Author: Paul Lyon 2013-06-19 13:03:32
Published on: 2013-06-19T13:03:32+00:00
In this email thread, Paul raises an issue with the parser of Bitcoin version messages. He questions whether it is necessary to know the length of the payload in order to parse the message correctly and suggests that this seems sloppy. Turkey Breast agrees and adds that it would be easier if there was a fixed number of fields per protocol version. Mike Hearn responds that variable length messages are not a problem and that there is nothing in the Bitcoin protocol that says all messages must be fixed length. He further clarifies that the fRelayTxes field is optional for backward compatibility with older clients. Turkey Breast brings up BIP 60 which proposes a protocol upgrade and details the necessary changes. Mike Hearn is unsure where Amir is going with BIP 60 and reiterates that Bitcoin version messages have always been variable length. He explains that arbitrary data can be appended after tx messages that get relayed. In conclusion, there does not seem to be any violation of mailing list etiquette and the discussion revolves around the technical aspects of Bitcoin protocol version messages.
Updated on: 2023-06-06T19:08:01.070390+00:00