Published on: 2022-10-03T22:54:04+00:00
In an email thread on Bitcoin-dev, developers discussed the challenges of progressing soft fork proposals in Bitcoin. While some believe the current process is sufficient, others argue for more testing and evaluation before implementation. One suggestion is to experiment with soft forks on signet, which would allow for multiple consensus changes to be deployed and compared. Signet also has more activity than Liquid, making it a better testing ground. The community also discussed upgrades like APO/eltoo and Simplicity, as well as Antoine's covenant R&D effort.The lack of champions for soft forks was identified as a major issue. Matt Corallo disagreed with the idea that testing frameworks were the problem, stating that the lack of champions following all the necessary steps was the main obstacle. He emphasized that being a champion is a full-time job that requires months of attention. He encouraged those interested in contributing to Core and becoming a champion to seek mentorship. The group recognized the need for humility, confidence, interest, and time to move forward with soft forks.The importance of finding champions for proposed upgrades like CheckTemplateVerify (CTV) was also discussed. Critics pointed out the lack of a champion for CTV's implementation. Corallo argued that having only one author on the list did not constitute a completed step three. He suggested that the lack of progress could be due to issues with step four, the evaluation process, or the difficulty of steps two and three. He stressed the need for exploration, development, and research into covenants, as well as fostering a community open to new ideas while avoiding chain split fights.Matt Corallo posted a message on the bitcoin-dev mailing list, encouraging contributions towards Bitcoin's Taproot upgrade. He highlighted the importance of community involvement and mentioned that many people would be willing to mentor those interested in contributing. Taproot aims to improve privacy, scalability, and security by enhancing Bitcoin's scripting language.The email exchange between Anthony Towns and Matt Corallo discussed the process of progressing soft forks in Bitcoin. Corallo outlined a four-step process involving idea generation, socialization, proposal, and finding champions. Towns argued that the lack of progress on the great consensus cleanup indicated issues with the process. Corallo disagreed, stating that potential champions were deterred by the time-consuming nature of the role. He encouraged interested individuals to reach out for mentorship.The email thread on bitcoin-dev also addressed the difficulty of getting soft fork ideas from concept to deployment. The discussion touched on various topics, including the lack of community consensus, the potential of signet for testing proposed changes, and the importance of finding champions to push ideas forward. Matt Corallo disagreed with the notion that lack of test frameworks was a significant issue and emphasized the need for champions. The thread provided links to relevant discussions and alternative approaches to soft forks.In summary, the email thread discusses the pressure to merge unfinished or buggy soft fork proposals on the default signet and the need for proper evaluation and testing. Various suggestions are made, including using custom public signets, deploying bitcoin-inquisition on the default global signet, and implementing prototypes for evaluation. The importance of multiple developers and researchers reviewing pull requests and the ongoing evaluation of creative ideas in Bitcoin development are also emphasized.The article discussed the challenges faced in activating soft forks on Bitcoin and proposed a new approach. It suggested deploying soft forks on the default global signet to demonstrate their value but acknowledged the conundrum of activation without merging into Bitcoin Core. A fork called "bitcoin-inquisition" was proposed to add support for consensus changes, allowing miners to coordinate upgrades and avoiding the promotion of proposals by miners/maintainers. Overall, the proposal offered a solution to the challenges of activating soft forks on Bitcoin.
Updated on: 2023-08-02T07:24:40.953699+00:00