Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 8.2 \(2098\))
Content-Type: multipart/signed;
	boundary="Apple-Mail=_C73D17E4-5245-4122-823F-9430C31DF550";
	protocol="application/pgp-signature"; micalg=pgp-sha512
From: Eric Lombrozo <elombrozo@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <20150817133438.DDD4243128@smtp.hushmail.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2015 09:37:01 -0700
Message-Id: <CE3B7411-2863-4D6B-85B0-4F28D4D7F391@gmail.com>
References: <20150817100918.BD1F343128@smtp.hushmail.com>
	<1439815244.89850.YahooMailBasic@web173102.mail.ir2.yahoo.com>
	<20150817133438.DDD4243128@smtp.hushmail.com>
To: NxtChg <nxtchg@hush.com>
Cc: bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org
Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] Annoucing Not-BitcoinXT
Precedence: list


--Apple-Mail=_C73D17E4-5245-4122-823F-9430C31DF550
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
	boundary="Apple-Mail=_2AA9EEF9-412B-441C-BBC8-9D26D0E7F9C8"


--Apple-Mail=_2AA9EEF9-412B-441C-BBC8-9D26D0E7F9C8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset=utf-8


> On Aug 17, 2015, at 6:34 AM, NxtChg via bitcoin-dev =
<bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
>=20
> Great, so how about you go tell theymos to stop censoring XT posts and =
banning the other side on /r/Bitcoin?
>=20
> Let users decide what Bitcoin is or isn't.

FWIW,

I don=E2=80=99t think what theymos did is very constructive.I understand =
his position=E2=80=A6but it only hurts the cause, unfortunately - the PR =
battle is not the same thing as a discussion on technical merits. He =
hurts the PR battle and plays into Mike=E2=80=99s hand by doing that. =
The actual underlying issue actually has little to do with block size - =
it has to do with Mike and Gavin feeling that the core devs are being =
obstructionist.

Regardless of the technical merits of XT, the fact that we=E2=80=99ve =
never done a hard fork before, not even for things some other devs have =
wanted=E2=80=A6and not due to any malice on anyone=E2=80=99s part but =
because simply that=E2=80=99s just the nature of decentralized consensus =
with well-defined settlement guarantees=E2=80=A6this is the problem - =
Mike and Gavin think they=E2=80=99re somehow special and their fork =
should be pushed while the rest of us resist pushing our own =
controversial pet ideas because we want civility and understand that at =
this stage in Bitcoin=E2=80=99s development trying to fork the =
blockchain over highly divisive issues is counterproductive and =
destructive.

But the fact of the matter is that in the PR battle, arguments against =
the fork actually play into Mike=E2=80=99s hand, and that=E2=80=99s the =
problem.

The whole block size thing is too nuanced and too easily spun =
simplistically. It=E2=80=99s too easy to spin resistance to bigger =
blocks (even though the resistance is actually much more towards =
untested hardforking mechanisms and serious security concerns) as =
=E2=80=9Cobstructionism=E2=80=9D and it=E2=80=99s too easy to spin =
bigger blocks as =E2=80=9Cscalability=E2=80=9D because most of the =
people can=E2=80=99t tell the fucking difference.

The fact is most of the people don=E2=80=99t really understand the =
fundamental issue and are taking sides based on charismatic leadership =
and authority which is actually entirely counter to the spirit of =
decentralized consensus. It=E2=80=99s beyond ironic.

If you guys want to win the PR battle, the key is to make it clear that =
you are not obstructionist and are giving everyone equal =
treatment=E2=80=A6Bitcoin was designed such that changing the rules is =
*hard* and this is a feature. Bitcoin simply does not have a reliable =
and tested hard forking mechanism=E2=80=A6and a hard fork for such a =
politically divisive issue will almost certainly lead to a lack of =
cooperation and refusal to work together out of spite. All of us would =
like to be able to process more transactions on the network. It=E2=80=99s =
not a matter of whether we think higher capacity is a bad thing - it=E2=80=
=99s more that some of us are concerned that Bitcoin is not sufficiently =
mature to be able to handle such a schism with so much hostility.

Let=E2=80=99s face it, folks - from a PR standpoint, the block size =
issue is irrelevant. Nobody really understands it except for a handful =
of people - I=E2=80=99ve tried to explain it, I=E2=80=99ve even written =
articles about it - but most people just don=E2=80=99t get it. Most =
people don=E2=80=99t really get scalability either - they seem to think =
that scalability is just doing the same thing you=E2=80=99ve always done =
manyfold.

Block size is an especially dangerous issue politically because it=E2=80=99=
s one of those that requires deep understanding yet superficially sounds =
really simple. It=E2=80=99s perfect Dunning-Kruger bait.

So let=E2=80=99s be a little smarter about this.

--Apple-Mail=_2AA9EEF9-412B-441C-BBC8-9D26D0E7F9C8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset=utf-8

<html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html =
charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" =
class=3D""><br class=3D""><div><blockquote type=3D"cite" class=3D""><div =
class=3D"">On Aug 17, 2015, at 6:34 AM, NxtChg via bitcoin-dev &lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org" =
class=3D"">bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org</a>&gt; wrote:</div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=3D""><span =
style=3D"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; =
font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; =
line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: =
0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline =
!important;" class=3D"">Great, so how about you go tell theymos to stop =
censoring XT posts and banning the other side on /r/Bitcoin?</span><br =
style=3D"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; =
font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; =
line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: =
0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=3D""><br style=3D"font-family:=
 Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; =
font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; =
orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: =
none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=3D""><span style=3D"font-family: =
Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; =
font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; =
orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: =
none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline =
!important;" class=3D"">Let users decide what Bitcoin is or =
isn't.</span></div></blockquote></div><br class=3D""><div =
class=3D"">FWIW,</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D""><div class=3D"">I don=E2=80=99t think what theymos did is =
very constructive.I understand his position=E2=80=A6but it only hurts =
the cause, unfortunately - the PR battle is not the same thing as a =
discussion on technical merits. He hurts the PR battle and plays into =
Mike=E2=80=99s hand by doing that. The actual underlying issue actually =
has little to do with block size - it has to do with Mike and Gavin =
feeling that the core devs are being obstructionist.</div><div =
class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Regardless of the =
technical merits of XT, the fact that we=E2=80=99ve never done a hard =
fork before, not even for things some other devs have wanted=E2=80=A6and =
not due to any malice on anyone=E2=80=99s part but because simply =
that=E2=80=99s just the nature of decentralized consensus with =
well-defined settlement guarantees=E2=80=A6this is the problem - Mike =
and Gavin think they=E2=80=99re somehow special and their fork should be =
pushed while the rest of us resist pushing our own controversial pet =
ideas because we want civility and understand that at this stage in =
Bitcoin=E2=80=99s development trying to fork the blockchain over highly =
divisive issues is counterproductive and destructive.</div><div =
class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">But the fact of the =
matter is that in the PR battle, arguments against the fork actually =
play into Mike=E2=80=99s hand, and that=E2=80=99s the problem.</div><div =
class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">The whole block size =
thing is too nuanced and too easily spun simplistically. It=E2=80=99s =
too easy to spin resistance to bigger blocks (even though the resistance =
is actually much more towards untested hardforking mechanisms and =
serious security concerns) as =E2=80=9Cobstructionism=E2=80=9D and =
it=E2=80=99s too easy to spin bigger blocks as =E2=80=9Cscalability=E2=80=9D=
 because most of the people can=E2=80=99t tell the fucking =
difference.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">The =
fact is most of the people don=E2=80=99t really understand the =
fundamental issue and are taking sides based on charismatic leadership =
and authority which is actually entirely counter to the spirit of =
decentralized consensus. It=E2=80=99s beyond ironic.</div><div =
class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">If you guys want to win =
the PR battle, the key is to make it clear that you are not =
obstructionist and are giving everyone equal treatment=E2=80=A6Bitcoin =
was designed such that changing the rules is *hard* and this is a =
feature. Bitcoin simply does not have a reliable and tested hard forking =
mechanism=E2=80=A6and a hard fork for such a politically divisive issue =
will almost certainly lead to a lack of cooperation and refusal to work =
together out of spite. All of us would like to be able to process more =
transactions on the network. It=E2=80=99s not a matter of whether we =
think higher capacity is a bad thing - it=E2=80=99s more that some of us =
are concerned that Bitcoin is not sufficiently mature to be able to =
handle such a schism with so much hostility.</div><div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Let=E2=80=99s face it, folks - from a =
PR standpoint, the block size issue is irrelevant. Nobody really =
understands it except for a handful of people - I=E2=80=99ve tried to =
explain it, I=E2=80=99ve even written articles about it - but most =
people just don=E2=80=99t get it. Most people don=E2=80=99t really get =
scalability either - they seem to think that scalability is just doing =
the same thing you=E2=80=99ve always done manyfold.</div><div =
class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Block size is an =
especially dangerous issue politically because it=E2=80=99s one of those =
that requires deep understanding yet superficially sounds really simple. =
It=E2=80=99s perfect Dunning-Kruger bait.</div></div><div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">So let=E2=80=99s be a little smarter =
about this.</div></body></html>=

--Apple-Mail=_2AA9EEF9-412B-441C-BBC8-9D26D0E7F9C8--

--Apple-Mail=_C73D17E4-5245-4122-823F-9430C31DF550
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: attachment;
	filename=signature.asc
Content-Type: application/pgp-signature;
	name=signature.asc
Content-Description: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Comment: GPGTools - https://gpgtools.org
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=/O30
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--Apple-Mail=_C73D17E4-5245-4122-823F-9430C31DF550--