Since the recent release of SL 1.7, and subsequent lag issues, Second Life has seemed a little quiet. From time to time, there are surges of activity through Abbotts when a group shows up to go skydiving or maybe try out a few planes. I supposed they’re not bothered by sudden, crippling bouts of lag, but for myself, I’m going to avoid aircraft until the next patch, which — according to Philip — will address the root cause of the lag.
As much as these issues can be annoying, I take the more philosophical view. The bugs are a good sign, in part — they’re a sign that the code isn’t stagnating. We wouldn’t see new bugs appear if the Linden Lab devs weren’t constantly improving code. Every time you add something new to a complex system, it naturally reveals new and unforseen bugs which, over time, can be trampled out of existence, one-by-one. Add feature, reveal bugs, kill them, repeat ad infinitum. That’s the software development cycle.
In the meantime, it seems like many SLers are biding the time to the next patch by turning their attentions to other pursuits — politics, forum drama, and real-life meetups. That’s the sign of a healthy online community. Give SL another couple of weeks, and this whole 1.7 kerfuffle will be forgotten, and we can once again take to the skies.
Say, that’s the first time I’ve used “kerfuffle” in a blog entry.