4 ms·

What always confused me about cases like this one is what is considered a hard fork. This was a software bug, and not a flaw in the design or protocol itself. W

by geoah 8y ago

What always confused me about cases like this one is what is considered a hard fork. This was a software bug, and not a flaw in the design or protocol itself. When is it a bug fix, and when is it a hard fork? Is the client law, or is the protocol law? - If there were more than one clients would this be an issue? - If there were more than one clients and only one had the bug, would it still be a hard fork?

Klathmon 8y ago
It's miner and user confidence in a specific chain that ultimately defines it. Similar to country sovereignty, these things are defined only by how most people define it. You can't just stand up and say you are now your own country, you need to get other countries, other people, to agree with you. But at the same time, if a country changes its name/laws/maps, it doesn't become a "new country", it just changes. You can fork bitcoin, but unless most users and miners out there agree to call your fork "bitcoin", then it won't be bitcoin. But if "bitcoin" decides to radically change, and most people agree with the change, then it is still bitcoin, despite the differences. (as an aside, anywhere I say "most people" here, you can replace that with "most hash power" or "most users" or any other metric you want. I'm not trying to speak to specifics, but more the overall idea)
jpatokal 8y ago
It's both: it's a bug fix, whose side effect is a hard fork. The whole point of a blockchain is that there is no single authority that can unilaterally impose "law" by fiat. In practical terms, the software used by the majority of clients is "law", but it's entirely possible for forked and non-forked chains to coexist: for example, Ethereum Classic is a pre-fork version of Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash is a fork of Bitcoin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereum_Classic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereum_Classic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_Cash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_Cash
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
eof 8y ago
> When is it a bug fix, and when is it a hard fork? The simple answer is that this is a false dichotomy. A hard fork was necessary to fix this bug.
aeternus 8y ago
This was a soft fork, the article is incorrect.

by geoah 8y ago

Klathmon 8y ago

It's miner and user confidence in a specific chain that ultimately defines it. Similar to country sovereignty, these things are defined only by how most people define it. You can't just stand up and say you are now your own country, you need to get other countries, other people, to agree with you. But at the same time, if a country changes its name/laws/maps, it doesn't become a "new country", it just changes. You can fork bitcoin, but unless most users and miners out there agree to call your fork "bitcoin", then it won't be bitcoin. But if "bitcoin" decides to radically change, and most people agree with the change, then it is still bitcoin, despite the differences. (as an aside, anywhere I say "most people" here, you can replace that with "most hash power" or "most users" or any other metric you want. I'm not trying to speak to specifics, but more the overall idea)

jpatokal 8y ago

It's both: it's a bug fix, whose side effect is a hard fork. The whole point of a blockchain is that there is no single authority that can unilaterally impose "law" by fiat. In practical terms, the software used by the majority of clients is "law", but it's entirely possible for forked and non-forked chains to coexist: for example, Ethereum Classic is a pre-fork version of Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash is a fork of Bitcoin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereum_Classic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereum_Classic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_Cash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_Cash

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

eof 8y ago

> When is it a bug fix, and when is it a hard fork? The simple answer is that this is a false dichotomy. A hard fork was necessary to fix this bug.

aeternus 8y ago

This was a soft fork, the article is incorrect.