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Can't you say the same thing about software that uses encryption in general? For example your browser, yet you still trust it. Also, what you said applies to cr

Can't you say the same thing about software that uses encryption in general? For example your browser, yet you still trust it. Also, what you said applies to critical software in airplanes, and cars like Tesla, yet you still somehow trust it without reading the code. Maybe you should replace the word "Ethereum" with "sotware". "Software in general makes sense is all the following are true"

ssambros 9y ago
We already have "software", but please remind us why do we need "Ethereum" specifically?
AlexandrB 9y ago
> Can't you say the same thing about software that uses encryption in general? For example your browser, yet you still trust it. Software in general doesn't exist in a vacuum - it's backed by all the centuries-old meatspace institutions like common law, courts, and lawyers that provide a recourse when something goes wrong. As I understand Ethereum's whole purpose is to replace a lot of these institutions with "smart contracts" (correct me if I'm wrong). If Ethereum has to rely on the same institutions as every other piece of software to deal with contract disputes isn't it just adding more complexity to transactions?
- eek05 9y ago
  Not necessarily. Without judging the suitability of Ethereum for this, if you have something that does automated contracts at e.g. 9 nines reliability (fails one time in a billion), it may be very much worthwhile even if you have to fall back to the court system for the one in a billion occurrence. Now, I'm skeptical of Ethereum's suitability in this space - the design doesn't seem to be geared enough towards correctness. However, they've also done some things that I really like (e.g. rolling back The DAO), so I'm not counting them out just yet.
  - empath75 9y ago
    Rolling back the dao set a terrible precedent, and people that were ripped off in the latest hack should rightfully be asking for another fork. If there isn't one, then it'll be apparent that the developers will only protect their own interests.
    - youdontknowtho 9y ago
      That's a great point. It will be interesting to see what they do here. My bet is that they cover their interests, with an outside chance that they make up some kind of BS about percentage of ethereum in circulation vs the size of the fraud.
finnh 9y ago
You're right that software can & will have bugs... but I think that makes my point? To clarify, my point isn't "software has bugs! don't trust it for anything". My point is "software has bugs! don't make it the forum of last resort for contractual disputes".
sum627u 9y ago
Safety-critical software, for flight in particular, is required to meet rigorous certification standards and processes specified by law that include independent engineering review. You can't just slap in something from github, write some tests and call it a day.

ssambros 9y ago

We already have "software", but please remind us why do we need "Ethereum" specifically?

AlexandrB 9y ago

> Can't you say the same thing about software that uses encryption in general? For example your browser, yet you still trust it. Software in general doesn't exist in a vacuum - it's backed by all the centuries-old meatspace institutions like common law, courts, and lawyers that provide a recourse when something goes wrong. As I understand Ethereum's whole purpose is to replace a lot of these institutions with "smart contracts" (correct me if I'm wrong). If Ethereum has to rely on the same institutions as every other piece of software to deal with contract disputes isn't it just adding more complexity to transactions?

eek05 9y ago
Not necessarily. Without judging the suitability of Ethereum for this, if you have something that does automated contracts at e.g. 9 nines reliability (fails one time in a billion), it may be very much worthwhile even if you have to fall back to the court system for the one in a billion occurrence. Now, I'm skeptical of Ethereum's suitability in this space - the design doesn't seem to be geared enough towards correctness. However, they've also done some things that I really like (e.g. rolling back The DAO), so I'm not counting them out just yet.
- empath75 9y ago
  Rolling back the dao set a terrible precedent, and people that were ripped off in the latest hack should rightfully be asking for another fork. If there isn't one, then it'll be apparent that the developers will only protect their own interests.
  - youdontknowtho 9y ago
    That's a great point. It will be interesting to see what they do here. My bet is that they cover their interests, with an outside chance that they make up some kind of BS about percentage of ethereum in circulation vs the size of the fraud.

finnh 9y ago

You're right that software can & will have bugs... but I think that makes my point? To clarify, my point isn't "software has bugs! don't trust it for anything". My point is "software has bugs! don't make it the forum of last resort for contractual disputes".

sum627u 9y ago

Safety-critical software, for flight in particular, is required to meet rigorous certification standards and processes specified by law that include independent engineering review. You can't just slap in something from github, write some tests and call it a day.