Warren getting upset about Feathercoin
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[quote]Early in Feathercoin’s life, Bushstar really struggled due to his extremely poor skills in basic software engineering to understand the code that he copied.[/quote]
I don’t get where people get off making slights like this. I don’t care how many years of experience you’ve got racked up in development; we’re all (critics included) marching through uncharted territory here. There may be an occasional foible but in the grand scheme of things [i]who cares[/i]. We’re not building a building, it’s something far more dynamic and can be altered as time and needs go on and because of that the changes you can live with right now may differ from your long term goals. Anyone that has the viewpoint that any decision made right now is [i]“disastrous”[/i] is viewing this whole [i]“cryptocurrency thang”[/i] as a get rich quick plan for them to have an exit strategy in the next 2-3 years and not something to be braced up so that it might stand on it’s own for much longer.
Feathercoin’s current value is in that it’s taken a beating in 51% attacks and a different path was taken to address it rather than sit back, let the damage to the network, value and reputation accumulate. Even if five years from now we realize it wasn’t the best decision it was still [i]a variant decision[/i] and these other coin devs and future coin devs are going to take something from it from value (hopefully!): knowledge.
We get it. Any form of centralization is [i]bad[/i] and I buy fully into that worldview/ideology. But lots of distributed technologies started out with centralization simply because [i]that’s how they had to start[/i]. With adoption came the freedom of distribution.
We’ll get there. People can make the “cart before the horse” argument all they want but tech comes first, followed by marketing then by ideology.
TL;DR omg coffee i need coffee nao
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I am here for people who get off their butts and post ideas and people who read those ideas and message the poster.
I am not here for people who are basically incapable of taking some creative initiative and hope their coin will be worth something someday, like when Dunkin Donuts accepts it.
inb4 I create DonutCoin for just that purpose.
I am here because, even if we had the worst codebase, the truth is we growl at bears, even if we’re beavers.
We were supposed to be delisted.
We are still here.
We are not going anywhere.If at some point Feathercoin dies and some other coin does much better, I would still be posting ideas in this forum.
I’m not here to make Feathercoin the best coin. I’m here to make cryptocoin work regardless which one takes the lead.Unlike the ADHD section of bitcointalk frothing over their new coin, I still remember there’s a banking system on the verge of suicide.
If we’re not confronting that issue, then we’re not going to be anymore ready than any other coin. -
[quote name=“zerodrama” post=“34486” timestamp=“1384621393”]
I am not here for people who are basically incapable of taking some creative initiative and hope their coin will be worth something someday, like when Dunkin Donuts accepts it.inb4 I create DonutCoin for just that purpose.
[/quote]brb reserving donutcoin on githubEDIT: Done.
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[quote name=“zerodrama” post=“34486” timestamp=“1384621393”]
I am here because, even if we had the worst codebase, the truth is we growl at bears, even if we’re beavers.
[/quote]
+1
Bush, I have so much respect for you. Keep up the good work and remember “any press is good press” when you can respond to the criticisms in a level-headed and professional manner. -
His bad attitude notwithstanding, Warren makes several good points that many here have made as well: ACP is absolutely centralization; FTC has had significant struggles because of Bushstar’s lack of development experience and the somewhat closed development process; and there is really nothing that functionally separates FTC from Litecoin at this point in time.
These are challenges we currently face and need to overcome. Ridiculing Litecoin developers is not going to help us do that.
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LOL
Clone Wars.
FTC has come ahead on both community strength, community development, innovation. We actually talk about features and possibilities in the forums. There is no creepy foundation.
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[quote name=“Aldanga” post=“34532” timestamp=“1384644824”]
His bad attitude notwithstanding, Warren makes several good points that many here have made as well: ACP is absolutely centralization; FTC has had significant struggles because of Bushstar’s lack of development experience and the somewhat closed development process; and there is really nothing that functionally separates FTC from Litecoin at this point in time.These are challenges we currently face and need to overcome. Ridiculing Litecoin developers is not going to help us do that.
[/quote]He is, unfortunately, correct on all accounts.
He pointed out the glaringly obvious flaw in ACP which I pointed out over and over again when it still hadn’t been released: It fails because if the economic majority (like pools) follow broadcast checkpoints, then it doesn’t matter if users have opted in or not.
As we speak the latest codebase is “invite only”, and it’s now been weeks that a “key” has held up it’s functionality, something which is, according to the Litecoin dev, trivial to fix. I reviewed the changes to the 0.8.5 codebase, and I can attest that a very trivially small amount of changes have been made, almost all of which are name changes from Xcoin to Feathercoin. Besides ACP and difficulty adjustments, no new development has seen it’s way into the client in terms of user facing features.
Zerocoin development has gone nowhere. Discussion of removing ACP has been non-existent. Even the difficulty change was the result of at least two other developers who put a lot of time into modeling the change before implementing it, and Bushstar’s only reply is “Sad to see this being said”, and “Let’s see Warren do what I’m not able to.”
Zerodrama is right, we actually talk about features and possibilities in the forum, but unless that results in code that Bushstar writes, it’s a bit of a waste of time and effort, isn’t it?
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Kevlar,
Why don’t you help us out with the changes? I’m also still waiting for your post in Technical Development too, by the way!
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Yeah lets all bash bushstar. I mean what do you want from the guy to rise to the bait and get into some long flame war about who did what and when. We are where we are and we are hopefully moving forward.
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I’m not a programmer, but the code isn’t exactly very transparent. If we’re going to maintain the code, we need some way to document and group develop. This was one of the reasons I, previously, suggested an actual coding thread, where we could discuss / document the functions, parameters and work flow.
I might be wrong and we just need to get more programmers involved? I would be interested too see “how the code works” but coding is a specialised area, I’m still learning Github.
We certainly need to keep tabs on future developments as they come through, perhaps even do our own patches, as opposed to forking Litecoin and reintroducing Feathercoin changes.
I have always found good coders aren’t the best at specifications or strategy, its a point of failure and centralisation having only a few or one developer. Even within coding, for instance, one of my programmers was good at human interfaces, another was good at object orientation and UML.
To me, the program already looks too complicated for one person to maintain, or fully understand.
It certainly looks like Warren has a chip on his shoulder against forked alt-coins, which is a shame, since co-operation back-porting generic patches to Bitcoin / Litecoin, so that the Feathercoin client is built with a switch from common code, is much more efficient use of time and would be less prone to errors and bugs being introduced.
Unfortunately, it seems we wasn’t born with a genetic understanding of the code, like the Litecoin developers, so its gonna take some work and co-operation to move forward. I think we’ve already decided we need to be solid first, so we don’t have to rush.
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[quote name=“kris_davison” post=“34665” timestamp=“1384727853”]
Yeah lets all bash bushstar. I mean what do you want from the guy to rise to the bait and get into some long flame war about who did what and when. We are where we are and we are hopefully moving forward.
[/quote]You know, I’m really tired of this ad hominem bullshit. It’s so immature and adds zero to the conversation the rest of us are trying to have.
Nobody’s “bashing” Bushstar. No I don’t expect him to take any “bait”, nor do I expect any sort of flame war. Who did what and when is well understood and I don’t see much point in debating it.
What is warranted here is a level-headed discussion of the facts and a serious reply to the community and even the rest of the world about the status of development and the merits of features with regards to Feathercoin. Answers like when will ACP get removed, what is the hold up with regards to 0.8.5 and in fact any new features, why is the current source code invite only, and what is the roadmap for development for the next 3 months?
All this talk about “bashing” people and shutting down the discussion because people can’t be mature enough to discuss the facts level-headedly without turning it into a personal attack on someone is such a distraction and I really wish it would stop.
Now, let’s get back on topic and quit the ad hominem attacks please.
[quote author=wrapper0feather link=topic=4440.msg34710#msg34710 date=1384738809]
I’m not a programmer, but the code isn’t exactly very transparent. If we’re going to maintain the code, we need some way to document and group develop. This was one of the reasons I, previously, suggested an actual coding thread, where we could discuss / document the functions, parameters and work flow.I might be wrong and we just need to get more programmers involved? I would be interested too see “how the code works” but coding is a specialised area, I’m still learning Github.
[/quote]You are partially correct. The code isn’t great, but it’s not terrible either. You know what’s about 100 times harder to read and maintain? Linux kernel… yet those guys seem to get along just fine. This tells us that while the code base may be sub-optimal, there are more than enough qualified people in this world who are capable of working in it. Satoshi-QT developers have it EASY by comparison. They get to use C++ instead of C, Boost, which is an incredibly well engineered library, and QT which is great for doing UI’s. Linux developers should be so fortunate!
But you have to understand that where some people will see the elegance of C++ and Boost, others will run away screaming bloody murder and sink themselves back into languages with much less sharp edges that won’t make you lose your entire blood supply when you get cut on them, and never return. For them, such things are a personal preference, and a luxury afforded to them because of the era of development they find themselves in… I assure you 10 years ago such luxuries were not so easily afforded.
Coding is, as you pointed out, a specialized area. It requires not only knowing how to code, but also knowing how to code well, which is a skill you only learn once you’ve written a LOT of code. Getting more programmers involved won’t help if they’re not skilled. Anyone can fork a github project, change a few variables, and release a modified product, but to add new features to that product requires a level of skill that is in great demand in the professional world, and is compensated as such. This makes the barrier to entry exceptionally high when you consider that a programmer must be:
- Sufficiently skilled
- Interested
- Willing to work for free or “sweat equity”
[quote author=wrapper0feather link=topic=4440.msg34710#msg34710 date=1384738809]
We certainly need to keep tabs on future developments as they come through, perhaps even do our own patches, as opposed to forking Litecoin and reintroducing Feathercoin changes.
[/quote]Yes, I’ve suggested that several times. So far it hasn’t happened.
[quote]
To me, the program already looks too complicated for one person to maintain, or fully understand.
[/quote]Gavin Anderson does just fine. Mike Hearn adds new features all the time. People have rewritten the entire thing in different languages like Java, Python, and Erlang. Sunny King fundamentally changed the underlying structure of the Blockchain all on his own. I’ve written and maintained code bases 3 times the size on my own.
[quote]
It certainly looks like Warren has a chip on his shoulder against forked alt-coins, which is a shame, since co-operation back-porting generic patches to Bitcoin / Litecoin, so that the Feathercoin client is built with a switch from common code, is much more efficient use of time and would be less prone to errors and bugs being introduced.
[/quote]No, he has a chip on his shoulder against people taking away any of the market share from his creation. It’s basic capitalism, and what you’re seeing is a marketing ploy to discredit the long term viability of the project in order to boost his own market cap.
He’s smart, you see, and the response from the community so far has only served to strengthen his case.
[quote]
Unfortunately, it seems we wasn’t born with a genetic understanding of the code, like the Litecoin developers, so its gonna take some work and co-operation to move forward.
[/quote]No one was, I assure you. It’s very obvious from reviewing the code base that even Satoshi struggled with cleanly expressing his ideas sometimes. Any understanding of the code is a product of long hours of working with it, something the Litecoin developers have put in the time for.
[quote]
I think we’ve already decided we need to be solid first, so we don’t have to rush.
[/quote]Solid at what? Solid as a blockchain? We’ve achieved that thanks to the difficulty adjustment algorithm. Solid as a community? Well we sure do discuss a lot of things that never get worked on. ChrisJ is doing an even better job than JABOT at putting on a great forward facing image.
Solid at developing new features? We have a development process that preclude that possibility I’m afraid.
[quote author=mnstrcck link=topic=4440.msg34661#msg34661 date=1384725728]
Kevlar,Why don’t you help us out with the changes? I’m also still waiting for your post in Technical Development too, by the way!
[/quote]Because I don’t have the support of the developer, nor any faith in his ability to lead, code, or manage the code base. Bushstar is a really nice guy, but as a leader of developers he’s failed to demonstrate any real redeeming qualities which inspire developers to get behind his effort and contribute their support to him.
You see, if he had, we wouldn’t be having this discussion right now, because other developers would have joined on and there would be a process in place for group development, a road map of features, an open repository to fork, and people actively working on it.
Good leaders lead by example, and so do good coders. Show me some good code, and I’ll get on board without hesitation.
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I see your point but what I don’t see is a solution?
Do you have one? -
I will advocate it again. Implement Zerocoin
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[quote name=“Vonkraut” post=“34828” timestamp=“1384800406”]
I will advocate it again. Implement Zerocoin
[/quote]They’re alt coining based on their recent twitter announcement. They’re less a feature and more a competitor of sorts at this stage.I mean, unless people want to start talking about pulling their tribe in. But even then that doesn’t address the points Kevlar raises.
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Just my two cents, but what exactly is [b]needed[/b] at this point in software development? To me it seems like FTC works just as well as LTC or BTC when it comes to its functionality, the coins get sent and received in a timely manner and the block times have stabilized. In my eyes, the code does not require a change, instead we should be increasing adoption and market image, not adding new features we are not sure anyone actually needs.
Additionally, why is ACP bad? I know you can just say “centralization”, but in this instance what could go wrong with it? How can we prevent those failure modes from occurring? -
Kevlar, I tried separating the code into coherent parts. It’s like UNIX hasn’t been invented yet, or we don’t value the lessons we learned.
I did at one time manage to patch the iptables driver to hide routers for an ISP, so a disgruntled employee couldn’t hit it.Maybe it’s just me and ASM and JS and Lisp make more sense.
Vidicus, we need developers in order to customize the interface, to notice subtle bugs, to avoid some poisoning the code with proprietary licensed crap so they can get a court to say we have to shutdown. It’s not like assembling a couch. It’s more like making cobwebs look like concrete.
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[quote name=“zerodrama” post=“34836” timestamp=“1384803274”]
making cobwebs look like concrete.
[/quote]Are those lyrics from a Tool song? ;)
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[quote name=“Vidicus” post=“34834” timestamp=“1384802530”]
Just my two cents, but what exactly is [b]needed[/b] at this point in software development? To me it seems like FTC works just as well as LTC or BTC when it comes to its functionality, the coins get sent and received in a timely manner and the block times have stabilized. In my eyes, the code does not require a change, instead we should be increasing adoption and market image, not adding new features we are not sure anyone actually needs.
Additionally, why is ACP bad? I know you can just say “centralization”, but in this instance what could go wrong with it? How can we prevent those failure modes from occurring?
[/quote]You raise an interesting point, Vidicus.
One argument is that currencies are competing, not acting as complimentary players. If this is true, then adoption is a direct function of utility: The more utility a product provides, the more intrinsic value it possesses. The more intrinsic value something possesses, the more it will be adopted. Therefore, to increase adoption, it’s necessary to increase utility.
Now your argument that services provide utility is a solid one, but it ignores the fact that any service is equally valid for any currency, UNLESS that currency offers a feature that no other currency offers.
This is the argument for things like the Payment Protocol, and Zerocoin: By adoption of these features, you provide utility above and beyond that of other currencies, and give users a reason to choose one currency over another.
tl;dr: Product differentiation, increased utility, and steady innovation is needed to compete in a competitive landscape where products are constantly being differentiated, utility is consistently increasing, and innovation is a steady stream of new features.
As for ACP, it defeats mining based consensus, which is actually harmful to the economy; As Warren correctly pointed out, users don’t need to subscribe to ACP if mining majorities already do. If mining majorities are the ones deciding the blockchain, you don’t need ACP. All ACP does is prevent perfectly legitimate mining majorities from reorganizing the blockchain like they SHOULD be able to. That’s why Bitcoin doesn’t have it. The argument that one mining majority is more valid than another in the eyes of the developer is antithetical to the entire trustless system and gives too much control to a single entity when the free market should be deciding these things democratically by voting with their hashpower. This in turn deteriorates utility and destroys value in the currency.
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[quote name=“zerodrama” post=“34836” timestamp=“1384803274”]
Kevlar, I tried separating the code into coherent parts. It’s like UNIX hasn’t been invented yet, or we don’t value the lessons we learned.
[/quote]Mike Hearn did a fantastic job of this. You should check out BitcoinJ. It’s incredibly well done.
[quote]
Maybe it’s just me and ASM and JS and Lisp make more sense.
[/quote]ASM huh? You mean Assembly? Last time I wrote assembly I was programming an 8051 microcontroller to talk to an STA-013 and an FPGA acting as an IDE controller for [url=http://www.pjrc.com/tech/mp3/]this project[/url].
Yes of course JS and Lisp make more sense: They’re abstractions, and that’s what abstractions do; They hide complexity.
[quote]
Vidicus, we need developers in order to customize the interface, to notice subtle bugs, to avoid some poisoning the code with proprietary licensed crap so they can get a court to say we have to shutdown. It’s not like assembling a couch. It’s more like making cobwebs look like concrete.
[/quote]If that were to happen the solution is trivial: rip out the offending code, continue as normal. To date no open source project has ever been forced to “shutdown” against their will due to “proprietary licensed crap”, they’ve just had to go in a different direction to avoid copyright infringement.
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Kevlar,
Wasn’t the Technical Discussion board the start for what was to be a discussion between devs on the topics and changes relevant to technical issues? It’s sort of sitting quiet right now, but I think you should totally go in and start a thread.
