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One datapoint: I've started seeing small dev shops who offer to their clients that they can do things "on the blockchain". "Bitcoin is hype, but blockchain is t

One datapoint: I've started seeing small dev shops who offer to their clients that they can do things "on the blockchain". "Bitcoin is hype, but blockchain is the underlying technology." Seems like MySQL could solve the problem just as well.

snissn 9y ago
One can't "Roll back" in mysql. Mysql also can't easily create N master-master replication nodes.
- muditsingh5000 9y ago
  I am not sure it would be practically feasible for a "rollback" in a blockchain based system. Miners would lose a lot of their reward if you suddenly say that this chain is invalid and all data has to be entered again. It would use a lot of computing resources as well.
  - ballenf 9y ago
    Rollback is typically only discussed with regard to private or closed blockchain implementations. Which just highlights the root "why blockchain?" question even further when discussing private implementations.
- ashelmire 9y ago
  It is, in fact, fairly simple to track every change in a traditional db, who did it, and what the prior and subsequent state were. You can rollback such transactions without rewriting the whole db (as you'd have to do with a blockchain).
- fwdpropaganda 9y ago
  Devs push updates to the nodes. They can do whatever they want with it.
guiomie 9y ago
I've been getting more serious about Hyperledger Fabric, and with time, I can't seem to see any use case that can't be solved by a typical distributed app. I see the utility of permissionless blockchains, but private blockchains, I don't get it.
- brighton36 9y ago
  A blockchain is a database with virtue.
- nosuchthing 9y ago
  utility of permissionless blockchains Is there actually any purpose of a 'permissionless blockchain' other than turning the security model into an x-threshold of capital needed to compromise the system type threat model? So far all iterations of permissionless blockchains have been subject to take over from any modestly funded entity.
bitxbitxbitcoin 9y ago
This a million times this. At the same time, if we compare this to the past when shops would offer any thing with a pulse to build a website - maybe that is a teaser to the future ubiquitousness of Blockchain technology.
buckie 9y ago
It's a fair read, the private blockchain market is underserved/misserved by the "widely" used platforms (IBM Fabric/R3 Corda). The thing that most everyone misses (including IBM and R3) is that the point of a private blockchain isn't the blockchain... it's smart contracts. REST APIs + a DB can replace most "private blockchains as a time-stamper" usecases but here's the thing they can't do: replicate and trustlessly execute user logic. It's almost like you said _we're fixing SQL injection by making it irrelevant and making SQL into a full language_. The blockchain itself just provides the trustless/high assurance substrate to then have trustless logic execution.
- zzzzzzzza 9y ago
  I feel like most meaningful contracts probably already involve some level of trust though - so it's not much of a stretch to add a little more.

snissn 9y ago

One can't "Roll back" in mysql. Mysql also can't easily create N master-master replication nodes.

muditsingh5000 9y ago
I am not sure it would be practically feasible for a "rollback" in a blockchain based system. Miners would lose a lot of their reward if you suddenly say that this chain is invalid and all data has to be entered again. It would use a lot of computing resources as well.
- ballenf 9y ago
  Rollback is typically only discussed with regard to private or closed blockchain implementations. Which just highlights the root "why blockchain?" question even further when discussing private implementations.
ashelmire 9y ago
It is, in fact, fairly simple to track every change in a traditional db, who did it, and what the prior and subsequent state were. You can rollback such transactions without rewriting the whole db (as you'd have to do with a blockchain).
fwdpropaganda 9y ago
Devs push updates to the nodes. They can do whatever they want with it.

guiomie 9y ago

I've been getting more serious about Hyperledger Fabric, and with time, I can't seem to see any use case that can't be solved by a typical distributed app. I see the utility of permissionless blockchains, but private blockchains, I don't get it.

brighton36 9y ago
A blockchain is a database with virtue.
nosuchthing 9y ago
utility of permissionless blockchains Is there actually any purpose of a 'permissionless blockchain' other than turning the security model into an x-threshold of capital needed to compromise the system type threat model? So far all iterations of permissionless blockchains have been subject to take over from any modestly funded entity.

bitxbitxbitcoin 9y ago

This a million times this. At the same time, if we compare this to the past when shops would offer any thing with a pulse to build a website - maybe that is a teaser to the future ubiquitousness of Blockchain technology.

buckie 9y ago

It's a fair read, the private blockchain market is underserved/misserved by the "widely" used platforms (IBM Fabric/R3 Corda). The thing that most everyone misses (including IBM and R3) is that the point of a private blockchain isn't the blockchain... it's smart contracts. REST APIs + a DB can replace most "private blockchains as a time-stamper" usecases but here's the thing they can't do: replicate and trustlessly execute user logic. It's almost like you said _we're fixing SQL injection by making it irrelevant and making SQL into a full language_. The blockchain itself just provides the trustless/high assurance substrate to then have trustless logic execution.

zzzzzzzza 9y ago
I feel like most meaningful contracts probably already involve some level of trust though - so it's not much of a stretch to add a little more.