<oembed><type>rich</type><version>1.0</version><author_name>npub1g5zswf6y48f7fy90jf3tlcuwdmjn8znhzaa4vkmtxaeskca8hpss23ms3l</author_name><author_url>https://nostr.ae/npub1g5zswf6y48f7fy90jf3tlcuwdmjn8znhzaa4vkmtxaeskca8hpss23ms3l</author_url><provider_name>njump</provider_name><provider_url>https://nostr.ae</provider_url><html>📅 Original date posted:2021-02-19&#xA;📝 Original message:Good morning list,&#xA;&#xA;&gt; This is absolutely the case, however note that the activation method itself is consensus code which executes as a part&#xA;&gt; of a fork, and one which deserves as much scrutiny as anything else. While taproot is a model of how a soft-fork should&#xA;&gt; be designed, this doesn&#39;t imply anything about the consensus code which represents the activation thereof.&#xA;&gt;&#xA;&gt; Hence all the debate around activation - ultimately its also defining a fork, and given the politics around it, one&#xA;&gt; which almost certainly carries significantly more risk than Taproot.&#xA;&gt;&#xA;&gt; Note that I don&#39;t believe anyone is advocating for &#34;try to activate, and if it fails, move on&#34;. Various people have&#xA;&gt; various views on how conservative and timelines for what to do at that point, but I believe most in this discussion are&#xA;&gt; OK with flag-day-based activation (given some level of care) if it becomes clear Taproot is supported by a vast majority&#xA;&gt; of Bitcoin users and is only not activating due to lagging miner upgrades.&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;Okay, I am backing off this proposal to force the LOT=false/true decision on users, it was not particularly serious anyway (and was more a reaction to the request of Samson Mow to just release both versions, which to my mind is no different from such a thing).&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;Nonetheless, as a thought experiment: the main issue is that some number of people run LOT=true when miners do not activate Taproot early for some reason and we decide to leave LOT=false for this particular bit until it times out.&#xA;The issue is that those people will get forked off the network at the end of this particular deployment attempt.&#xA;&#xA;I suspect those people will still exist whether or not Bitcoin Core supports any kind of LOT=true mode.&#xA;(&#34;Never again&#34; for some people)&#xA;&#xA;How do we convince them to go run LOT=false instead of getting themselves forked off?&#xA;Or do we simply let them?&#xA;&#xA;(and how is that different from asking each user to decide on LOT=false/true right now?)&#xA;(&#34;reasonable default&#34;?)&#xA;(fundamentally speaking you still have to educate the users on the ramifications of accepting the default and changing it.)&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;Another thought experiment: From the point of view of a user who strongly supports LOT=true, would dev consensus around releasing LOT=false be considered as &#34;developers forcing their views on users&#34;?&#xA;Why or why not?&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;Regards,&#xA;ZmnSCPxj&#xA;&#xA;&gt; Matt&#xA;&gt;&#xA;&gt; On 2/18/21 10:04, Keagan McClelland wrote:&#xA;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt; Hi all,&#xA;&gt; &gt; I think it&#39;s important for us to consider what is actually being considered for activation here.&#xA;&gt; &gt; The designation of &#34;soft fork&#34; is accurate but I don&#39;t think it adequately conveys how non-intrusive a change like this&#xA;&gt; &gt; is. All that taproot does (unless I&#39;m completely missing something) is imbue a previously undefined script version with&#xA;&gt; &gt; actual semantics. In order for a chain reorg to take place it would mean that someone would have to have a use case for&#xA;&gt; &gt; that script version today. This is something I think that we can easily check by digging through the UTXO set or&#xA;&gt; &gt; history. If anyone is using that script version, we absolutely should not be using it, but that doesn&#39;t mean that we&#xA;&gt; &gt; can&#39;t switch to a script version that no one is actually using.&#xA;&gt; &gt; If no one is even attempting to use the script version, then the change has no effect on whether a chain split occurs&#xA;&gt; &gt; because there is simply no block that contains a transaction that only some of the network will accept.&#xA;&gt; &gt; Furthermore, I don&#39;t know how Bitcoin can stand the test of time if we allow developers who rely on &#34;undefined behavior&#34;&#xA;&gt; &gt; (which the taproot script version presently is) to exert tremendous influence over what code does or does not get run.&#xA;&gt; &gt; This isn&#39;t a soft fork that makes some particular UTXO&#39;s unspendable. It isn&#39;t one that bans miners from collecting&#xA;&gt; &gt; fees. It is a change that means that certain &#34;always accept&#34; transactions actually have real conditions you have to&#xA;&gt; &gt; meet. I can&#39;t imagine a less intrusive change.&#xA;&gt; &gt; On the other hand, choosing to let L=F be a somewhat final call sets a very real precedent that 10% of what I estimate&#xA;&gt; &gt; to be 1% of bitcoin users can effectively block any change from here on forward. At that point we are saying that miners&#xA;&gt; &gt; are in control of network consensus in ways they have not been up until now. I don&#39;t think this is a more desirable&#xA;&gt; &gt; outcome to let ~0.1% of the network get to block /non-intrusive/ changes that the rest of the network wants.&#xA;&gt; &gt; I can certainly live with an L=F attempt as a way to punt on the discussion, maybe the activation happens and this will&#xA;&gt; &gt; all be fine. But if it doesn&#39;t, I hardly think that users of Bitcoin are just going to be like &#34;well, guess that&#39;s it&#xA;&gt; &gt; for Taproot&#34;. I have no idea what ensues at that point, but probably another community led UASF movement.&#xA;&gt; &gt; I wasn&#39;t super well educated on this stuff back in &#39;17 when Segwit went down, as I was new at that time, so if I&#39;m&#xA;&gt; &gt; missing something please say so. But from my point of view, we can&#39;t treat all soft forks as equal.&#xA;&gt; &gt; Keagan&#xA;&gt; &gt; On Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 7:43 AM Matt Corallo via bitcoin-dev &lt;bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&#xA;&gt; &gt; mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt; wrote:&#xA;&gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;     We&#39;ve had several softforks in Bitcoin which, through the course of their activation, had a several-block reorg. That&#xA;&gt; &gt;     should be indication enough that we need to very carefully consider activation to ensure we reduce the risk of that as&#xA;&gt; &gt;     much as absolutely possible. Again, while I think Taproot is a huge improvement and am looking forward to being able to&#xA;&gt; &gt;     use it, getting unlucky and hitting a 4-block reorg that happens to include a double-spend and some PR around an&#xA;&gt; &gt;     exchange losing millions would be worse than having Taproot is good.&#xA;&gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;     Matt&#xA;&gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;     On 2/18/21 09:26, Michael Folkson wrote:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; Thanks for your response Matt. It is a fair challenge. There is always going to be an element of risk with soft&#xA;&gt; &gt;     forks,&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; all we can do is attempt to minimize that risk. I would argue that risk has been minimized for Taproot.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; You know (better than I do in fact) that Bitcoin (and layers built on top of it) greatly benefit from upgrades&#xA;&gt; &gt;     such as&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; Taproot. To say we shouldn&#39;t do Taproot or any future soft forks because there is a small but real risk of chain&#xA;&gt; &gt;     splits&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; I think is shortsighted. Indeed I think even if we collectively decided not to do any future soft fork upgrades ever&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; again on this mailing list that wouldn&#39;t stop soft fork attempts from other people in future.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; I don&#39;t think there is anything else we can do to minimize that risk for the Taproot soft fork at this point&#xA;&gt; &gt;     though I&#39;m&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; open to ideas. To reiterate that risk will never be zero. I don&#39;t think I see Bitcoin as fragile as you seem to&#xA;&gt; &gt;     (though&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; admittedly you have a much better understanding than me of what happened in 2017).&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; The likely scenario for the Taproot soft fork is LOT turns out to be entirely irrelevant and miners activate Taproot&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; before it becomes relevant. And even the unlikely worst case scenario would only cause short term disruption and&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; wouldn&#39;t kill Bitcoin long term.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; On Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 2:01 PM Matt Corallo &lt;lf-lists at mattcorallo.com &lt;mailto:lf-lists at mattcorallo.com&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;mailto:lf-lists at mattcorallo.com &lt;mailto:lf-lists at mattcorallo.com&gt;&gt;&gt; wrote:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;     If the eventual outcome is that different implementations (that have material *transaction processing* userbases,&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;     and I’m not sure to what extent that’s true with Knots) ship different consensus rules, we should stop here&#xA;&gt; &gt;     and not&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;     activate Taproot. Seriously.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;     Bitcoin is a consensus system. The absolute worst outcome at all possible is to have it fall out of consensus.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;     Matt&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     On Feb 18, 2021, at 08:11, Michael Folkson via bitcoin-dev &lt;bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&gt;&gt; wrote:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     ﻿&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     Right, that is one option. Personally I would prefer a Bitcoin Core release sets LOT=false (based on what I have&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     heard from Bitcoin Core contributors) and a community effort releases a version with LOT=true. I don&#39;t think&#xA;&gt; &gt;     users&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     should be forced to choose something they may have no context on before they are allowed to use Bitcoin Core.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     My current understanding is that roasbeef is planning to set LOT=false on btcd (an alternative protocol&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     implementation to Bitcoin Core) and Luke Dashjr hasn&#39;t yet decided on Bitcoin Knots.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     On Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 11:52 AM ZmnSCPxj &lt;ZmnSCPxj at protonmail.com &lt;mailto:ZmnSCPxj at protonmail.com&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;mailto:ZmnSCPxj at protonmail.com &lt;mailto:ZmnSCPxj at protonmail.com&gt;&gt;&gt; wrote:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         Good morning all,&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &#34;An activation mechanism is a consensus change like any other change, can be contentious like any other&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         change, and we must resolve it like any other change. Otherwise we risk arriving at the darkest timeline.&#34;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; Who&#39;s we here?&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; Release both and let the network decide.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         A thing that could be done, without mandating either LOT=true or LOT=false, would be to have a release that&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         requires a `taprootlot=1` or `taprootlot=0` and refuses to start if the parameter is not set.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         This assures everyone that neither choice is being forced on users, and instead what is being forced on&#xA;&gt; &gt;     users,&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         is for users to make that choice themselves.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         Regards,&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         ZmnSCPxj&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; On Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 3:08 AM Michael Folkson via bitcoin-dev &lt;bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&gt;&gt; wrote:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; Thanks for your response Ariel. It would be useful if you responded to specific points I have made&#xA;&gt; &gt;     in the&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         mailing list post or at least quote these ephemeral &#34;people&#34; you speak of. I don&#39;t know if you&#39;re responding&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         to conversation on the IRC channel or on social media etc.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; The argument comes from a naive assumption that users MUST upgrade to the choice that is submitted&#xA;&gt; &gt;     into&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         code. But in fact this isn&#39;t true and some voices in this discussion need to be more humble about what users&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         must or must not run.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; I personally have never made this assumption. Of course users aren&#39;t forced to run any particular&#xA;&gt; &gt;     software&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         version, quite the opposite. Defaults set in software versions matter though as many users won&#39;t change&#xA;&gt; &gt;     them.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; Does no one realize that it is a very possible outcome that if LOT=true is released there may be&#xA;&gt; &gt;     only a&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         handful of people that begin running it while everyone else delays their upgrade (with the very good&#xA;&gt; &gt;     reason of&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         not getting involved in politics) and a year later those handful of people just become stuck at the&#xA;&gt; &gt;     moment of&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         MUST_SIGNAL, unable to mine new blocks?&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; It is a possible outcome but the likely outcome is that miners activate Taproot before LOT is even&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         relevant. I think it is prudent to prepare for the unlikely but possible outcome that miners fail to&#xA;&gt; &gt;     activate&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         and hence have this discussion now rather than be unprepared for that eventuality. If LOT is set to&#xA;&gt; &gt;     false in a&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         software release there is the possibility (T2 in&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt; https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018380.html&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018380.html&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018380.html&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018380.html&gt;&gt;) of individuals or a&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         proportion of the community changing LOT to true. In that sense setting LOT=false in a software release&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         appears to be no more safe than LOT=true.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; The result: a wasted year of waiting and a minority of people who didn&#39;t want to be lenient with&#xA;&gt; &gt;     miners&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         by default.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; There is the (unlikely but possible) possibility of a wasted year if LOT is set to false and miners fail&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         to activate. I&#39;m not convinced by this perception that LOT=true is antagonistic to miners. I actually&#xA;&gt; &gt;     think it&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         offers them clarity on what will happen over a year time period and removes the need for coordinated or&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         uncoordinated community UASF efforts on top of LOT=false.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; An activation mechanism is a consensus change like any other change, can be contentious like any other&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         change, and we must resolve it like any other change. Otherwise we risk arriving at the darkest timeline.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; I don&#39;t know what you are recommending here to avoid &#34;this darkest timeline&#34;. Open discussions have&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         occurred and are continuing and in my mailing list post that you responded to **I recommended we propose&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         LOT=false be set in protocol implementations such as Bitcoin Core**. I do think this apocalyptic language&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         isn&#39;t particularly helpful. In an open consensus system discussion is healthy, we should prepare for bad or&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         worst case scenarios in advance and doing so is not antagonistic or destructive. Mining pools have pledged&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         support for Taproot but we don&#39;t build secure systems based on pledges of support, we build them to minimize&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         trust in any human actors. We can be grateful that people like Alejandro have worked hard on&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt; taprootactivation.com &lt;http://taprootactivation.com&gt; &lt;http://taprootactivation.com&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;http://taprootactivation.com&gt;&gt; (and this effort has informed the discussion) without&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         taking pledges of support as cast iron guarantees.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; TL;DR It sounds like you agree with my recommendation to set LOT=false in protocol implementations in my&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         email :)&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; On Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 5:43 AM Ariel Lorenzo-Luaces &lt;arielluaces at gmail.com&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;mailto:arielluaces at gmail.com&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &lt;mailto:arielluaces at gmail.com &lt;mailto:arielluaces at gmail.com&gt;&gt;&gt; wrote:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; Something what strikes me about the conversation is the emotion surrounding the letters UASF.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; It appears as if people discuss UASF as if it&#39;s a massive tidal wave of support that is&#xA;&gt; &gt;     inevitable, like&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         we saw during segwit activation. But the actual definition is &#34;any activation that is not a MASF&#34;.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; A UASF can consist of a single node, ten nodes, a thousand, half of all nodes, all business&#39; nodes, or&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         even all the non mining nodes. On another dimension it can have zero mining support, 51% support, 49%&#xA;&gt; &gt;     support,&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         or any support right up against a miner activation threshold.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; Hell a UASF doesn&#39;t even need code or even a single node running as long as it exists as a possibility&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         in people&#39;s minds.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; The only thing a UASF doesn&#39;t have is miner support above an agreed activation threshold (some number&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         above %51).&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; I say this because it strikes me when people say that they are for LOT=true with the logic that&#xA;&gt; &gt;     since a&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         UASF is guaranteed to happen then it&#39;s better to just make it default from the beginning. Words like&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         coordination and safety are sometimes sprinkled into the argument.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; The argument comes from a naive assumption that users MUST upgrade to the choice that is submitted&#xA;&gt; &gt;     into&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         code. But in fact this isn&#39;t true and some voices in this discussion need to be more humble about what users&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         must or must not run.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; Does no one realize that it is a very possible outcome that if LOT=true is released there may be&#xA;&gt; &gt;     only a&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         handful of people that begin running it while everyone else delays their upgrade (with the very good&#xA;&gt; &gt;     reason of&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         not getting involved in politics) and a year later those handful of people just become stuck at the&#xA;&gt; &gt;     moment of&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         MUST_SIGNAL, unable to mine new blocks? Or attracting a minority of miners, activating, and forking off&#xA;&gt; &gt;     into a&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         minority fork. Then a lot=false could be started that ends up activating the feature now that the stubborn&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         option has ran its course.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; The result: a wasted year of waiting and a minority of people who didn&#39;t want to be lenient with&#xA;&gt; &gt;     miners&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         by default. The chains could be called BitcoinLenient and BitcoinStubborn.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; How is that strictly safer or more coordinated?&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; I may be in the minority, or maybe a silent majority, or maybe a majority that just hasn&#39;t considered&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         this as a choice but honestly if there is contention about whether we&#39;re going to be stubborn or lenient&#xA;&gt; &gt;     with&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         miners for Taproot and in the future then I prefer to just not activate anything at all. I&#39;m fine for&#xA;&gt; &gt;     calling&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         bitcoin ossified, accepting that segwit is Bitcoin&#39;s last network upgrade. Taproot is amazing but no new&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         feature is worth a network split down the middle.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; Maybe in 10 or 20 years, when other blockchains implement features like Taproot and many more, we will&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         become envious enough to put aside our differences on how to behave towards miners and finally activate&#xA;&gt; &gt;     Taproot.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; An activation mechanism is a consensus change like any other change, can be contentious like any other&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         change, and we must resolve it like any other change. Otherwise we risk arriving at the darkest timeline.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; Cheers&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; Ariel Lorenzo-Luaces&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; On Feb 17, 2021, at 7:05 AM, Michael Folkson via bitcoin-dev&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&gt;&gt; wrote:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Yesterday (February 16th) we held a second meeting on Taproot&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; activation on IRC which again was open to all. Despite what appeared&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; to be majority support for LOT=false over LOT=true in the first&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; meeting I (and others) thought the arguments had not been explored in&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; depth and that we should have a follow up meeting almost entirely&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; focused on whether LOT (lockinontimeout) should be set to true or&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; false.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; The meeting was announced here:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018380.html&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018380.html&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018380.html&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018380.html&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; In that mailing list post I outlined the arguments for LOT=true (T1 to&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; T6) and arguments for LOT=false (F1 to F6) in their strongest form I&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; could. David Harding responded with an additional argument for&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; LOT=false (F7) here:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018415.html&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018415.html&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018415.html&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-February/018415.html&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; These meetings are very challenging given they are open to all, you&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; don’t know who will attend and you don’t know most people’s views in&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; advance. I tried to give time for both the LOT=true arguments and the&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; LOT=false arguments to be discussed as I knew there was support for&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; both. We only tried evaluating which had more support and which had&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; more strong opposition towards the end of the meeting.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; The conversation log is here:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; http://gnusha.org/taproot-activation/2021-02-16.log&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;http://gnusha.org/taproot-activation/2021-02-16.log&gt; &lt;http://gnusha.org/taproot-activation/2021-02-16.log&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;http://gnusha.org/taproot-activation/2021-02-16.log&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; (If you are so inclined you can watch a video of the meeting here.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Thanks to the YouTube account “Bitcoin” for setting up the livestream:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpl5q1ovMLM &lt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpl5q1ovMLM&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpl5q1ovMLM &lt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpl5q1ovMLM&gt;&gt;)&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; A summary of the meeting was provided by Luke Dashjr on Mastodon here:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; https://bitcoinhackers.org/@lukedashjr/105742918779234566&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://bitcoinhackers.org/@lukedashjr/105742918779234566&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &lt;https://bitcoinhackers.org/@lukedashjr/105742918779234566&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://bitcoinhackers.org/@lukedashjr/105742918779234566&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Today&#39;s #Bitcoin #Taproot meeting was IMO largely unproductive, but we&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; did manage to come to consensus on everything but LockinOnTimeout.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Activation height range: 693504-745920&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; MASF threshold: 1815/2016 blocks (90%)&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Keep in mind only ~100 people showed for the meetings, hardly&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; representative of the entire community.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; So, these details remain JUST a proposal for now.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; It seems inevitable that there won&#39;t be consensus on LOT.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Everyone will have to choose for himself. :/&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Personally I agree with most of this. I agree that there wasn’t&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; overwhelming consensus for either LOT=true or LOT=false. However, from&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; my perspective there was clearly more strong opposition (what would&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; usually be deemed a NACK in Bitcoin Core review terminology) from&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Bitcoin Core contributors, Lightning developers and other community&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; members against LOT=true than there was for LOT=false. Andrew Chow&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; tried to summarize views from the meeting in this analysis:&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; https://gist.github.com/achow101/3e179501290abb7049de198d46894c7c&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://gist.github.com/achow101/3e179501290abb7049de198d46894c7c&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &lt;https://gist.github.com/achow101/3e179501290abb7049de198d46894c7c&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://gist.github.com/achow101/3e179501290abb7049de198d46894c7c&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; I am also aware of other current and previous Bitcoin Core&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; contributors and Lightning developers who didn’t attend the meeting in&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; person who are opposed to LOT=true. I don’t want to put them in the&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; spotlight for no reason but if you go through the conversation logs of&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; not only the meeting but the weeks of discussion prior to this meeting&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; you will see their views evaluated on the ##taproot-activation&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; channel. In addition, on taprootactivation.com &lt;http://taprootactivation.com&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;http://taprootactivation.com &lt;http://taprootactivation.com&gt;&gt; some mining pools&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; expressed a preference for lot=false though I don’t know how strong&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; that preference was.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; I am only one voice but it is my current assessment that if we are to&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; attempt to finalize Taproot activation parameters and propose them to&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; the community at this time our only option is to propose LOT=false.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Any further delay appears to me counterproductive in our collective&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; aim to get the Taproot soft fork activated as early as possible.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Obviously others are free to disagree with that assessment and&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; continue discussions but personally I will be attempting to avoid&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; those discussions unless prominent new information comes to light or&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; various specific individuals change their minds.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Next week we are planning a code review of the Bitcoin Core PR #19573&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; which was initially delayed because of this LOT discussion. As I’ve&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; said previously that will be loosely following the format of the&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Bitcoin Core PR review club and will be lower level and more&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; technical. That is planned for Tuesday February 23rd at 19:00 UTC on&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; the IRC channel ##taproot-activation.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Thanks to the meeting participants (and those who joined the&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; discussion on the channel prior and post the meeting) for engaging&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; productively and in good faith.&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; --&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; Michael Folkson&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; Email: michaelfolkson at gmail.com &lt;mailto:michaelfolkson at gmail.com&gt; &lt;mailto:michaelfolkson at gmail.com&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;mailto:michaelfolkson at gmail.com&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; Keybase: michaelfolkson&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; PGP: 43ED C999 9F85 1D40 EAF4 9835 92D6 0159 214C FEE3&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; _______________________________________________&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; bitcoin-dev mailing list&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &gt; &gt; https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;         &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     --&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     Michael Folkson&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     Email: michaelfolkson at gmail.com &lt;mailto:michaelfolkson at gmail.com&gt; &lt;mailto:michaelfolkson at gmail.com&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;mailto:michaelfolkson at gmail.com&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     Keybase: michaelfolkson&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     PGP: 43ED C999 9F85 1D40 EAF4 9835 92D6 0159 214C FEE3&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     _______________________________________________&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     bitcoin-dev mailing list&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt; bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt; https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; --&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; Michael Folkson&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; Email: michaelfolkson at gmail.com &lt;mailto:michaelfolkson at gmail.com&gt; &lt;mailto:michaelfolkson at gmail.com&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;mailto:michaelfolkson at gmail.com&gt;&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; Keybase: michaelfolkson&#xA;&gt; &gt;      &gt; PGP: 43ED C999 9F85 1D40 EAF4 9835 92D6 0159 214C FEE3&#xA;&gt; &gt;     _______________________________________________&#xA;&gt; &gt;     bitcoin-dev mailing list&#xA;&gt; &gt;     bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org &lt;mailto:bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;     https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev&#xA;&gt; &gt;     &lt;https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev&gt;&#xA;&gt; &gt;&#xA;&gt;&#xA;&gt; bitcoin-dev mailing list&#xA;&gt; bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org&#xA;&gt; https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev</html></oembed>