Nostr Web Client

My argument for many node implementations is mainly based on the fact that Bitcoin is a protocol. A node implementations only needs to implement the protocol.

But because all the eyes have been on Core for so long, the protocol has become so bloated and complex that it's the only game in town. There'll come a time when that bloat will cause Core to either collapse or become unmaintainable.

What's better? All eyes on Core, where only a handful of devs can manage the complexity; or a hundred times more eyes on a hundred different node implementations?

We're at a point where Core is so stable on the network, that alternative implementations can be made from scratch that either find themselves compatible with the overall network or not. The eye of nature is worth even more than the eyes of a hundred devs.

Only the runners of alternative nodes run the risk of whatever bugs there might be. But I just can't get over the fact that a protocol somehow only has one implementation in wide use, and I think that monoculture is more a risk than diversity.

Rich Nost 1mo ago

There are two major lightning node implementations. So the pool of talents is now split. There are less eyes on wither project than there could be. There are competing agendas. And it's an extremely complex protocol where bugs from incompatibites are constantly arising, to the detriment of the users' experiences.

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Discussion

Jay 1mo ago

I'd rather that than everyone trying to fight for consensus in a single codebase, even though that's the most "efficient" way to do it. But I don't think efficiency helps a decentralized system grow strong, however frustrating that is.

And even if there were only one lightning implementation, you still need people to update their nodes to expand the protocol. But people tend to update blindly. If there were a more diverse ecosystem, one update in one implementation wouldn't put the whole system at risk.