Why 25 Groups Is a Bug Fix
I want to address the discussion I have had with a few people already who think that Linden Labs should NOT change the group limit for fear of making Second Life buggier or worse than it already is. Now, I’m not sure what the problem is, if there is any because Linden Labs is not communicating on the problem. The premise is that the databases are too messed up to support more than 25 groups and they will not support more than 25 groups. For example, just last week, they lost (and then recovered) close to half a million inventory items. Thus supporting the argument that they would have serious problems supporting more than 25 groups.
Now, think carefully about this situation. I work with programmers all the time on situations like this. Programmers are by their very nature lazy, it’s how they work. It’s not necessary a bad thing, but it’s always an underlying current. Fixing the database problems is going to be a sticky and ugly problem. Not nearly as much fun as adding more eye candy to the environment. Never mind that the sticky and ugly database problems are the root of a lot of issues. Now they don’t even have the excuse of an increasing population and userbase load.
What this means that if the 25 group limit is REALLY a database issue, then confess, make a something called a plan to fix the database and while you are at it, up the group limit.
-Veyron
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:11 am
Hi, Veyron.
Not only they are lazy, they never admit their mistakes too! hehe. It’s kinda’ professional, I agree.
Anyways, I wanted to let you know that we’ve included your blog in our news feed reader http://yolto.com . Later on it will be in ‘Community Journalism’ section.
Have you any questions or suggestions, please e-mail me.
Regards, Alex
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:21 am
Before the pimping up of the group number - they should add the ability to make certain groups “muted” or “chat by officers only”. IMHO.
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:27 am
Dalien, that’s already been done by the Nicholaz branch of the client. I’m sure it will make it in the LL client in six months to a year….
December 22nd, 2007 at 8:24 pm
[...] a feature request as much as it is a bug fix. I wrote about my reasoning here in my blog, http://blog.veyronsupercharge.com/2007/12/22/why-25-groups-is-a-bug-fix/ In a nutshell, if the database is too broken to support more than 25 groups and we all know the [...]
December 24th, 2007 at 7:04 am
There are problems with groups. Group IM has a very, very, very complex way of getting messages to participants which places loads on sims, servers and communication channels. One reason for making groups “announcement only” as proposed on JIRA is to allow for update and announcement groups without the corresponding chat loads.
Of course fixing the chat architecture would eliminate this need, but that is going to be some time in coming. Right now the need for sim presence to get group chat is a pure bug, it was a bad idea when it was done, and it is even worse now.
January 15th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
“Programmers are by their very nature lazy, it’s how they work.” i could probably quote your entire paragraph for the amount of head shaking i was doing as i read on and on about how you seem to judge programmers with such an extraneous & detached point of view. i’m not sure what you do with these people (seemingly not on a social level) but if i could be as presumptuous about you as you seem to treat programmers it’d start ya crying.
i understand you may not have meant that you had actually experienced all of those shameful aspects of your focus. perhaps your language skills diminished your true intent. so; take my comments as my hello. i’ve had friends mention your name and i’ve got your blog on my bloglines. think i picked up on you when you seemed to reference my Unintentional Viewer Crashes chart i ripped from the Lab’s site.
as it relates to the code base reality on just how much brain tissue weighs in on the projects, the complexity of 2 billion lines of spagetti mashup topped up with organizational changes amounting to a quadrupling of the staff, times four type expansion in physical server layout, doubling of the amount of concurrent connections, integration of two significant and revolutionary upgrades (voice and windlight), mastering the forces of boomtown chaos (sharks and hounds), all the while promoting, responding, and integrating on a corporate and social level.
all the while, we are allowed to give our voice and our visions to it all. anything as complex as this giant shouldn’t be given short shrift. i’ve read Ordinal Malaprop’s comments at Wagner Au’s new world notes blog. she seems to have the correct technical view. not diminishing the cry for more, all good to integrate more resident lead improvements, it’s merely a matter of time when we will all have all what we all want. in the mean time let’s have some fun. give yer honey a squeeze for me. love ya. peace out.