Published on: 2012-11-08T13:07:31+00:00
On November 8th, 2012, Mike Hearn suggested freezing the features of version 0.8 in order to focus on implementing the bloom filtering work, which is considered an important scalability and performance improvement for the network. Another developer expressed concern about overselling the update to miners and merchants, but agreed with the sentiment. However, there were concerns that freezing RPC and GUI changes might cause delays in quality assurance (QA) for those updates. It was suggested that discussions should take place to determine what needs to be done to prepare the current version for release.In a discussion about Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs), Mike Hearn questioned the need for a process to allocate numbers and suggested removing that part from the BIP template. He also questioned the need for an editing role in the BIP process. While there have been some issues with collisions and nonsensical proposals in the past, many BIPs do not result in useful discussion. Pieter expressed his desire to see more non-core proposals related to Bitcoin being discussed. Both Mike and Pieter agreed that more time is needed to complete the bloom filtering work before freezing features in version 0.8. They believed that promoting the release as an important scalability and performance improvement for the network would be easier once the bloom filtering work is complete. Ultraprune and bloom filtering are considered the two major scalability improvements available at the moment. There are still some TODOs left for ultraprune, including auto-migrating old data and UTXO set consistency checks at startup.The author of the message, who is unable to attend meetings on IRC, suggested using email for decision making. They also questioned the need for a process to allocate numbers in the BIP process and suggested removing the editing role. The author expressed a desire for more time to work on bloom filtering before freezing features in version 0.8 of Bitcoin. They believed that promoting the release as important for scalability and performance would help encourage upgrades, with ultraprune and bloom filtering being the two major scalability improvements currently available.Gavin Andresen, a prominent personality in the world of Bitcoin, suggested Thursdays at 18:00 UTC as a suitable time for the core development team to meet and chat on the #bitcoin-dev freenode IRC channel. Pieter responded positively to Gavin's suggestion, indicating agreement with the proposed meeting schedule. The #bitcoin-dev freenode IRC channel will provide an opportunity for members of the core development team to collaborate and discuss issues related to Bitcoin.In a discussion about the success of BIP, Luke-Jr emphasized the importance of encouraging wider community participation. Slush argued that it's not just about the BIP process, but also the content of proposals. He pointed out that he had promised to write a BIP draft for Stratum and implemented get_transactions method to allow Stratum jobs inspection. Luke explained that the BIP process involves more than just writing a document; it also requires peer review and changes to meet the community's needs. The failure of key members of the community to participate in the GBT BIP process was identified as an issue that needs to be addressed to improve the process. While get_transactions is a step in the right direction, it may take time for Stratum to reach the same level as GBT. Luke's comments were not intended to bash Stratum or complain about the past, but to learn from it and figure out how to improve things for the future.In an email exchange on November 6, 2012, Luke-Jr expressed the importance of encouraging wider community participation for the success of BIP. Slush argued that it's not about the BIP process, but rather the content of particular proposals. The discussion then shifted to the topic of stratum mining and its related protocol. Luke-Jr suggested that the mess with stratum mining is a direct result of lack of peer review and contribution toward the stratum protocol. Slush countered that there have been peer reviews of the protocol and that stratum is not related to the Bitcoin protocol or implementation. Slush also expressed frustration with Luke-Jr's constant bashing of stratum in his posts and reminded him that he had promised to write a BIP draft for stratum and had proposed and implemented a get_transactions method for stratum jobs inspection. Slush apologized to other developers who had to read Luke-Jr's negative posts and vowed to try to refrain from responding in the future.Gavin Andresen, a member of the Bitcoin core development team, proposed a meeting every Thursday at 18:00 UTC via the #bitcoin-dev freenode IRC channel to discuss issues related to Bitcoin. The agenda for the meeting included creating a to-do list to get to a 0.8 release candidate, freezing the features, working on testing new features, fixing existing bugs, and evaluating the BIP process. Gavin expressed concerns about the absence of Amir and suggested having a successor in place.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T04:06:45.000716+00:00