quality and user agency.

We're a small, remote team of engineers interested in the intersection of systems programming and collaborative digital spaces.

Ryan Daum

Ryan Daum

Ryan is a systems engineer based in Hamilton, Ontario, with over 25 years of experience in virtual machines, networked systems, and infrastructure. His career has spanned everything from early web technologies to a decade at Google, where he worked primarily on embedded systems.

He founded Timbran to focus on the design of inherently extensible software and collaborative environments. As the primary architect of mooR, he handles the core VM, compiler, and system design.

Norman Nunley

Norman is a software engineer with over 30 years of experience in systems development and architecture. With a background that includes a decade at Google and involvement in pioneering networked social environments, he specializes in building systems that remain inspectable and modifiable while running.

He is a core contributor to mooR, focused on the decompiler, database tools, and ensuring the system remains accessible to those building within it.

Collaboration

Timbran is an open-source project at heart. Most of our work is available on GitHub, and we welcome contributions from developers interested in virtual machine design, compilers, or networked social environments.