+1 On Wed, 26 Aug 2020 14:59:12 -0300 Mauro Souza via talk <[email protected]> wrote:
> It's really funny. It's more the result of "lets use blockchain!" on > everything that creates those issues. > > And blockchain is hyper-overhyped... It can help in a few specific > problems, but not on every single problem without exception. But > everyone liked the concept and ran away screaming blockchain all over > the place. Blockchain on email. Blockchain to rent a car. > Blockchain-powered lettuce salad... that's insanity. I like the > technology, I study it and sometimes I answer things on forums, but > all the time when people ask me if I believe blockchain would help > them, I say NO > > The "everybody must have everyone's data" is an issue. As the solution > grows, the ledger grows, increasing the storage and processing > requirements. With less people connected, you need an intermediary to > access the blockchain, and those intermediaries can be attacked and > take down the network. And there's few solutions to that. > > One solution is the blockchain used by former Raiblocks (now Nano). > It's a DAG (directed acyclic graph), so any client will have only his > own transactions, and not the entire ledger. That allows one to run a > client on an ESP32, for example. there will be special nodes that > store the entire ledger (like the Dash supernodes), but the clients > don't need that. Who/what would use it? No idea... crypto coins, and > not much else. > > And the smart contract solution... They aren't smart, they aren't > contracts, and they aren't solutions. One mistake and everything > crashes down instantly.The Ethereum DAO disaster, the Parity > multi-signature contract, and that new DeFi that melted down in a day > because people realized they made a mistake on the code, and nobody > would ever have enough tokens to decide anything because of an > arithmetic mistake. And many more examples. > > If the "contract" can be changed after creation, you cannot trust it > because it can be useful now (like tokens on a web game that you pay > to play), but later the owner changes the contract, pockets all > tokens, and takes down the game. If it cannot be changed, any error > on the contract is set on stone forever with deadly consequences. > There are some countermeasures to that, like proxy contracts: a main > contract references secondary contracts with the functions, but the > main contract holds the data and the tokens. if a secondary contract > is found to have an error, you deploy an amended version, call a > function on the main contract to reference the next one, and done. > The downside is that it is more expensive to run this contract, and > the owner can, you know, replace the secondary contracts and steal > everything. You can add multi-signatures, quorum, external oracles, > but those only increase the cost and put a little protection against > a rogue owner. > > There are very few things that blockchain can be useful, and one of > them is distributed storage. Siacoin and Storj, for example, let you > rent the extra space on that 4tb disk you already have for some > coins. It is not profitable enough to make you buy storage just for > that purpose, but you already have the space, right? And you can rent > some space on the network for backing up things when you will > reformat your computer, and want to store your data in case something > breaks. It's cheaper than anything else, even cheaper than amazon > glacier. > > Those supply chain management things are useful too, if you can > integrate it correctly (and that's a BIG if). If you own a bakery, > for example, you scan all the ingredients you have, store them all on > your wallet (or have your purchasing software do that automagically) > and any time any of your suppliers have any recall on something you > got, you are warned. And everything down the line gets warned that > they bought a recalled bread from you. Your customers don't even need > to get back to you so you reimburse them, the next time they come to > buy something they already have a credit for that contaminated bread > you sold to them last week. But to integrate everyone is a nightmare, > there are lots of privacy issues, industrial secrets issues... on a > limited scale, it can work. Too limited and doesn't solve anything. > Too broad and all that privacy issues get into your face. > > The fact is that there are very few cases that blockchain can be used > that a database cannot. And databases are here since a long time ago, > everyone knows how to build them, operate them, backup them, and > extend them. > > But just wait for the AI-generated, solar-powered, graphene-based > multi-cloud stored 6G-capable IPv8-addressing blockchain... > > Mauro > http://mauro.limeiratem.com - registered Linux User: 294521 > Scripture is both history, and a love letter from God. > > > Em qua., 26 de ago. de 2020 às 13:29, Christopher Browne via talk < > [email protected]> escreveu: > > > > > https://thecorrespondent.com/655/blockchain-the-amazing-solution-for-almost-nothing/86714927310-8f431cae > > > > I found it particularly hilarious when the writer of the article > > asked the maker of the childrens' aid app if he had noticed that > > the app didn't actually need blockchain at all. > > > > "That's right." > > > > But the punch line was even better... > > > > Isn't it strange that you won all these awards despite not really > > using blockchain? > > > > "We keep trying to tell people, but it doesn’t seem to stick. You’re > > calling me about it again now … ” > > -- > > When confronted by a difficult problem, solve it by reducing it to > > the question, "How would the Lone Ranger handle this?" > > --- > > Post to this mailing list [email protected] > > Unsubscribe from this mailing list > > https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk > > --- Post to this mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
