I just discovered your microbey system - it looks pretty interesting, but I do have a question on it. Given its nature as being web hosted, there is definite concern on my end that if you were to cut support it could wind up being completely dead - is there a plan in place to be able to convert it to something else if that did happen or where people could get that information back somehow?
I really hope they don't mind me using their question word for word, but I seriously love questions like this that make me think and that deserve an expanded answer. I gave a short answer immediately, but here's something a little more tangible.
The short answer is that this past year (2020) has been all about creation and building something of a foundation of things that are of a serious interest to me. Namely, SL stuff with remote integrations. I won't fib on this, disaster recovery and apocalyptic scenarios haven't been on my mind. Like most anyone who does code for fun, those things are way at the bottom of my list even on the best of days. Most of you wouldn't know this, but I actually DID have a disaster scenario when I first opened up. The hosting provider that I was using got themselves infected with a worm and things went from bad to doomed in a hurry. Instead of worrying myself about it too much (though I'll admit I was fuming at the time), I just tossed away everything I'd done up to that point. No worries, really. Not like an entire enterprise (or even a small section of an enterprise) was running on that stuff. But it did make me wary of hosting providers. When I started messing with things again, I went with a cloud provider that I trust for things that I get paid a whole lot of money to trust them with (NOT Second Life, mind you). And I try to ensure that should a lift and shift be necessary, I can do so with at least a minimal amount of hassle. Not to mention I have backups, for what they'd be worth. Code is in a safe place. So on and so forth. At an architectural level, things are pretty safe. The gloomiest scenario right now is that things are down while I lift and shift somewhere else. I'm not making light of the gloomiest scenario, believe me. It'd be a pain in my ass, and likely not something I'd be able to prioritize above other commitments. But it has been on my mind off an on since my prior provider crapped the bed in a huge way. It's from a selfish perspective, though. I don't want to have to deal with it any more than I have to when it does happen! 😀
Now most everything I do with Imperium boils down to: I want to. It's a passion pet project, and one that costs me money and time. More than I make, and definitely more so once you consider how much my time is worth (a lot). And that's fine, really, because it's really about me tinkering and learning and expanding my thoughts on integrations between systems (doesn't have to be SL and the web, but that's what fascinates me) mixed in with the recurring kink that I appreciate. So I make my own profit in my own way. But the question brings up a seriously valid point: My payoff in this scenario is my amusement. What happens if I'm no longer amused? What about the people who've sunk their own treasure and considerable amount of time into something I've created? I get this. I have to ask myself the same question a LOT when deciding on library use and third party product integrations.
A part of what I ask for with the MicrObey and MacrObey (and all things Imperium, really) is participation. It's why I have the author/contributor system and why I've put so much effort into things like Zen and Collectives. So I'm asking people to put time into things, and time is worth a lot for everyone. L$1499 isn't much (US $6.22 at the moment ... less than a decent cup of coffee), so that's not really my worry. At that exchange rate, no one gets to have any expectations - much less make any demands - of me or my time. Not when in RL I charge quite a bit just to answer the phone (should see what I charge to answer an email!). My worry is people's time and creative investments being disrupted. I don't want that. Even if I'm bored out of my mind with it, I wouldn't want that. YOUR time is valuable, too. But do you know that for sure? I mean, how can you take me at my word there? What if I decide I want to stop spending money on the fancy cloud stuff I'm so fond of? Redis caches are fun as fuck, after all. They're also expensive. Fortunately, I'm in it for the fun and the knowledge. But that's me saying that. I try to be as honest as possible when it comes to things like this, but I'm not trying to sell you snake oil or make myself out to be some kind of saint, either. I'm not. Hell, I'm a pretty bad example of being a human being! But I do have my reasons and I do have my fun out of it all. That's generally enough to keep me around and happy. There's actually kind of a benefit here. I'm not really here to make a living off of you guys. The income helps pay the bills, and that's a good thing, but I'm under no delusion that I'm going to make a killing here. Really, I'm here for me. This is my playground. I'm not going to try to sell you a line of customer service or marketing hype bullshit. Take that for what it's worth .... Which is not much. 😂
I'm not one to make guarantees or offer any warranty of any kind. Shit happens, and no one is guaranteed tomorrow. But even if I were to wander away from Imperium stuff, it'd still be there and working. Why? Because I use my cloud stuff for lots of other things. And I like it all being billed in one place. It's very convenient for me, and I can't see changing that. See above, though ... You have to take me at my word there, that I'll try to keep everything running smooth even if I'm not around on a daily basis. I know this may not be easy, especially when I'm very brutally honest that I'm not going to ever make any promises to that effect. BUT I don't have any plans of going anywhere, and even if I'm on a break or away doing other things that amuse me, it's all going to be up and running. Because I want it to be, and I'm pretty selfish about things like that. If I'm ever in a situation where it can't continue? Well, no offense, but I've got bigger fish to fry at that stage.
Alllllllllll that said, though, I've been on something of a retrospective of 2020 and where I'd like to go with a lot of this in 2021. A totally natural breakpoint for reflection, the end of the calendar year. Arbitrary, but well-known and consistent. One of the things I'd like to work on in 2021 is scalability of the systems WITHOUT having to scale out or scale up the server side. Of course, the most scalable solution is the scaled solution that's already right there: the grid itself. Now, SL makes this haaaaaaaaaaarder than it has to be, but with VERY good reason, even if I disagree with a lot of the reasoning. Doesn't make it impossible, though. Just tricky. Without going into a nerd tirade about it all, there are a lot of impediments that make exporting data to the cloud a preference to begin with. The biggest thing is the ability to manipulate information. Notecards are idempotent (static and not changeable) in SL, and lots of other minor things. But it really boils down to control of the architecture in the Imperium products. I get to take a lot of the load of running fairly complex systems away from the grid so that the grid doesn't have to. This means less lag, less resource hogging, a better overall experience, and I have a LOT more leeway from an architecture perspective. The downside of all that? Well, read on ...
A few weeks ago, the SL systems had a problem that brought even comprehensive grid-wide systems like the major vendor systems to a screeching halt. It really boiled down to that scripted objects couldn't make web requests outside of the grid ... including MicrObey and MacrObey. This did prompt me to do up the status page for Imperium @ https://imperium.statuspage.io/ ... But it also got me thinking about something very similar to the original question that prompted this writing: what if SL itself were to remove the ability to integrate with the web? Not saying they would. But, again, see above ... Do I know that for sure? Really, if they ever truly wanted to make Marketplace the only viable option for in-world commerce? It would be ridiculously easy for that to happen by adjusting some firewall settings. Even without the "what if" conspiracy theories, the truth is that the more complex a system, the more points of failure will be present. Breaking llHttpRequest by accident is a really good example of that axiom.
So for 2021? I'll be exploring ways to better answer that question, along with other things in my (long) list of things I'd like to do. I want to be able to say that if something were to happen to me, it wouldn't be too difficult to resurrect the systems. My primary focus would be on the author contributors and making sure they can migrate their stuff (and have hard copies, if need be). The rest should follow suit. Now this is all a nebulous notion in my coffee-addled mind, and I don't have a plan in mind yet ... Only a destination of where I'd like to be at some point in 2021. There's a lot of convergence there that I'd like to explore more completely, for sure.
At any rate, the short answer to it all is this: I have no plans on going anywhere or stopping active work on things, much less stop support for it all. I don't know if I'd ever allow for straight conversions to another system (though it's already possible from a content author perspective in a lot of ways) ... I just don't see where I'd gain anything in that. Partnering with other developers and creators in-world? Yes. Absolutely I would. Exposing the guts of Imperium and MicrObey and MacrObey? Very likely a hard pass. There's other ways around all this, though, and other thoughts on things like the themes and so on. But that's for another day. I always have thoughts and opinions. Most of them bad.
Just as a postscript of sorts ... This scenario has already played out to a certain extent. I DID take a break from SL (hell, we all need to from time to time). The funny thing is that while I wasn't AT ALL present in-world (I even shut down the store), everything not only kept working, but I was seriously busy doing lots of background work on MicrObey. In a weird way, I tend to be a lot more productive on these things when I'm not doing an active presence. I don't get distracted near as easy. I have SQUIRREL syndrome like you wouldn't believe.
I'd like to say thanks again for the excellent question. It really tied in nicely with a lot of other thoughts I've been having (as if my rambling didn't make that obvious). Now that I'm brain dead, I hope it clarifies my position and does answer the question at least moderately adequately, and I thank you for wading through this pretty lengthy diatribe. 👼
