I understand some of you have asked for the script of the AMA video.
Translation was done by me and apologies if some things are not completely clear.
Hope somebody can comment and make it better
Apparently the Forum is not allowing more than 32,000 characters at one go so it will be split in two parts.
AMA Questions
Intro
We are doing a Q&A session and before we begin I can feel many members of the BOS community are a bit disappointed with the lack of communication from our part regarding development and what we have been doing so far. Since the fundraiser we have been very active to position and differentiate ourselves in the cryptocurrency scene and also trying to structure an ecosystem that can last in the long run. Soon we will have a chance to publicize and promote what we have been doing. For whichever project, in order to mature, internal incubation is necessary and there has been a change in team structure and organization, finding partners, finding talent, securing governance structures etc. have been going on and we have accumulated good results. We will have a session soon to explain a bit more in detail based on facts. From now on we will try to communicate a bit more with what we have and I will appear on videos once a month. I would like to thank the community for your patience and we will communicate more from now on with solid results.
1.
t-spark
Will node software be supported and maintained for: Windows 7/10, Mac OS/iOS, Android 5/6/7, Linux (which version), other?
The question is about which operating system BOSnet will support and we are approaching this in two ways, development and operation. For operation purposes we are using cloud which is based on Linux and development wise we are using MacOS so focus lies on these two operating systems. We are looking to support other operating systems such as Windows at a later stage when the product is stable and mature, but for now we are focusing on Linux and MacOS for development and operation. Just to let you know, the prototype is using Python and development of BOSnet is being done by D and both languages have many advantages so there will be no problem to support other operating systems.
2.
t-spark
Will combined btw. super wallets be available, where family members or friends or members of an investment club can combine their private wallets into 1 wallet with 1 public address?
The question is about having a wallet that can keep multiple public addresses and I feel strongly that we should have such function incorporated in our wallet. Having multiple addresses in a single wallet and being able to manage your funds from that single wallet is definitely necessary and will be upgraded. Although it is not included in the roadmap and won’t be able to give you timeframe right now, it will be included on our schedule.
3.
t-spark
How does the BOS blockchain VirtualMachine deal with Oracles?
Are they included or planned to be included in the future
or does BOS rely on external (re)sources?
This question is related to Virtual Machines and Oracles, or put another way, trusted third parties. To discuss the relationship among our blockchain, Trust Contracts and trusted third parties, you first need to know Trust Contracts are not running on Virtual Machines. We aim for native execution, or execution of binaries at the operating system level, and the problems arising by doing so, such as security, will be addressed by a sandbox. The native code will be executed inside that sandbox. As you may well know, Docker works like this. The relationship between trusted third parties, or Oracles as you describe it, and the working environment is like this. Say for example, that there is an app in which the next step is dependent on the weather. The app needs to receive the weather information but this data is not created from within the blockchain. A reliable external source needs to provide that information and with that data, the app can decide and move on to the next step. We cannot address how trusted third parties are handled but only how trusted third parties can connect through API and how to guarantee their integrity. I talked about how to connect a trusted third party when developing an app, but what we are concentrating on right now is how to design a sandbox better and how to optimize the connection between this sandbox and Trust Contracts. We are considering how to handle trusted third parties at a later stage.
4.
t-spark
Does BOS blockchain VM has an inbuilt RNG (random number generator) process
or plans to have one in the future?
This is very good question, and the question is will BOS blockchain support RNG or have plans to have one in the future. The problem with RNG is that it needs to create a random number but at the same time all nodes need to agree and share the same outcome. This may be a conflicting idea. Obviously, if a random number is needed only for a single node than that is a program issue so no problem but the problem is if all nodes need to agree and come to a consensus for a certain random number. I think RNG can be essential when developing an app. For example, if I were to develop an app that would give me this week’s lottery numbers, then the numbers need to be random and the entire blockchain, or all nodes, needs to agree. There isn’t a real and exact solution to this but the most likely solution is to synch the timing of how often the random number is generated with block intervals. In our blockchain, consensus is reached approximately every five seconds, and we can make all nodes agree on a random number bearing that in mind. So to summarize, if you need a random number for a single node then it isn’t a problem, but if you need the blockchain to reach a consensus for a certain random number then, it is possible by synching the time to reach consensus. I think such application is possible because five seconds is not a long time compared to other existing blockchains such as Bitcoin which takes a long time to reach consensus.
5.
miheico
When do you plan to launch boscoin mainnet and testnet?
This question is about the time schedule of BOScoin MainNet and TestNet but before I answer the question let me clarify about some terminology. We use the term TokenNet for the current live form of BOScoin and use BOSnet for what people refer to as MainNet, which will include features described in the white paper, so we have TokenNet and BOSnet, and we have mFBA which will be the consensus protocol, and also TC or Trust Contracts which is a programmable set of rules similar to Smart Contracts, and Congress regarding governance, and these are the main components comprising BOSnet. There may be some confusion regarding the time schedule and I would like to clarify that first. Currently TokenNet is based on the Stellar code but it is nonetheless the basis of the BOScoin network and with that network, tokens have been distributed and the blockchain is being updated. So TokenNet is very important and contains value so maintenance and upgrades are our responsibility. In this roadmap we will migrate and progress from TokenNet to BOSnet seamlessly but this TokenNet, which is based on Stellar core with only slight modifications, so we will keep TokenNet API and only replace the core, and testing is scheduled for March. So in March we will test all what we’ve been developing such as consensus protocol etc. and in our roadmap, we call this stage Baby Walk. It will be based on TokenNet and the strategy is to share the code and build it and expand it outward. It is not like TokenNet and BOSnet are two separate things, but TokenNet is the inner core and other functions and features will be added on top of it. Expansion is the keyword. So, the core would be the consensus mechanism and remittance and on top of that, features such as Congress and Trust Contracts will be added and this is how we are approaching it. So then when is MainNet coming out? I just now mentioned on the course we are taking and that we are expanding on top of a solid basis, and then the question should be “When will you start with your own code and also keep up the quality?” or “What is your code all about?”. The answer is we are going to start running the network with our own code in March. We have been conducting tests on a large scale based on Amazon cloud service regarding the network quality of TokenNet, for example, stability of the network and how it can handle the nodes, or if the quorums will run fine etc. It has meaning in itself because we can safely confirm that the network can handle transactions safely. If the question is “When will what you have envisioned reflect in the network?” Then we are trying to estimate that time as well. Most of the components are reflected in the roadmap as you can see in the diagram, but every milestone has several premises. The current roadmap takes into consideration of human resource and other factors that may affect quality, etc. and you can see that the stages are divided in March, May and July and you can take this as the basic roadmap. You may ask “Why does it keep getting delayed?” and the fundamental reason is that team building of developers was behind our original schedule and it took more time than anticipated to study the code and materialize. If you look at the roadmap, consensus protocol, Trust Contract, Congress and Public network are presented and we have to make good with our goals and stick to the roadmap. So this year you can observe progress and plan business opportunities to be built on top of the network. What we take to be important is, at every stage we will conduct audits by third parties. We are collaborating with experts from KAIST and these experts will verify the code and test any weaknesses when the code is made public. We are writing the code from scratch and we take security as a priority so it is included in our roadmap. By the end of the year, you will be able to see the product running on its complete form and see businesses running on top of it. Looking at the roadmap, you may wonder what the purpose of our network is. ITOA for example, is an IoT platform and stresses scalability for their consensus protocol. We are focusing on how to handle credit. Because we are focusing on how good mutual, or common, credit can be utilized and digested in the network, it takes time to research and build Congress exquisitely. The competitive edge of BOS Platform will come from how well of a platform we can build that can handle common credit. There have been developments on this front and we will explain what credit means and how we plan to incorporate into our platform. By doing so, I think will explain what we strive for, and how we will make it happen. It is hard to explain everything in one sitting but the technical roadmap is as it is, and we will further explain what is going on and what will happen whenever I have the opportunity. The roadmap will be made public when this video is released and when it does, if further questions arise, I will answer. Thank you.
6.
t-spark
Which new and creative security measures does BS blockchain VM has against network congestion or failure by some kind of DDoS or “Crypto Kitties” or programming/DAPPs mistake (don’t tell me that because BOS is faster as any other blockchain, it will not happen, because IT WILL HAPPEN without measures.)?
This question is with regard to possible congestion or failure in case of DDoS or “Crypto Kitties” like apps and what safety measures we have. It is a very realistic and good question. What we need to realize is that the bandwidth of a public blockchain is a limited and costly resource. So the real question lies in how to utilize this resource efficiently. If in the future when technology is more advanced and consensus algorithms are more matured and thus able to provide a broader bandwidth, we may not face these issues. By a broad bandwidth I mean being able to seamlessly run various dapps on the network. Unfortunately this is not the case. To make most out of such limited resource, for BOSnet, I think the best way to go about this issue is for the Congress to decide which takes precedence over the other. In that way we can give priority to certain public services first and then other apps shall have a certain order. If BOS network participants decide that Crypto Kitties shall take priority then that is the way it should be. If a certain important app must take precedence over other than that decision is up to Congress. Of course if there is a broad enough bandwidth later on than it shouldn’t be a problem and we don’t need to prioritize but there is a limit on bandwidth right now, so I think apps that are used by many, or have a certain level of importance should take priority.
7.
t-spark
Do you plan to implement measures to deal with frauds and steals?
E.G. blocking accounts by congress vote or a delegated institution of the congress.
Thank you for a lot of great questions t-spark. If an account is causing trouble, for example, used in theft or fraud, we need an effective way to impose sanctions to such behavior such as blocking such accounts if the Congress sees fit or as you say. There may also be personal issues but if the account were to be found associated with terror or a clear violation of laws then there is no argument, restrictions need to be placed. However, there may also be some negative side effects. For example, such measure can be exercised to attack a minority, so we need to discuss measure that can not only deter foul behavior but also prevent it from being abused. A balanced point of view is necessary. There may be other issues as well such as restrictions to objective information for Congress to make a clear judgement. There is no doubt we must implement measure but when it does, an intense debate is necessary prior to any implementation and even after that, it must be used cautiously and under strict conditions.
8.
t-spark
Will BOS blockchain be able to have tokens like Ethereum with its ERC-20 token format or NEO with their token?
Already some details available about it?
With regard to having new tokens like ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network, it is of course possible because we strive to be a platform. Theoretically there are no limitations whatsoever, so I can say it is possible. What I want to suggest though is, I would like to introduce a new concept which we call “Public Financing” to our community, which is an application of traditional Project Financing onto blockchain, and not necessarily issue a new token but increase the supply of BOScoins. The technical process will be similar to ERC-20 but if the network, or Congress, sees it is more beneficial for the overall network and the negative effects of increasing supply can be negated by a greater contribution to the network by pursuing that venture, then Congress may approve such project and just give the funds to the proposer. As I mentioned already, doing an ICO on top of our platform and issuing a new token is perfectly possible but with our unique feature we call Public Financing we aim to attract outstanding projects that can benefit the entire network in the long run. We will introduce this concept in more detail soon.
9.
kcp
What is the benefit of keeping the development private?
The question is why not make any of our progress public and get it reviewed by others. I think it is a matter of style. If we feel the time is right then of course we will open it for public review and listen to both suggestions and criticism which is usually how an open source project gets developed. However small of an idea, an incubating period is necessary nonetheless. Feedback can only be valuable if the idea is materialized, codes are written beyond a certain level, and that code begins to have unique characteristics, but making the code public when we do not feel it is not yet mature would not draw much attention or even on the contrary, quickly make people lose interest in the project. That is why we chose to have an incubation period and the source code and development documents will be made public soon. It will not take that long and we will communicate more frequently regarding this matter after March.
10.
Heru
How Delicracy and the other Dapp are developing actually?
This question is with regard to Delicracy and Stardaq as described in the white paper and their development status. We included these two apps in the white paper to provide a killer app for the platform and we tested Delicracy as a prototype for a Korean political party, and tested Stardaq as pilot twice now. Tests itself have meaning on their own but it has more to do with seeing how the market reacts and how to overcome legal challenges. These processes are necessary to increase the probability of success and see if they can actually add a certain value in their respective markets. Another killer dapp we are developing right now is BOSolar, connecting Solar energy panels with blockchain. A prototype and demo business is already complete and finished. We are building apps to build an ecosystem but not every project can be released to the market immediately. We will continue looking for good projects and try to introduce it to our network. A more in-depth communication with the market is necessary for each project and if we feel the app has a competitive edge, we will launch it.
11.
Heru
Do you have public Test environnements we could use in order to help you to test the network and participate in Genesis dev!?
This question is asking how to participate in development when BOSnet is launched. Right now, both livenet and testnet for TokenNet are open and accessible, and you can test various things using TokenNet API. Trust Contracts are not materialized yet, but remittance and account tracking API is open to the public, and as you probably know BOS related explorers developed by third parties already exist. If you are willing to develop a service based on TokenNet and prototype and test it, please go ahead by all means because we will guarantee a smooth migration from TokenNet to BOSnet, from the code base to APIs. We are not abruptly ending TokenNet and launch BOSnet fresh out of nothing, but the transition will be seamless and API will keep its compatibility so whatever you do on TokenNet now will continue to have meaning on BOSnet.