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I could maybe see your concern if Keybase were announcing an ICO for their own token, but that is not what this is. This really is about Keybase bringing exper

I could maybe see your concern if Keybase were announcing an ICO for their own token, but that is not what this is. This really is about Keybase bringing expertise with identity to the table and it makes a lot of sense for the two teams to work together. The currency side of things is still going to be handled by Stellar as far as I can tell.

eropple 9y ago
I understand what they are doing. Here's how normal people look at something like this. It's not "oh, but they're just facilitating," it's "why is there cryptocoin crap in this thing we use for work?". Then it's "Ed, why is this thing you recommended and spoke so highly about doing this? Are they cryptomining on our computers now?". Then, even after an explanation, they're probably still suspicious and probably right to still be suspicious because the cryptocurrency universe is, by normal and sane people, still viewed as a scammer's paradise. (To be clear: is this entirely justified? No, and I think there are decent people trying to make a go of it. But there's plenty of dirt going on and people should be suspicious until it's proven otherwise.) I don't want this on my computers. But, more than that, I don't want my clients thinking that I am a party to shady business because of the tools I recommend that they use.
- nickdandakis 9y ago
  There's nothing wrong with reverting a recommendation. Sounds like you have a great explanation for why you would revert your own recommendation, as well. Just like every other startup in the world, Keybase doesn't "owe" anything to you and might make business decisions that affect your own.
  - eropple 9y ago
    I'm sorry, maybe I misspoke--is there something in my post that suggests that they can't do it? I'm saying that them doing it sucks, and explaining why. And, yes, of course I can change my recommendation--what would make you think that I'm not aware of that?
- lallysingh 9y ago
  So FUD. You're complaining about FUD.
  - zbentley 9y ago
    Otherwise known as "things that make ordinary consumers (ones without the time or desire to get deep knowledge about something) choose competing alternatives".
- mazieres 9y ago
  If you are so allergic to cryptocurrency, why didn't it bother you when Keybase started writing their root into the Bitcoin blockchain (https://keybase.io/docs/server_security/merkle_root_in_bitcoin_blockchain https://keybase.io/docs/server_security/merkle_root_in_bitco...)? There are obviously annoying ways in which keybase could support cryptocurrency, but you are making a lot of assumptions about what Keybase is going to do that are not based on the blog post. For example, wallets do not mine coins and Stellar does not support mining. Why don't you wait to see what comes out and submit a feature request if you don't like it, instead of flipping out about some hypothetical feature you won't like.
  - saintbellarmine 9y ago
    Thou art too wise sir. I guess we all have to do is to first wait and see how the implementation is done.
- saintbellarmine 9y ago
  Rofl, I definitely share some of the sentiments you have regarding crypto is a scammers paradise. That is pretty much due to ICO's imho. What you might want to do, if you do use this in production servers, and I am sure the keybase team will add the option not to use it, it is open source. So you can easily simply remove that, I know that creates a bit of work and will therefore make it harder. I am just saying if this is being used in something that you find as useful, than the extra effort is definitely worth it. There simply isn't a tool like Keybase out there anyway. They literally solved the WOT issues related to PGP, and now they are adding some extra features which can potentially lead to other use cases. There are always upsides and downsides to anything. Imho, the upsides here might be justified, given the unique position that keybase is in.

eropple 9y ago

I understand what they are doing. Here's how normal people look at something like this. It's not "oh, but they're just facilitating," it's "why is there cryptocoin crap in this thing we use for work?". Then it's "Ed, why is this thing you recommended and spoke so highly about doing this? Are they cryptomining on our computers now?". Then, even after an explanation, they're probably still suspicious and probably right to still be suspicious because the cryptocurrency universe is, by normal and sane people, still viewed as a scammer's paradise. (To be clear: is this entirely justified? No, and I think there are decent people trying to make a go of it. But there's plenty of dirt going on and people should be suspicious until it's proven otherwise.) I don't want this on my computers. But, more than that, I don't want my clients thinking that I am a party to shady business because of the tools I recommend that they use.

nickdandakis 9y ago
There's nothing wrong with reverting a recommendation. Sounds like you have a great explanation for why you would revert your own recommendation, as well. Just like every other startup in the world, Keybase doesn't "owe" anything to you and might make business decisions that affect your own.
- eropple 9y ago
  I'm sorry, maybe I misspoke--is there something in my post that suggests that they can't do it? I'm saying that them doing it sucks, and explaining why. And, yes, of course I can change my recommendation--what would make you think that I'm not aware of that?
lallysingh 9y ago
So FUD. You're complaining about FUD.
- zbentley 9y ago
  Otherwise known as "things that make ordinary consumers (ones without the time or desire to get deep knowledge about something) choose competing alternatives".
mazieres 9y ago
If you are so allergic to cryptocurrency, why didn't it bother you when Keybase started writing their root into the Bitcoin blockchain (https://keybase.io/docs/server_security/merkle_root_in_bitcoin_blockchain https://keybase.io/docs/server_security/merkle_root_in_bitco...)? There are obviously annoying ways in which keybase could support cryptocurrency, but you are making a lot of assumptions about what Keybase is going to do that are not based on the blog post. For example, wallets do not mine coins and Stellar does not support mining. Why don't you wait to see what comes out and submit a feature request if you don't like it, instead of flipping out about some hypothetical feature you won't like.
- saintbellarmine 9y ago
  Thou art too wise sir. I guess we all have to do is to first wait and see how the implementation is done.
saintbellarmine 9y ago
Rofl, I definitely share some of the sentiments you have regarding crypto is a scammers paradise. That is pretty much due to ICO's imho. What you might want to do, if you do use this in production servers, and I am sure the keybase team will add the option not to use it, it is open source. So you can easily simply remove that, I know that creates a bit of work and will therefore make it harder. I am just saying if this is being used in something that you find as useful, than the extra effort is definitely worth it. There simply isn't a tool like Keybase out there anyway. They literally solved the WOT issues related to PGP, and now they are adding some extra features which can potentially lead to other use cases. There are always upsides and downsides to anything. Imho, the upsides here might be justified, given the unique position that keybase is in.