4 ms·

You have given reasons that support the idea that this is arbitrary, but why is it horrible?

justincormack 14y ago
Are we going to have to whitelist every currency that will exist in the future? At least have a pay: schema so you do pay:bitcoin.com/... or something.
- SkyMarshal 14y ago
  Exactly. Needs another layer of abstraction to handle competing crypto currencies. BTC was the first, but won't be the last.
  - pjscott 14y ago
    Something analogous to the way magnet URIs are used as an extensible scheme for peer-to-peer filesharing links? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_URI_scheme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_URI_scheme
    - pixelcort 14y ago
      Right; perhaps it would be better to introduce a generic URI scheme for paying: pay:?currency=btc&address=1BlaH&amount=1.0
      - pizzeys 14y ago
        Then you need some standardisation on what 'currency' is anyway, and if you use ISO 4217 you shut out Bitcoin.
- byroot 14y ago
  Most scheme designate a protocol not a action. Do you suggest that we should have the same scheme for HTTP and HTTPS because in the end both return you a resource ? Same for ssh: and telnet:, same for xmpp:, msnim:, facetime:, irc:, skype:, etc ?
- threeseed 14y ago
  Why stop at currencies ? Are we now going to have evernote, dropbox, flickr etc ?
  - munimkazia 14y ago
    No. Evernote, dropbox and flickr are all services implemented by a single organization each. You could just to use HTTP to link to a flickr profile. Bitcoin is decentralized. It is like a protocol. Each user can have his wallet stored in a different service, or even in his computer. The spec allows a wallet service or an application to add itself as a handler for bitcoin: links. Similar to mailto:, the user can choose the application which can listen to those links. It could be gmail, or thunderbird, or outlook.
    - justincormack 14y ago
      Its like a protocol but if it was a protocol it could be used by different currencies. Just because it is distributed does not mean it cannot have a URI to identify some metadata about the currency being used.
      - TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
        > Its like a protocol but if it was a protocol it could be used by different currencies. Um, it is.
      - munimkazia 14y ago
        My point is.. you can have any application or service to handle bitcoin address clicks. You can choose to open your wallet service on any website, or an application which manages your bitcoins stored in your hard disk. It isn't a HTTP link, and there isn't some central web service to transfer bitcoins.
- FireBeyond 14y ago
  paypal:// ... googlecheckout:// ... etc://
  - munimkazia 14y ago
    Both paypal and googlecheckout are implemented in one way. It is not a protocol. Only the service's website can handle the request for payment in those currencies. Bitcoin is decentralized. The user can install/associate any service/application to send bitcoins, much like emails using mailto:
- icebraining 14y ago
  Are we going to have to whitelist every currency that will exist in the future? Why not?

Are we going to have to whitelist every currency that will exist in the future? At least have a pay: schema so you do pay:bitcoin.com/... or something.

SkyMarshal 14y ago
Exactly. Needs another layer of abstraction to handle competing crypto currencies. BTC was the first, but won't be the last.
- pjscott 14y ago
  Something analogous to the way magnet URIs are used as an extensible scheme for peer-to-peer filesharing links? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_URI_scheme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_URI_scheme
  - pixelcort 14y ago
    Right; perhaps it would be better to introduce a generic URI scheme for paying: pay:?currency=btc&address=1BlaH&amount=1.0
    - pizzeys 14y ago
      Then you need some standardisation on what 'currency' is anyway, and if you use ISO 4217 you shut out Bitcoin.
byroot 14y ago
Most scheme designate a protocol not a action. Do you suggest that we should have the same scheme for HTTP and HTTPS because in the end both return you a resource ? Same for ssh: and telnet:, same for xmpp:, msnim:, facetime:, irc:, skype:, etc ?
threeseed 14y ago
Why stop at currencies ? Are we now going to have evernote, dropbox, flickr etc ?
- munimkazia 14y ago
  No. Evernote, dropbox and flickr are all services implemented by a single organization each. You could just to use HTTP to link to a flickr profile. Bitcoin is decentralized. It is like a protocol. Each user can have his wallet stored in a different service, or even in his computer. The spec allows a wallet service or an application to add itself as a handler for bitcoin: links. Similar to mailto:, the user can choose the application which can listen to those links. It could be gmail, or thunderbird, or outlook.
  - justincormack 14y ago
    Its like a protocol but if it was a protocol it could be used by different currencies. Just because it is distributed does not mean it cannot have a URI to identify some metadata about the currency being used.
    - TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
      > Its like a protocol but if it was a protocol it could be used by different currencies. Um, it is.
    - munimkazia 14y ago
      My point is.. you can have any application or service to handle bitcoin address clicks. You can choose to open your wallet service on any website, or an application which manages your bitcoins stored in your hard disk. It isn't a HTTP link, and there isn't some central web service to transfer bitcoins.
FireBeyond 14y ago
paypal:// ... googlecheckout:// ... etc://
- munimkazia 14y ago
  Both paypal and googlecheckout are implemented in one way. It is not a protocol. Only the service's website can handle the request for payment in those currencies. Bitcoin is decentralized. The user can install/associate any service/application to send bitcoins, much like emails using mailto:
icebraining 14y ago
Are we going to have to whitelist every currency that will exist in the future? Why not?