Jack Linden – possibly as a part of his new role as Executive Director, Consumer Products today blogs about the upcoming server-side scripting limits.
These have been the source of much hype, debate, guesswork and outright misinformation (not, I hasten to add, from Linden Lab) for a while now; while it is still somewhat early days, Jack’s post is welcome as it does much to set out LL’s table on the matter, and start the flow of information very positively – allowing for the fact that much still appears to be in a state of flux.
Of course, there are concerns with the approach. While scripting limits are perfectly acceptable and may well help improve sim performance on overworked servers (allowing for the virtual nature of sims themselves), the planned roll-out of the new controls does lend itself to a lot of potential misunderstandings and confusion. In this respect, I certainly hope that Jack and the team keep Phase 1 of the project – Information – uppermost in their minds.
In summary:
- Linden Lab will be rolling out the project in three broad phases: Information – and Jack’s post can in some ways be seen as the first post in this effort, even though there have been earlier general postings on the subject by the likes of Babbage Linden; Tools – see below; and Enforcement
- Server 1.38, due out in April will start the ball rolling with the release of script monitoring tools
- Said tools will allow script usage to be monitored on a per parcel basis but the parcel “owner” / renter; additional tools will be provided to the sim owner / estate managers which will enable the return of objects that are taxing the sim in terms of script loads
- Script “space” in memory will be assigned to sims in a similar manner to prims: there will be a total limit for the sim as a whole, which can then be allocated to parcels as the land is divided up.
- Additional script space will be allocated per avatar, with an overall “pool” of resources per sim to handle avatars
- While Jack’s post does not make this entirely clear, it appears that if the script limit for a parcel / sim is reached, additional scripted items will not work; similarly, if all resources for avatars is used, additional avatars entering the parcel / sim will find attachments do not work.
Many have debated the pros and cons of capping scripts, but the fact remains, whether we like it or not, the servers supporting Second Life all have finite resources, and scripts have never really been monitored, and have become one of the causes of server-side lag, simply because of their overwhelming prevalence.
That said, Jack’s post does leave some cause for concern over potential angst / misunderstandings / over-zealousness down the road:
- Currently, LSL scripts are capped at 16Kb, while Mono scripts can use up to 64Kb (but can in theory be a lot smaller than this – the average being around 9Kb according to Jack)
- However, the new tools will initially only report on the maximum amount of memory a script can use. So, if you have four LSL scripts running, they’ll be reported as taking up 64Kb of memory. But…if you have 4 Mono scripts running, they’ll be recorded as taking up 256Kb of memory – even though the scripts may be a lot leaner than this
- The monitoring tools will be tweaked later in the year so that Mono scripts will be able to report their actual memory usage – but initially, only the maximum 64Kb per mono script will be reported
- The upshot of this is twofold:
- It gives an incorrect impression that Mono is actually more resource-hungry than LSL
- It runs the risk of having people single out Mono users unfairly on the basis that (whether or not parcel / sim script limits are being affected) “they are hogging resources” because their “script usage” is “higher” – much as we witnessed people getting all het up and shouting about ARC and lag…
- A third possible outcome of this is that when shopping (and assuming memory usage becomes a “feature” of vendors, people will opt for LSL-scripted items because they appear more memory-efficient
There are other concerns that have been raised – such as scripters being able to use the land tools to test the efficiency of their scripts (given than not all scripts own / rent land, but work in places like sandboxes where the tools – to be included on the About Land window – will not be available to them. However, it is probably this issue of actual versus perceived script efficiency that is liable to cause the greatest upset with this change, unless LL work very hard to fully and properly communicate this change to the community as a whole.
And while script limits may well be a good thing for SL overall (I’m hoping they will have the desired outcome as far as is reasonably possible) – we’ve been shown time and again that when it comes to proactive communications with residents, Linden Lab’s efforts seem to repeatedly fall far wide of the mark.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 
Ok Saturday evening isn’t the time to post this but your verbiage is seriously sexy, you write extremely well, you should publish yourself more often and now inworld offers more publishing opportunities…
Anyway, on topic, there are a few steps to go in this shebang, we need more info and more sensible info, we need to know what the limits are per parcel size and they need to be sensible. We also need better tools for measuring the usage of our scripts.
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Why good sir, you do seriously cause me to blush!
And what makes you think I’m not published elsewhere! *winks*.
Actually my failing here is to properly proof read – which is an astonishing admission given my profession.
BUT…to come back to the thrust of your comments….I agree there is much more still to come from LL on the matter. I always find myself in a quandary where Jack is concerned – while his posts so often come across as sincere, the actions that follow them are often times less than have been promised. Perhaps it’s unfair to blame him directly – several at LL are as guilty; so much so that I often get the feeling that after 3 or 4 postings from them on certain subjects, there is very much a “bored now” attitude prevalent at Battery Street.
The said, it does seem there is an earnest intent not to impact the vast majority of sims heavily – as Jack says, the bar will be set reasonably high: but we do need to know the specifics.
I personally think that the hardest-hit will be script laden avatars – and it is going to take careful communication to mitigate the impact and the wrong impressions being given. With finite resources to be allocated to avatars in a sim, and propensity for people to by scripted from here to Timbuktu and back again, a lot of people are going to to get their pants in a paddy when then find they can no longer run attachments as they tp around…
And in closing…your own blog is is one of the most thought-provoking there is on SL, and it has become daily reading for myself.
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I did not mean to make assumptions kind young lady, I just feel you should write for a potentially wider audience. I love reading, reading such beautifully constructed prose sort of floats my boat. Ok I’ll stop here because my reputation will be ruined!
Most sims won’t be affected, neither will most residents, the changes won’t make much of a difference short term, but long term we need these limits to allow us to grow sensibly.
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/me smiles broadly. “I didn’t take your comment as presumptive, I was just teasing you a little to cover my own embarrassment at the praise. ”
I think we’re in agreement overall – I don’t see these changes as being draconian in any way. I just see any potential impact being down to a) out-and-out misunderstanding if the information isn’t properly communicated – whether or not people are actually being impacted by the changes; and b) where it does hit, it’ll be more on the avatar side of things than elsewhere, particularly where clubs are concerned.
I also agree that the changes are necessary to ensure sustainable growth; in this I have, and remain, supportive of the initiative, even if it does mean I get scowled at by friends and colleagues in-world!
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They have released a lot of these changes on pilot sims now. Everything seems to moving along smoothly. Well as smooth as sl gets. I understand that the changes will be fully rolled out on the 6th. I have to save I am a bit disapointed on the fact that estates ” parcels on estates” will not have access to the scripting information in about land. I hope I am mistaken but so far I havent seen any evidence of this.
I do have to say, I am an avid reader of most blogs I find interesting. Yours is an interesting read with very thought out questions and answers. I hope to see more of your blogs posted.
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Ichago,
Thanks for the feedback on 1.38 – I’d jotted down a few notes on the Pilot, but haven’t had a chance to look in-depth at things, so your insight is interesting. To be honest, my understanding was the parcel owners / renters would have access to script info via About Land, with Estate owners / managers having access to more in-depth information under their region tools. As I haven’t yet got 1.38 on the sim I manage, I can’t verify either way – it’s going to be interesting finding out.
Thank you for the feedback on my ramblings. I really do appreciate the feedback I get – and try to reply to all who do comment to show my appreciation. I very much hope there will be more here to bring you back in the future!
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