Longtime Linux/Open-Source Supporter Joins A Blockchain Foundation

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Longtime Linux/Open-Source Supporter Joins A Blockchain Foundation

Longtime Linux users especially those that frequented Linux conferences/events in pre-COVID times are likely familiar with Dirk Hohndel. Dirk has a well known track record with Linux going back to the 90's, good friend and diving buddy with Linus Torvalds, and now somewhat surprisingly has moved on to promoting a blockchain effort...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Dirk-Hohndel-Blockchain

[Ironmask]

Hope he has a good backup plan when this ponzi scheme bubble pops.

[mangeek]

I am not a fan of 'Crypto', but I don't think we should automatically cast everything it touches in a bad light. Maybe Cardano is onto something worthwhile; seems like their tech uses a tiny fraction of the energy of many of its peers. I can think of a lot of applications where 'blockchain' could be quite useful; I just don't think virtual currencies (and especially trading of them) is it.

[brucethemoose]

I am not a fan of 'Crypto', but I don't think we should automatically cast everything it touches in a bad light. Maybe Cardano is onto something worthwhile; seems like their tech uses a tiny fraction of the energy of many of its peers. I can think of a lot of applications where 'blockchain' could be quite useful; I just don't think virtual currencies (and especially trading of them) is it.

Yeah. I think cryptocurrency is the future, but I also think (or perhaps hope) it will have nothing to do with blockchain.

[SteamPunker]

Yeah. I think cryptocurrency is the future, but I also think (or perhaps hope) it will have nothing to do with blockchain.

That's funny, since a lot of people tend to think that blockchain is the future, but also think and hope it will have nothing to do with cryptocurrency.

Personally, I believe in the potential of both, as long as the existing challenges (notably the environmental concerns around Proof-of-Work-based cryptocurrencies) are addressed in a reasonable and sustainable way.

Cardano uses a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, which means it doesn't use excessive amounts of energy, like Bitcoin and Ethereum (pre-Merge) do.

[brucethemoose]

That's funny, since a lot of people tend to think that blockchain is the future, but also think and hope it will have nothing to do with cryptocurrency.

Blockchain is an interesting data structure for networked systems, and it makes a lot of sense for a medium scale, relatively illiquid "hacker" currency... but I just don't see how people think the world will use it to buy Cokes from vending machines or catalog Walmart inventory. Its *massively* inefficient at scale, even with exponentially faster computers and alternative consensus mechanisms.


Hence I don't get that mindset. In fact, I feel that blockchain is eroding the reputation of purely digital currency, and eating all the attention of literally any other structure.

[mazumoto]

Blockchain (as in decentral consensus system without trust) generally is just a broken concept. It' s only use case is pulling money out of dumb peoples pockets.
A world without any trustworthy entity is just not something we should strive for - or that could work.

[Termy]

At least cardano is the least ugly branch of the whole crypto-craze (at least that i know of)

[c117152]

Blockchain (as in decentral consensus system without trust) generally is just a broken concept. It' s only use case is pulling money out of dumb peoples pockets.
A world without any trustworthy entity is just not something we should strive for - or that could work.

Cardano is a proof-of-stake (as opposed to Bitcoin's proof-of-work) so it's based on trust.

[dlq84]

Blockchain (as in decentral consensus system without trust) generally is just a broken concept. It' s only use case is pulling money out of dumb peoples pockets.
A world without any trustworthy entity is just not something we should strive for - or that could work.

I think you're missing the point. Not having to trust a third party is the killer feature... The only thing you need to have trust in is in well established cryptography and maths.