the only thing i know bitcoin is like a roulette and we're all in for the winnings. I see pools more like numbers you bet on before a round starts, so the measures ops are taking to "force" miners bet only on their pool are a bit strange.
The logic always tells me to have my "eggs" in more than one basket after seeing what happens when pools get attacked by malicious people.
Why is it that you see pools as a bet and not what they are - collective mining cooperatives? While you can "bet" on a pool before a round start, it's ultimately silly since you are fighting against pure randomness. In the end, you can't but hope to come out even at best so it's really a lot of time and energy spent on nothing.
So, yes, i defend free roam between pools. You have to spend time and resources to make it right but you increase your income and help secure the network by hashing where it's needed. Few times "hoppers" decide to voluntarily help a pool in need if i'm not mistaken. They don't have any obligation but they do it anyways to support a good service.
Hopping pools does absolutely nothing to "secure the network" or provide "hashing where it's needed." Whether you mine solo or on a pool is completely immaterial to the security of the network, unless that pool has >50% of the total network hashing. Other than that one factor, there is no network advantage to you hashing for different pools or a single pool.
Hashing is never "needed" anywhere - each share submitted on the network as a whole has an equal chance against any other share submitted. Whether you're providing your hashing at pool A or pool X, your hashes are equivalent. Spreading them around provides absolutely no benefit to the network.
Sorry for spreading FUD about DGM, i don't know how it really works and can't find good explanations either. I suppose Meni have done a good job with the math and it's doing it for a living too so, like many others, i'm lost there.
What is it you have questions about? DGM, in a brief nutshell, will ramp up when you first start on a pool - you'll receive less payout for the first few blocks than you normally would. Then while you are hashing, after the initial ramp up phase, you'll receive the same amount as you would on a proportional pool (plus any gains from pool hoppers). Then when you quit, your payout will slowly ramp down to cover what you did not receive during the ramp up phase - you'll be paid for blocks you didn't even participate in.
Organofcorti has done a good job with the graphs btw. I managed to understand why i had so much payout variance on score pools compared to prop, because my internet connection isn't perfect and i have to take that into account too.
DGM is going to be one of your best bets to combat the pain of intermittent connections. GM, PPLNS, etc... can be really painful if your connection drops at an inopportune time.