Forking Bitcoin software will only concern miners, not ordinary users

One thing with Internet related stuff is that people seems to assume that you are a tech wizard. I’m not. I’m into this from a political background. (Free information, free speech, civil rights etc.) I understand some very general basics about computing, but that’s all. As most people I use computers and the Internet as tools in my work. I almost never go under the hood.

Now, Bitcoin: a splendid idea! There is a need for a free, non-government controlled method for payments. And again, I get the general idea of how it works. But go into technical details, and I’m completely lost. (However I have great ideas about how to use Bitcoins.)

So, I was somewhat confused as news started to spred about a possible fork in the open source software running Bitcoin. Frankly, all I really understood is that there is a conflict about how best to scale up the system.

There is a lot of information out there. Except one piece of information. What will this mean for me as an ordinary Bitcoin user?

I’m not a miner. I don’t even have the complete Blockchain stuff downloaded to my computer. I just have a Bitcoin wallet with a third party. Like most people, I’m just an ordinary user.

For Bitcoin to gain ground people need to be able to trust the system. And, as you know, there have been some ups and downs in that respect.

So, here I stand, in an ocean of information. But with no answer to how — if at all — I will be affected by the software fork. Will there be two, competing Bitcoin systems? Will I be able to use and receive Bitcoins as usual in the future? Or what?

And I’m not the only one. Trust me.

I have no idea if forking the Bitcoin software is a good idea or not. But I’m absolutely sure that the lack of plain, simple information about what is going on is confusing people. And confusion undermines trust — leading to a slower adoption of the whole Bitcoin concept.

Luckily, I have friends. So I asked Rick Falkvinge. It tured out I don’t need to care. This does not apply to existing Bitcoins. It’s only of interest for miners. Thank you Rick.

But I’m hardly the only one who to have been confused today. In the future, it might be a good idea to keep the broad base of ordinary Bitcoin users informed — before you start to meddle with the system. Especially if it in some way might be controversial.

As mentioned, the future of Bitcoin is all about the general public understanding and trusting it.

/ HAX

Note: It seems, the fork in the Bitcoin software (regarding the size of the blocks) will only be activated if it is supported by at least 75% of miners.

Some links:
Bigger Blocks Mean More Decentralization for Bitcoin »
The Bitcoin Schism Shows the Genius of Open Source »