Return-Path: Received: from smtp1.linuxfoundation.org (smtp1.linux-foundation.org [172.17.192.35]) by mail.linuxfoundation.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 4B7039C for ; Wed, 19 Aug 2015 09:29:51 +0000 (UTC) X-Greylist: whitelisted by SQLgrey-1.7.6 Received: from mail-la0-f43.google.com (mail-la0-f43.google.com [209.85.215.43]) by smtp1.linuxfoundation.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 8AE98112 for ; Wed, 19 Aug 2015 09:29:50 +0000 (UTC) Received: by lahi9 with SMTP id i9so115328115lah.2 for ; Wed, 19 Aug 2015 02:29:48 -0700 (PDT) X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20130820; h=x-gm-message-state:mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date :message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type; bh=SqnzLeqFiqdJUadVEvpzjYJlRCJuACosWRUmXvWnoRg=; b=BAV42nTyv8LG+pyYDrfd0wzdWbiQz5EQnxXN0exQ5uBCQU8xX76ClWAXZcet4rjSIx 5Vflg5QHSeV29jBSEVgFkegS+tbUyu3QIAbknpyj6syU+wubLV3dCJtOiTEVIzO/SC3U ga6sFw/OZO6v9IiaHFP0V67sByct698NL+ScQlN6TNgRM8ecUqPQbgoV4PoyNeJaslZh NekgV+NmVxygNolqOYDnpzqCqJrS+l9QDCy+MN26yHoalXrMdGtmAyo7BelUw5xA7I7h z/3sMGL19yRinHfWD5qfKeMfGLob8Uc6iE4MMuyzRu9TGxEdL6XZ4JtvyvScf9OuMsQ5 XmKg== X-Gm-Message-State: ALoCoQlFewuILvTkem5BV/S2Jw3CwTlTeqDX68ckMZ6Lj8pcCUax3WmNHC6OCIZerN14DxnzKamT MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Received: by 10.112.172.201 with SMTP id be9mr8507368lbc.39.1439976588826; Wed, 19 Aug 2015 02:29:48 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.25.15.22 with HTTP; Wed, 19 Aug 2015 02:29:48 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: References: Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2015 11:29:48 +0200 Message-ID: From: =?UTF-8?B?Sm9yZ2UgVGltw7Nu?= To: Danny Thorpe Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_LOW autolearn=ham version=3.3.1 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.3.1 (2010-03-16) on smtp1.linux-foundation.org Cc: Bitcoin Dev Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] Bitcoin is an experiment. Why don't we have an experimental hardfork? X-BeenThere: bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.12 Precedence: list List-Id: Bitcoin Development Discussion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2015 09:29:51 -0000 On Tue, Aug 18, 2015 at 11:06 PM, Danny Thorpe via bitcoin-dev wrote: > > Ya, so? All that means is that the experiment might reach the hard fork tipping point faster than mainnet would. Verifying that the network can handle such transitions, and how larger blocks affect the network, is the point of testing. > > And when I refer to testnet, I mean the public global testnet blockchain, not in-house isolated networks like testnet-in-a-box. I would expect any uncontroversial hardfork to be deployed in testnet3 before it is deployed in bitcoin's main chain. In any case, you can already do these tests using https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/6382 Note that even if the new testchains are regtest-like (ie cheap proof of work) you don't need to test them "in-a-box": you can run them from many different places. Rusty's test ( http://rusty.ozlabs.org/?p=509 ) could have been perfectly made using #6382, it just didn't existed at the time.