[Opensim-dev] The essence of "grid"

[Diva Canto]

As I zoom in on issues of trust and security, I'm getting to the point 
where I need a sharp definition of "grid". What is a grid, besides being 
a map/lookup service and a user accounts service?

a) nothing more than that
b) a trust domain

If we choose b) then we need to think about OSGrid-like grids. How can 
we trust that a collection of regions administered by different people 
will behave? Can OSGrid-like grids survive without ToS being signed 
between the grid operator and the region operators? What if the ToS is 
such that it delegates to the region admins any liability on bad things 
happening in their regions? -- that leaves the user with no central 
authority to complain, which is as good as not having a trust domain.

If OSGrid-like grids (i.e. no contracts, or very loose ones; just a map 
service) are to exist, then it's clear that b) doesn't hold in general. 
It means that there can be grids that are simply a collection of regions 
that come together in virtual space, but whose trustworthiness as a 
whole doesn't exist.

The Hypergrid is specifically designed to cross trust boundaries. Should 
the OSGrid-like grids become HG-ed sims that share the same map, and let 
"grids" be, fully, trust domains?

You may think I'm getting into philosophy, but this is critical for the 
technical work I'm doing right now related to authentication, 
server-side vs client-side authority, etc. If we can assume that a 
"grid" is a uniform trust domain with a central authority, things will 
be simpler in many ways. If not, things will be a bit more complicated.

Thoughts?