Author: greg misiorek 2017-04-05 10:41:45
Published on: 2017-04-05T10:41:45+00:00
The bitcoin-dev mailing list has seen a proposal to redefine the terms "softfork" and "hardfork" in terms of software upgrade necessity and difficulty. Under this definition, softforks are defined as consensus rule changes that non-upgraded software will be able to function exactly as usual, while hardforks are defined as consensus rule changes that non-upgraded software will cease to function or be severely handicapped. This creates a continuum between the two, called "hardfork-ness". The costs of running a border node can further define the hardfork-ness of SFs. In terms of the wallet function in full node, the hardfork-ness could also be ranked. Real SPV wallets should have the ability to fully validate the rules when needed, but so far, they don't exist. Lightning network and side chains are not consensus rule changes, and they could provide new features without any hardfork-ness.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T23:39:40.930876+00:00