Published on: 2012-02-04T17:15:02+00:00
In 2012, a discussion took place between Amir Taaki and slush on the Bitcoin-development mailing list regarding the use of satoshis instead of decimal bitcoin for BIP 21. Slush proposed using satoshis due to the difficulty of handling decimal numbers across different implementations. However, Amir argued against this idea, emphasizing that decimal numbers are widely used in HTML, URI, and other standards, and breaking with tradition would cause confusion. He also pointed out that BIP 20, which had no support from popular implementations like Bitcoin-Qt, Electrum, MultiBit, and Bitcoin-JS, was incompatible with most web standards. Therefore, he recommended rejecting BIP 20 and reaching a consensus among developers for a new standard for BIP 21.The lack of support for BIP 20 among popular implementations, especially those involving GUI projects with URI Scheme, carries significant weight in decision-making. Although Bitcoin-Qt has a majority of users, relying solely on this fact is discouraged. Instead of accepting BIP 21, which is essentially a copy of BIP 20 with some sections missing, it is suggested to reject it and establish a new standard. However, since BIP 21 is still in draft form, it is proposed that developers agree on something and present it to BlueMatt for consideration as the new BIP 21.Consensus seems to be forming on most aspects of the proposal, apart from the contentious issue of sending private keys. Furthermore, there is a discussion about including a time-to-expire field for merchants, which is seen as a beneficial idea. One of the problems with BIP 20 is its incompatibility with various web standards, such as HTML and URI, which exclusively use decimal numbers. Breaking from this convention is deemed unnecessary. While Amir acknowledges his personal preference for British English, he highlights that American English is the international standard and adherence to it is essential for consistency. Although it would be ideal if all code used a universal language like Esperanto, the reality is that we live in a world where decimals, English, Windows, and religious beliefs prevail.Overall, Amir discourages breaking with convention and suggests that developers agree on a new standard for BIP 21 through consensus-building and discussion.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T02:58:12.134772+00:00