The global computer Ethereum needs a magical touch.

While developers continue to face another controversial update of the software, some of the best minds of the ethereum are working together to find a solution to what has been a troubling absence of late community consensus.

Recent discussions regarding the return of lost funds – and a type of code correction that requires an "irregular status change" or software revision at the platform scale – have provoked internal conflicts. appeal to the public for opinions.

Following the freezing of the funds of the parity, a new collective of developers tries to better organize these debates in order to reach the global consensus which they estimate that the project needs to go from the front .

Led by developer Greg Colvin and Jamie Pitts of the Ethereum Foundation, the Fellowship of Ethereum Magicians hopes to provide a structured working group where ethereum coders can coordinate with existing best practices for open source development.

"We're talking about" Gee, you know, there are many, many millions of dollars that went aground there without good reason that we could technically solve, and should we? " And again, we do not have the forums to reach a community consensus on these things, "Colvin told CoinDesk.

Often because of a faulty code, some developers view the return of lost funds as an obligation, while others think that such actions could be potentially criminal – a bias that has led to infighting.

"I think this level of collegiality among researchers and developers makes it easier to hold these conversations and keep them civil," Colvin said.

The state of the situation is compounded by the fact that, in the case of decentralized protocols, any disagreement could lead to competing versions of the software – as it happened after the 2016 CAD hacking , which led to the creation of a competing cryptocurrency code. called classical ethereum.

"I think CAD is an example of a big step without an adequate consensus," said Colvin, adding:

"Communion would be the community that would stand up and say well, let us organize to form a consensus around these things."

Scaling Up Governance

According to Colvin's point of view, the recent conflict has revealed fault lines in the overall development process of the platform.

Initially proposed to simplify the process of implementing the return of funds, EIP 867 has been criticized by some, the EIP editor Yoichi Hirai refusing to even merge even the proposal at the beginning. Hirai's decision, along with the proposal itself, has prompted the community to rethink the changes that should be implemented – some arguing that the process is too centralized.

"I no longer want to be part of the ethereum community if a single entity can block any proposal on its own," Afri Schoedon of Parity wrote on Twitter.

According to Colvin, such struggles depend on the speed with which the community has grown.

"The main developers were originally a nice little band who knew each other," Colvin said. While in these early stages, technical decisions could occur more easily, at this point he said, "It's a much bigger group, it's spread all over the world."

After publishing the call for participation on reddit, the fellowship will begin with a workshop at the next Etheric Community Conference, EthCC, next month in Paris. From there, Colvin hopes that this will become a dedicated council by July.

And Colvin maintains that these in-person meetings can do a lot to resolve technical conflicts that may persist online for years.

"Sometimes you have to sit in person and get to know someone and establish a level of communication that did not exist before," Colvin said.

Approximate Consensus

In this way, the fraternity models its structure within the Internet Engineering Task Force, or IETF, an international collective of technicians dedicated to Internet maintenance.

"I've seen the IETF is probably the most relevant example of a success in this area," Colvin said. According to Colvin, "the Internet has worked for many years", the IEFT is designed to cope with large numbers and it does so by combining larger assemblies with smaller and more specialized groups.

"Each group does its thing, and it would be a rare nerd that would be interested in many of these groups," continues Colvin.

Like the IEFT, the fraternity governance process advocates what is called a "crude consensus and functioning code," which means that the dominant majority in a given discussion will take precedence, obviously according to his technical competence. for any position held within the group.

For IE, Colvert, IEFT achieves this without any form of business financing or any other sponsorship organization that could influence in any way or any way 39, activity of the collective.

Summary of Colvin:

"We do not want there to be some sort of imposition from above on the community, but a forum, a consensus building forum for the community."

More important questions

By combining an open process, an informal membership structure and an emphasis on technical responsibility, Colvin hopes that the fraternity will finally be able to provide an adequate platform for the community to solve its more sensitive topics.

Indeed, the issue of the loss of funds is not the only technical crossroads that etheric is facing today – and arguably, it's a trivial discussion compared to the changes that need to be implemented along the line.

"We are talking about moving from proof of work to evidence of the issue, when we are still designing evidence of participation, while it is not entirely clear, it's going to work, we're moving to fragmentation, with two or three different conceptions in flux, we're talking about significant changes to the protocol, "said Colvin

.

According to him, it is crucial that the development community at large, and not only the main developers, have a voice in these fundamental changes.

"Let's move on to the evidence of the issue: there is more than a small number of people who care about this and who are aware of it and have something to contribute," he said. sued Colvin, concluding:

"So, that's the idea, it's just an offer to the community."

Greg Colvin via Statute

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