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RE: Catlag
Does Linden Labs have problems which degrade the game? Yes. Do they sometimes push out software upgrades which were ill-conceived and/or poorly tested? Of course.
But is the bulk of the "lag" actually part of Second Life? Can Linden Labs do anything about it? No!
If we ignore under-powered users, and network issues, we're still left with "lag" problems. And the blame for those lies squarely upon that segment of the users which "builds".
The simulator operates in three phases, processing each, about 20 times per second. Simulator lag results when one of those phases can't complete its work in the allotted time.
Builders DO cause texture lag by using 1024x1024 textures when smaller, often much smaller, textures would produce the same visual results. Linden Labs has done what they can to correct this by moving textures to HTTP.
Builders CAN cause physics lag by moving physical objects. (In my experience, the physics phase is rarely the lagging part of the simulator.) Linden Labs has done what they can to aid with this by adding Pathfinding and adding the Prim Physics option (which allows builders to eliminate prims from the physics simulation entirely).
Builders DO cause script processing lag by poorly written scripts and by throwing in scripts willy-nilly where fewer scripts, well designed, would do the job. Linden Labs does what they can to speed script processing. But they know this is a huge issue and have been looking at ways they can make it better such as limiting the number of scripts an Avatar may "wear" and limiting the number of scripts allowed on a region.
Unfortunately, when it comes to actually addressing the root causes of script lag, Linden Labs can't do much more than reactive "patches" such as script limits. To fix script-caused lag, the builders will need to get involved. They'll need to learn good design practices, and pay more attention to resource use.
Will this ever happen? In general: no.
But there are times, such as with KittyCatS where ONE script author (or one small team) can make some changes which will have far-reaching effect.
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