Of Maidsafe & Blockchains, Rust & C++

Maidsafe would do well to clearly differentiate itself from the rest of the pack and demonstrate, very publicly (invest a few bucks) -

~ clearly & concisely ~

Why blockchains are not the future. And datachains are.

Why C++ is not the future. And Rust is.

This, IMO can make a big difference and is more than lipstick. The Rust story needs to propagate through the crypto community and can attract develpers maybe get a blog posted on bitcoin magazine - coindesk, et al.

I would like to see more reference to blockchain on the Maidsafe website. I see none. Please point out where if I missed it.

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All depends on your needs, a lot of people really like C++ and will would never want to change. Same for java and Kotlin. It’s all about what you prefer.

Best thing to do imo is just releasing stuff. People will get it when they use it. MaidSafe could scream from the rooftops about how they are “better” than the rest but it wouldn’t make sense without a release. It all takes long but it’s worth the wait. No need to start debates about whatever en whoever, just work hard and deliver ;-). (easy for me to say as I don’t code any part of it myself :grin:).

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Great points!

Naw, completely disagree. That costs way more money than you think. Time/money.

My point is in the context of why Maidsafe decided to switch from C++ to Rust, why they go datachains and not blockchains. And dwell on this. WHY BLOCKCHAINS ARE NOT THE FUTURE is a headline that would get attention - a quite likely mainstream attention and it then becomes a story about Maidsafe and its journey. Its all about marketing, effective and efficient marketing.

Not sure what you mean? Start a debate about what?

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Love that as a potential title for an article. Why not make a start yourself and write an article with that title and submit it to the community on this forum to crowd-proofread? Then maybe MaidSafe could publish it on their blog or we could submit it to coindesk etc?

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That would be the nail in Maidsafe coffin. I dont have that skillset. But Im honored you would think that?

It just isn’t the MaidSafe way - to diss other technology - so MaidSafe won’t do it. Others will point out the drawbacks of blockchain (I have many times), I’m with @polpolrene in believing that this product will sell itself. I’m not complacent, I have startup experience and I know that marketing can be critical, but there are good reasons to think the SAFEnetwork will be one of those things which takes off on its own merits rather than because of marketing.

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Explaining why MS does datachains is not dissing. Explaining why MS does Rust and not C++ is not dissing. Its necessary.

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If you go out of your way to make a point about why you are using A rather than B, you can’t help but point out the problems with B. It’s fine to answer people here on the forum etc, but to write a series of blogs and articles along these lines is different. That’s what I’m suggesting (I don’t really know first hand) is not the MaidSafe way. It’s fine for us to do so - I’m for that if anyone wants to have a go.

I’m only disagreeing that MaidSafe should be doing it, or would consider doing it in this context (full on development) or for your reasons (to market the project and coin ).

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And this is a problem? Holy safecoin batman. Isnt that why we invested. Isnt that why Safenet will upend the internet? Isnt that what current and future investors want to hear? Isnt that why for 14 years David and Nick have been bustin their chops 16 hours a day? Because Maidsafe/safenet is superior? And you want to keep it from everybody because it would be impolite?

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It wouldn’t have to be technical. It could be a personal piece on why you believe datachain is superior to blockchain. I think these discussions on marketing have been brought up in the past before. I don’t doubt MaidSafe have read them, but it seems clear that their priority is on getting the network released and working for it to do the talking, which I am all for. But if community members want to start marketing the potential of SAFE then I would also support that.

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Not because it is impolite specifically, but I’ve watched and learned a lot from David in paticular.

What have you noticed about his approach to other technology? To other projects? And why do you think he’s like this? Just being polite, also respectful, modest too, but I think it goes deeper than those labels.

I’m still learning so not going to try and explain something I don’t have sufficient grasp of, but somewhere inside me I recognise something of value there - and that right from the very start when I first read David’s blog - is what got me to pick this project over others and why I’m still here years later through think and thin. I’ve also learned to watch the waves :slight_smile:

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Awesome. Glad you support this. So now the task is to help with finding a suitable candidate to write the story. We have the title WHY BLOCKCHAINS ARE NOT THE FUTURE and the many supporters who think its a good idea. And maybe a facilitator in @JuanSGalt … and we’ll make sure it’s constructive, not an attack on anything.

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It’s important to remember that Maidsafe is a a small company made up of engineers rather than writers and marketers. Creating a consistent public face and making sure all messaging is consistent is tough, especially when you are understaffed - and particularly when your history goes back 11 years. Different things become important over time, and the audience changes.

That said, I do agree the messaging could be clearer, particularly to the crypto-coin crowd which is where competition for attention is fiercest. It’s one of the reasons I wrote my Top 10 article a couple of months back.Blockchain is hot property at the moment, and not just among cryptos and techies. It’s in the public eye and it’s drawbacks are becoming well known. Seems a shame not to ride that wave.

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As I said earlier some of us have already been doing this. For me mainly commenting at length on blogs from time to time, and on the reddit, as well as here and on Twitter. Come to think about it, I’m quite a PR engine and have also approached quite a number of people online and introduced them to the project.

For your article you might want to take a look at this from Ephi (see below). There are other decent posts around (this thread probably links to some good prose). I think this is worth doing, but the real impact of such things won’t be seen until there’s a product.

http://blanshey.com/introduction-to-maidsafe-what-it-is-how-it-works-and-how-it-compares-to-bitcoin/

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I admire David, I admire his skills, both as a caring and compassionate human being and as a statesman. And I see exactly where you are coming from. But this is not about any of that. This is about business. Money. Code. Rust. C++. Blockchains. Rust developers that are tough to hire. Demands for exciting weekly updates. Keeping the lights on and the doors open. Yes I would want David to marry my sister and history has many tales of nice guys finishing last. I dont want that for David or me or you. You say Maidsafe will succeed on its merits,no Maidsafe will thrive on its merits, big difference, to succeed it needs confidence from current investors, future investors, developers, community etc while its ramping to success. We need to do everything, think of everything, plan for everything, everything that will to allow Maidsafe to reach that success.

Much better from you the MS PR engine. :slight_smile: Im an idea guy, I can tell you appreciate that. And you dont like my posts so if you were serious, you wouldnt vote me up here. So why are you?

I think it is you who don’t get what I’m saying, because this isn’t about him being a “nice guy” (and finishing last), and not being successful at business. I already made those points about why I’m confident they are getting it right, in these respects, but you have missed the point I was making about David. I wasn’t saying he’s a nice guy, and I’m sorry being unable to elaborate. But please don’t reduce it to “nice guy”.

The reason I’m replying is to explain what I think and why. It’s not about liking or not what you say, to me it’s a useful discussion on a subject that matters to me.

What bothered me is when you are trying to get MaidSafe to do something about this which to me is counter productive, or when you make it sound like the success of the project is in jeopardy without “we” all get out there doing this. It isn’t. That’s hype that can easily seed FUD. Those are the things that got me to respond.

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You reduced it to nice guy, not me. Its an expression, not meant in the context. Pick all the perceived awfulness from my response, spin it.

Are you referring to a post on “WHY BLOCKCHAINS ARE NOT THE FUTURE” ?? or just getting out in front now, during this period?

You used “nice guys” not me, and I’ve referred you to what you missed in my post but you ignore it again and accuse me of spinning. You’re now verging on trolling so have a good day.

I said “reduced it”, and that was the spinning I referred to, not the whole post.

Sorry, I didn’t catch your answer but it’s not necessary. I don’t troll, you have a good day too.