This weekend, I intend on opening up PeerMessage for private beta testing to our community.
Requirements:
- Must be a member in good standing of peercointalk / peercoin community
- Must have a github account
- Must know your way around a terminal / how to run a python script.
- Must have Bitcoin Core 0.9.3 installed, and a few dollars in bitcoins.
What I hope to get from it:
- Bug reports
- Feature / usability suggestions
- Pull requests
If interested in joining the private beta test and if you meet the above requirements, please either post here (or pm me) your github username.
—Q&A—
What is Peermessage?
See here: http://www.peercointalk.org/index.php?topic=3773.0
In short, it’s a way of distributing encrypted messages via a blockchain, without bloating the blockchain, and with the receiver being anonymous.
How will this private beta work?
I’ll invite you to a private github repository. You’ll download the code, and execute the python script locally. This will launch the app.
Bitcoin Core? Why not Peercoin Core?
Peercoin Core will be merging in op_return from Bitcoin Core in v0.5 - which is not yet ready. For the purposes of this app, it can technically run on any blockchain that supports op_return - and so we’ll test it and iterate on it on the Bitcoin blockchain until Peercoin is ready.
If it’s open source, why a private beta?
I am pro-cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency community needs to work together and not be so divisive. As a general rule, I’m of the opinion that developers should join an existing coin and improve its app ecosystem, rather than starting yet another new, cloned altcoin.
With that in mind, I chose Peercoin as the coin I’m going to build my apps on. I hope my apps get converted, and run on other altcoins as well (such as Nubits), but I will only develop and support them for Peercoin, and I want Peercoin to have first crack at them. That’s the purpose of this private beta.
If the beta is running on Bitcoin, how can you say Peercoin will get the first crack at this app?
It’s not realistic for your average joe to run this app on Bitcoin. A user has to have the full Bitcoin client, with the full 28gb blockchain, and run with txindex=1, which means they also must run a reindex which will take a couple days and use up more space on their harddrive. Unrealistic expectations for anything other than a beta.
What if someone in the Beta releases the source code early, allowing another altcoin to jump on this before we launch it for Peercoin?
While I’d prefer if this didn’t happen, it’s really no big deal. Don’t forget this is just the first step in a larger app, and I will only be developing for Peercoin.
I sent you my github username. What can I do to get prepared for the beta?
Ensure you have the entire bitcoin blockchain downloaded. In your bitcoin.conf, set txindex=1 AND reindex=1. Close and re-open Bitcoin Core to trigger the reindex, and once triggered go back to bitcoin.conf and remove reindex=1. This reindex may take a couple days. If you don’t know how to do this, don’t sweat it - there will be a button you can click in the app to do it for you (you’ll just have to wait until the reindex is finished to use the app).
I’m in the beta. Where do I post suggestions / questions / etc?
Please use the github issue tracker. You are also welcome to post them here, but they may fall through the cracks if not stuck in the issue tracker.
