Author: Luke-Jr 2013-05-20 07:12:16
Published on: 2013-05-20T07:12:16+00:00
In a Bitcoin development mailing list, Adam Back asked if there was a way to experiment with new features that wouldn't impose a big testing burden on the Bitcoin network. He suggested the use of merged mining where an altcoin, called bitcoin-staging, would have the same coins as Bitcoin and the mining power would go to Bitcoin main. However, there would be no native mining, but the ability to exchange bitcoins 1:1 cryptographically between the two networks. This could be a productive way to test novel features more quickly and efficiently without posing any risk to the main Bitcoin network. In response to Adam's suggestion, someone mentioned creating a "bitcoin2" branch, which is a "next"-like branch for hardforking changes that refused to run without the -testnet option. They suggested that it was premature to be writing hardforking code outside of necessity since there was so much non-hardforking code that could be written and tested at this point. Nonetheless, the "bitcoin2" branch can serve as a good starting point for those interested in experimenting with hardforking code. The writer also noted that the branch can merge up to the latest master and is trivial to rebase if not. Overall, the discussion revolved around finding ways to experiment with new features without imposing a big testing burden on the Bitcoin network. Merged mining and the use of an altcoin, such as bitcoin-staging, were suggested as possible solutions, while the creation of a "bitcoin2" branch was proposed as a starting point for those interested in experimenting with hardforking code.
Updated on: 2023-06-06T17:15:01.620041+00:00