> From: Philip Rosedale <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [sldev] Code review for those of you with commit access
> I want to help create a high-value viewer that lots of people use. That > means we can't just put every random thing into it, given we > (collectively) have limited time and people. Right? So we thought > stabilizing the new map code and getting that viewer out there was a > good starting point. We do hope to see people participating on the open-source side who are also more-than-casual eaters of the dogfood. The map project resulted in an improved map, but also broke some very high-quality in-world content; when this was pointed out, the map project folk simply shrugged and expressed surprise. "Gee, we didn't know anybody would do that." The technical debt that is incurred when you don't have stable, documented interfaces and rich-enough services is: hacks like Lex Mars' map texture UUID server, which was allowed to serve as a de-facto response to a long-standing new-function PJIRA. The payment you make on that technical debt is: you must have a better knowledge of the use-cases that content developers and end-users see every day; you can't fall back on a more formal API that lets you make broad assertions about what dependencies content has. Absent such architectural formalisms, the way you get the knowledge to replace them is to spend time in-world looking at and understanding things real people have done. Just hanging out with the gang that built the last twenty shiny chrome deserted corporate islands may teach you that "people are using megaprims and you have to support them", but it won't expose you to more complex devices (more complex than a notecard-giver or a conference table) that are in routine use amongst the real residents. Having a "high-value viewer" is vital. But the most sophisticated viewer on the planet won't mean much without high-value content. The number one complaint from the best scripters in-world is the instability of the vaguely defined interfaces they work with. And as plans to measure and ration scripting resources move forward, Second Life will need even more to improve its retention of talented scripters. The viewer is capable of breaking content too, it doesn't all happen on the server side...it's just that the most painful cases lately have been on the server. _______________________________________________ Policies and (un)subscribe information available here: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/SLDev Please read the policies before posting to keep unmoderated posting privileges
