A Development Roadmap in Context

A roadmap in open source development communities, such as those that drive permissionless blockchain software and networks, is a discussion among active contributors. The discussion asks of the contributors:

What are you working on? When do you expect to have that completed? What do you hope to work on? When do you hope to have that started or completed? What are you considering for the future? How would you rank your personal development priorities for the project? How would you rank development priorities for the project at large? Where is more contribution sought and in what ways?

The discussion is then distilled and organized into a document.

Gridcoin's roadmap discussion has taken place over the past several weeks and I am thrilled to present the resulting document:

The Development Roadmap of the Gridcoin Network

Taking stock and looking forward

September 2019

Since the Release of the Previous Roadmap

Before we look to the future, I believe it is important to acknowledge software and network developments of the past. Below is a breakdown of these developments both planned in the previous roadmap and in addition.

Milestones

Autotools - Closed on Jun 3, 2018

Annie Sue - Closed on Jul 24, 2018

Betsy - Closed on Oct 19, 2018

Camilla - Closed on Apr 3, 2019

Denise - Closed on May 10, 2019

Elizabeth - Closed on Aug 23, 2019

Developers With Commits

denravonska

iFoggz

James Cowens

Tomas Brod

The Charlatan

skcin

Cy Rossignol

caraka

Pythonix

Peppernrino

barton2526

a123b

personthingman2

michalkania

laanwj

letol

confuest

chrstphrchvz

RoboticMind

G-UK

smoe

scribblemaniac

rsparlin

linnaea

Major Developments

Stability

All Milestones

Steady superblock creation (ravon, jim owens)

Mitigate forking and reorganization issues (ravon)

Increased Syncing Speeds (ravon)

Bug fixes (ravon, jim owens, ifoggz, cycy)

CBR (jim owens, jringo)

GitHub Issue

Poll

Betsy Milestone

Develop an economic system that Incentivizes block creation Increases network security and stability Creates an intentional economic model to expand on in the future



The Gridcoin Oracle System (jim owens, ifoggz, tomasbrod, ravon)

Release Post

Denise Milestone

Develop an earned research reward distribution mechanism that scales to tens of thousands of beacons

NN Renamed and Ported to C++

Develop a neural net that can operate on both Linux and Windows clients

Rename the neural net to something more appropriate, at least outside of the codebase.

Develop an efficient superblock creation mechanism that ensures we do not DoS BOINC project servers.

Outreach (jringo, whoisterencelee, roboticmind, nateonthenet, Jim Owens)

Miscellaneous

Polling definitions and parameters (jringo)

Polling Definitions and Parameters Proposal Develop clearly defined types of polls Develop clearly defined requirements for a proposal for each poll type to be valid Develop clearly define validation parameters that make a poll valid

Polling Definitions and Parameters Proposal

Major Developments Not Found On The Previous Roadmap

Infrastructure Development (jringo) Define the network and critical aspects Establish and focus channels of communication Define and develop a brand Lay foundation for outreach and marketing



Looking Forward

Below are expected software and non-software developments. Developments are not limited to those described, and not all described developments may see completion.

If you believe that you can contribute to any of the listed developments, please reach out to a developer or the community via GitHub, Slack, or Discord. Links have been provided.

Software Repo, for code development

Community Repo, for all non-code development

Slack Invite

Discord

Expected Software Developments

Team Requirement Removal

Most required mechanisms implemented. Expected with Fern release

Fern Milestone

Open GRC rewards to all BOINC participants by removing the Gridcoin team requirement

Whitelist/Greylist Automation

Most required mechanisms implemented. Final implementation required

Remove the need for a whitelist administrator by translating the whitelist/greylist rules into a code-is-law algorithm run by the Gridcoin software

Manual Reward Claims

In early architecture development. Design input sought

An Introduction to MRC

The Gridcoin Fireside #14 - MRC

Develop a way for crunchers to receive their earned research rewards without being required to stake

Utilize MRC-Fees to bootstrap a treasury system

UX/UI Improvements

512,000 GRC bounty for implementation of the new GUI. Ongoing development

New GUI Assets Ready to Go

Issue 847

Improve the overall user experience for new Gridcoin participants

Implement the new GUI assets

Magnitude Mechanism Improvements

In early design exploration. Input sought

Explore and possibly redefine how magnitude is distributed among BOINC projects and crunchers

GRC Distribution Mechanism Improvements

In early design exploration. Input sought

Explore and possibly redefine how GRC is minted and distributed

Treasury System

Basic skeleton outlined. Design and implementation input sought

Issue 202

The Gridcoin Fireside #17 - Building a Treasury

Develop a protocol-based mechanism to fund future developments, BOINC projects, initiatives, and scientific endeavors

Simplified Multi-Sig

Develop a simplified UX for multi-sig wallet creation and use

Code Rebase (continuing work with progressive developments)

Upgrade the codebase with the most recent Bitcoin/Peercoin/Blackcoin/etc. developments and reintegrate GRC specific mechanisms

Software Priorities

Priority illustrates how current developers are allocating their time and energy. An item's priority alone does not indicated an estimated time to completion.

High Priority

Team Requirement Removal

Manual Reward Claims

UX/UI Improvements

Medium Priority

Whitelist/Greylist Automation

Treasury System

Simplify Multi-Sig

Exploration Priority

Magnitude Mechanism Improvements

GRC Distribution Mechanism Improvements

Timing Expected Software Developments

It is impossible to time the release of a development that is not already complete. As such, developments have been ranked based on a combination of their estimated difficulty and priority ranking.

Short Term

Team Requirement Removal

Whitelist/Greylist Automation

Mid Term

Manual Reward Claims

UX/UI Improvements

Long Term

Magnitude Mechanism Improvements

GRC Distribution Mechanism Improvements

Treasury System

Expected Non-software Developments

All expected non-software developments will benefit from any community participation. Please do not hesitate to step forward to volunteer or, if you have provable reputation, reasonable requests for funding.

Short Term

Increased Marketing and Engagement

Mid Term

Increased Advertising

Increased Outreach

Increased Documentation

Tutorials and Visual Resources

Long Term

Further Bluepaper Development

Development Discussions

Development discussions are recurring topics in conversations among active contributors. Their basic principles are still being worked out.

Dynamic Block Rewards

Develop an economic model and algorithm that can control a monetary-fiscal-economic network through a permissionless blockchain-based protocol

Additional Superblocks/Abstraction Layer for Additional Computations

Develop distribution economics and technology for multiple incentive layers

Conclusion

It is always a pleasure to collect and organize the visions, musings, and developments of the folks working on Gridcoin. Whether it's for the science, for the future of crypto, for the challenge, or for the hell of it, everyone seems excited for the future and to thoroughly enjoy developing the project.

Personally, I can't wait to begin a new phase of growth with a steady base infrastructure, no BOINC team requirement, and a greater focus on marketing, outreach, and long-term infrastructure, game/network theory, and economic development.

For science!

j