Why is Bitcoin forking?
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Why is Bitcoin forking?
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Re: Why is Bitcoin forking?
#2It's somewhat ironic that one of the big selling points of Bitcoin was decentralization. The thing that they failed to realize is the team also needs to be decentralized. For something like this to take off it needs to be a specification for a federated network with zero single points of failure, and not an actual codebase with a dedicated team.
Re: Why is Bitcoin forking?
#3It's somewhat ironic that one of the big selling points of Bitcoin was decentralization. The thing that they failed to realize is the team also needs to be decentralized. For something like this to take off it needs to be a specification for a federated network with zero single points of failure, and not an actual codebase with a dedicated team.
It was just naïve to think that a decentralised monetary system could work. Some people think that regulation is evil.
Re: Why is Bitcoin forking?
#4It's somewhat ironic that one of the big selling points of Bitcoin was decentralization. The thing that they failed to realize is the team also needs to be decentralized. For something like this to take off it needs to be a specification for a federated network with zero single points of failure, and not an actual codebase with a dedicated team.
It was just naïve to think that a decentralised monetary system could work. Some people think that regulation is evil.
Funny, a successful decentralized monetary system has existed for quite some time, being the oldest monetary system in existence and probably the one that will still be relevant in 1000 years from now ... Gold ;-)
In my mind the only useful trait of Bitcoin has been its decentralized nature. Take that away and I'd rather deal with USD, EUR and my local banking system, thank you very much.
Re: Why is Bitcoin forking?
#5Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was just naïve to think that a decentralised monetary system could work. Some people think that regulation is evil.
Funny, a successful decentralized monetary system has existed for quite some time, being the oldest monetary system in existence and probably the one that will still be relevant in 1000 years from now ... Gold ;-) In my mind the only useful trait of Bitcoin has been its decentralized nature. Take that away and I'd rather deal with USD, EUR and my local banking system, thank you very much.
Implying gold would not be regulated if people turned to it.
And for me, the only dangerous thing of Bitcoin is its decentralised nature.
Re: Why is Bitcoin forking?
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
Funny, a successful decentralized monetary system has existed for quite some time, being the oldest monetary system in existence and probably the one that will still be relevant in 1000 years from now ... Gold ;-) In my mind the only useful trait of Bitcoin has been its decentralized nature. Take that away and I'd rather deal with USD, EUR and my local banking system, thank you very much.
Implying gold would not be regulated if people turned to it. And for me, the only dangerous thing of Bitcoin is its decentralised nature.
Good point, e.g. from 1933 through 1974 it was illegal for Americans to own gold: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102
Re: Why is Bitcoin forking?
#7This was bound to happen sooner or later. Good that is "only" about something relatively minor like this, so that the community can practice handling it. Maybe later there will be a conflict where serious money is on the line and it would be bad if that was the first one.
I mean this change will affect miner revenue, but transactions fees are still completely insignificant compared to block rewards.
Re: Why is Bitcoin forking?
#8Are they also doing anything about the centralization of mining pools? AFAIK, the main problem is that right now it's possible for miners to prove that they were mining "for the pool" and not for themselves. If this proof was impossible, each miner would be a selfish miner and any collaboration would be impossible.
Re: Why is Bitcoin forking?
#9It's somewhat ironic that one of the big selling points of Bitcoin was decentralization. The thing that they failed to realize is the team also needs to be decentralized. For something like this to take off it needs to be a specification for a federated network with zero single points of failure, and not an actual codebase with a dedicated team.
> specification for a federated network with zero single points of failure
The problem is that some people want to change the specification (bigger blocks) and some want to keep the current specification. The block size is part of the specification or that it's only an implementation detail?
For me, it's not clear what a "specification for a federated networks" means
* One interpretation is that the specification is written in assembler and is the current official Bitcoin client, and any other client has to be 100% bug compatible with it. Nobody can change it ever.
* Another interpretation is that anyone can add a new version inside a general framework, and somehow the people decide which version to use. You need some kind of number identifier for each version, or to make it user friendly you can use a nickname. If the network is too general, you can include Bitcoin and Litecoin (and all the Altcoins) in it. The network is just Internet.
Both alternatives have "zero single points of failure". The problem is that people want something in between.
Re: Why is Bitcoin forking?
#10Security is my concern, even simple changes open big bugs. Bitcoin is not a blog engine where you are just exposing your content, it is one of the most delicate protocols found on Internet and most transactions are irreversible (indeed all transactions are irreversible but sometimes you can recover your money).
Forking code sounds great but we are talking here about money and assets, I would prefer agreement even when distributed systems are exciting.