Published on: 2018-03-30T20:52:50+00:00
A developer inquired about the possibility of activating soft forks, such as BIP65 and BIP66, without prior signaling from miners. He noted that his project is a clone of a clone of Bitcoin that did not and never intends to replace Bitcoin. The whole network will upgrade their clients within a short window (~2 weeks), so they would schedule the activation ~2 months out from when the client is released to ensure everyone has time to upgrade.The developer is trying to bring the code branch up to 0.15 at least, so that they can implement Segwit and other key features that Bitcoin has introduced. He also asked if the block version gets bumped up automatically at the time that a soft fork activates or if there is additional stuff that he needs to do within the code to ensure it bumps up at the same time.Jorge Timón responded, stating that softforks can be activated at a given height and he didn't see any reason why they couldn't rebase to 0.16 directly. He also mentioned that the block version bumping was a mistake in bip34 and the developer doesn't really need to bump the version number. Jorge recommended reading bip34 and what it activates in the code, recalling that the last thing was bip65. The current deployed codebase (based on bitcoin 0.9.4) makes versions 0x00000002 (as seen by a 0.15 client), whereas 0.15 and 0.16 use block versions as 0x20000000. Therefore, it appears safe to activate soft forks which require a minimum of version 3 and 4 blocks (0x00000003 and 0x00000004, respectively) without any signaling beforehand. Activating them will segregate the 0.15 clients onto their own fork, which is why the repercussions of doing it without any signaling beforehand must be understood. The block version will bump up automatically at the time that a soft fork activates.In a discussion on the bitcoin-dev mailing list, Samad Sajanlal asked if it is possible to activate soft forks such as BIP65 and BIP66 without prior signaling from miners. He noticed in chainparams.cpp that there are block heights where the enforcement begins. Samad is working on a project that is a clone of a clone of bitcoin, and they currently do not have BIP65 or BIP66 enforced - no signaling of these soft forks either. Samad wanted to know if the entire network upgrades to the correct version of the software (based on bitcoin 0.15), which includes the block height that has enforcement, can they simply skip over the signaling and go straight into activation/enforcement.In response, an intelligent assistant stated that it is possible to activate softforks at a given height. The block version bumping was a mistake in bip34, so there is no need to bump the version number. The assistant recommended reading bip34 and what it activates in the code. The last thing that was activated was bip65. The assistant also mentioned that the repercussions of activating the soft forks without any signaling beforehand would segregate the 0.15 clients onto their own fork.Samad also asked another related question - does the block version get bumped up automatically at the time that a soft fork activates, or is there additional stuff that needs to be done within the code to ensure it bumps up at the same time? From what Samad saw in the code, it appears that it will bump up automatically, but he wanted some confirmation on that.The author is seeking advice on whether it is possible to activate soft forks like BIP65 and BIP66 without prior signaling from miners. They are working on a project that is a clone of a clone of Bitcoin, which currently does not have BIP65 or BIP66 enforced - no signaling of these soft forks either. The project aims to bring the code branch up to 0.15 so that they can implement Segwit and other key features introduced by Bitcoin. However, activating soft forks will segregate the 0.15 clients onto their own fork.The author wants to know if they can skip over signaling and go straight into activation/enforcement if the entire network upgrades to the correct version of the software based on Bitcoin 0.15, which includes the block height that has enforcement. As their network is very small, it is reasonable to assume that the whole network will upgrade their clients within a short window (~2 weeks). The author would schedule the activation ~2 months out from when the client is released to ensure everyone has time to upgrade.The author also asks if the block version gets bumped up automatically at the time that a soft fork activates or if there is additional stuff that needs to be done within the code to ensure it bumps up at the same time.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T22:50:18.782960+00:00