Author: Anthony Towns 2021-09-15 14:34:54
Published on: 2021-09-15T14:34:54+00:00
The discussion among Bitcoin developers on the status of BIPs (Bitcoin Improvement Proposals) continued on the bitcoin-dev mailing list. The original post suggested that BIPs are not just proposals but "standards" once they are incorporated into the Bitcoin ecosystem. However, some developers disagreed with this idea and pointed out that calling BIPs "standards" could be misleading. They argued that a proposal is still a proposal until it is accepted as a standard by the community.The discussion then moved to how to improve BIPs. The author proposed creating BIP extensions instead of modifying existing BIPs long after review, which can cause contention. BIP extensions are separate BIPs that extend an existing BIP. However, other developers expressed concern that this approach could obstruct the BIP process and encourage contentiousness.As an alternative, it was suggested that draft BIPs be separated from those in Active/Final status. A new BIP would be marked as a "Draft" until authors are happy with the text, at which point it becomes a Final status BIP without modification. The suggestion was made to avoid making modifications outside of drafts unless absolutely necessary, and only allow adding additional info in Acknowledgements or See also sections, adding Superseded-By links, and updating additional tables designed to be updated, such as bip-0009/assignments.mediawiki.In conclusion, the debate surrounding BIPs centers around how to ensure that proposals are fully evaluated and reviewed before being accepted as standards in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Some developers suggest creating BIP extensions to avoid contention, while others argue for separating draft BIPs from those in Active/Final status, avoiding modifications, and allowing only minor updates.
Updated on: 2023-05-22T15:42:07.895864+00:00