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Every time crypto is mentioned on HN it's like the Dropbox Show HN thread over and over again. Decentralisation, open collaborartion, opportunity for entirely

Every time crypto is mentioned on HN it's like the Dropbox Show HN thread over and over again. Decentralisation, open collaborartion, opportunity for entirely new paradigms of entrepreneurship free from the constraints set by the rulling professional managerial class. Weren't those core hacker values? The Nakamoto consensus algorithm is the single biggest contribution to CS so far in the 21st century. Choosing ignorance of novel technology is really sad to see on a forum intitled "hacker news"

LindyTalker 5y ago
It’s really amazing and sad. I think the majority of users here are now 40+ and are too set in their ways to see anything different.
acdha 5y ago
> Decentralisation, open collaborartion, opportunity for entirely new paradigms of entrepreneurship free from the constraints set by the rulling professional managerial class. Weren't those core hacker values? So the solution is centralizing a currently decentralized network onto a blockchain controlled by a few major players? Remember: honesty is also a core hacker value. Before saying that “open collaboration” hasn’t been happening for decades, you might want to consider how credible that unsupported claim sounds when your audience knows that you will personally profit every time someone buys into the system you’re pushing. Hacker culture has traditionally found that kind of sales pitch disdainful.
- pennaMan 5y ago
  I think we are talking about wildly different things here. >centralizing a currently decentralized network onto a blockchain controlled by a few major players No, the basic idea is simply decentralization of trust. I do not know what specific blockchain you are refering to. >someone buys into the system you’re pushing I'm pushing that we come together to develop novel systems that fundamentally change how governments and human collaboration in general work. Speculative markets do not interest me.
  - acdha 5y ago
    > > centralizing a currently decentralized network onto a blockchain controlled by a few major players > No, the basic idea is simply decentralization of trust. I do not know what specific blockchain you are refering to. All of them? If I host a regular web app, I have a choice of thousands of hosting providers around the world and can self host, with the primary constraints being low-level network issues (e.g. sending spam will get you black-listed). If I use a blockchain I still have the network level concerns but am also ceding control at a higher level to a much smaller, far less experienced community dominated by a few major players. If I adopt someone's distributed app framework on top of that, I'm further reducing my choices and taking on support responsibilities for their decisions when those impact things like performance, security, abuse management, etc. > I'm pushing that we come together to develop novel systems that fundamentally change how governments and human collaboration in general work. Speculative markets do not interest me. I'm not opposed to that but the current blockchain hypefest has been a bunch of people pushing technology which cannot work to build those systems. That's why the rhetoric always boils down to the “buy in now or you'll wish you had later” needed by people who have already bought in and are worried about maintaining their ability to cash out. If they were building something novel, you'd know about it because they'd be showing new things which couldn't be done with existing technologies.

LindyTalker 5y ago

It’s really amazing and sad. I think the majority of users here are now 40+ and are too set in their ways to see anything different.

acdha 5y ago

> Decentralisation, open collaborartion, opportunity for entirely new paradigms of entrepreneurship free from the constraints set by the rulling professional managerial class. Weren't those core hacker values? So the solution is centralizing a currently decentralized network onto a blockchain controlled by a few major players? Remember: honesty is also a core hacker value. Before saying that “open collaboration” hasn’t been happening for decades, you might want to consider how credible that unsupported claim sounds when your audience knows that you will personally profit every time someone buys into the system you’re pushing. Hacker culture has traditionally found that kind of sales pitch disdainful.

pennaMan 5y ago
I think we are talking about wildly different things here. >centralizing a currently decentralized network onto a blockchain controlled by a few major players No, the basic idea is simply decentralization of trust. I do not know what specific blockchain you are refering to. >someone buys into the system you’re pushing I'm pushing that we come together to develop novel systems that fundamentally change how governments and human collaboration in general work. Speculative markets do not interest me.
- acdha 5y ago
  > > centralizing a currently decentralized network onto a blockchain controlled by a few major players > No, the basic idea is simply decentralization of trust. I do not know what specific blockchain you are refering to. All of them? If I host a regular web app, I have a choice of thousands of hosting providers around the world and can self host, with the primary constraints being low-level network issues (e.g. sending spam will get you black-listed). If I use a blockchain I still have the network level concerns but am also ceding control at a higher level to a much smaller, far less experienced community dominated by a few major players. If I adopt someone's distributed app framework on top of that, I'm further reducing my choices and taking on support responsibilities for their decisions when those impact things like performance, security, abuse management, etc. > I'm pushing that we come together to develop novel systems that fundamentally change how governments and human collaboration in general work. Speculative markets do not interest me. I'm not opposed to that but the current blockchain hypefest has been a bunch of people pushing technology which cannot work to build those systems. That's why the rhetoric always boils down to the “buy in now or you'll wish you had later” needed by people who have already bought in and are worried about maintaining their ability to cash out. If they were building something novel, you'd know about it because they'd be showing new things which couldn't be done with existing technologies.