Topic: [ANN][PRA] Practice Coin - Learn by Doing - page 2. (Read 8371 times)

Hi, very good job, the truth is that I am learning a lot, but I have a doubt, what repositories and programs would have to install in linux to be able to put into practice what I learned?

Greetings and sorry for my English

Folks, I apologize for having put this project on hold, but I'm very actively involved in the development of a fun little coin named Zero, a clone of Zcash.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1796036.new#new

If you are looking to get into some design decisions and hands-on development, come on over.
  Tearo

And now for something completely different...

Wrote an article with details of the PBoC ICO decision and the fallout so far:
https://medium.com/@tearodactyl/revenge-of-empires-b2d695fe95b

The most immediate choice for an Altcoin PoW algorithm is Scrypt, which is in Litecoin.
And Litecoin codebase has been tracking Bitcoin releases rather well, with the Segwit code changes, at v0.14.2 level now.
Pretty sure I know how to clone that.

But, I'm interested in cloning a codebase with one of the other popular algo, like X11, X15, NIST5.
What were the original coins that introduced those algo, respectively, please?
What Bitcoin release are they at now, or are there their clones that are further along in upmerging?
  Tearo

Dear Folks, my apologies for disappearing and letting the http://practicecoin.com/ site go down.
Life intervened in a big way, and meanwhile, the hosting provider screwed up ;(

The site is back up, and I will do my best to catch-up and revive the effort.
  Tearo

Sounds like a good idea.  I started at Satoshi's original client and followed the patches.  It was a little easier that way, but involves a lot of work.  The Bitcoin Core code as it stands now is definitely something to stay away from considering the proposed changes and whether UASF and other projects will continue.  Like Gavin Andresen has said, the code is quirky.  All that stuff would have to be removed and the code base cleaned up.

I think a part of the target audience would match the requirements very well, like experienced programmers who want a better than average understanding of implementation details.  That suits me just fine.  Others might be just buyers looking to create scams with pre-mined coins, but who cares.  They should go away because they don't have the requisite knowledge or patience to develop for themselves or give it a try forking a project like Litecoin or Bitcoin Core.

I'd put the asking price of 0.3 BTC (last time I checked) out there for a basic no frills fork like that provided by cryptolife so long as it had the necessary documentation, or diffs were provided with source comments against the fork used to create it.

Yes, it seemed to be going somewhere and then just vanished.

I have been thinking of putting out of a course of a sort, with the intent of
not only showing what to change, but also why, and what is it for, and so on.
Sort of "garage mechanics" 101 for crypto.

The trouble is, you'd need to understand something about code and have
a little better than average computer skills (comfortable with linux) to get
benefit from that and I'm not sure if these requirements match the target
audience...

Nothing at practicecoin.com atm.

Can't find any snapshots at Wayback Machine.

Creating a new crapcoin has been more difficult than I anticipated.  "Just change a few parameters and viola!" it is not.  Then again I might not be very smart. 

Can anyone get something like this idea of practicecoin.com up and going again for BTC?  If so, how much?

Thanks 

Interesting concept, but I get page not found/ forbidden errors when i try to go to practicecoin.com and the links you have been posting

Been working through the process of how to post progress that was made so far, into Github repos with progressive commits demonstrating relevant steps. For the time being using my own account, until I figure out the right way and clone into the "practicecoin" Github account.

The overall project plan is as follows:

1) Straight clone of Litecoin 0.13.2.1
 A commit showing the Genesis block generation with current dates.
  - Change ports, address prefix
  - Build Qt wallet and the server on Ubuntu
  - Verify regtest, tesnet, mainnet operation
  - Deploy on two nodes - AWS and local
  - Use .litecoin directory, but carefully, so as not to mix up the chains
  - Mining
    -- RPC commands
    -- "cpuminer"
 
  - Skip checkpointing, DNS or IP 'seeder', Mining pool, Block explorer

  - Verify Windows build: needs doing, but a tedious process ;(
    -- Traditional Ubuntu build inside a VM
      --- Litecoin 0.13.2.1 instructions are sparse
     -- Bitcoin 0.14 use of Windows 10-based Ubuntu, but the process fails with Litecoin 0.13.2.1 (been debugging)
     -- Native Windows cross-compile
       --- Not supported "officially", but numerous guides on the net
       --- Inside Visual Studio (has been done in the past, but is it worth the effort)

[Question] Version numbers compiled into the code
  - Bitcoin code special cases versions and block numbers, dealing with several old hard forks
  - Litecoin code has same
    -- Genesis block is traditionally version 1, and versions run up to 4 or 6, before being supplanted by BIP9 masks (true?)
    -- What block version(s) do various miners or mining pools generate? (internal, cpuminer, GPU)
  - Best method to force "activate" for CSV and SegWit right away (or after a certain early block)


2. Clone 1. to use 'practicecoin' and 'PRA' names throughout, including the names of binaries and Qt signage
  - Different ports, Genesis block
  - Validate 3 nets, Windows build


3. Improvements:
  - Difficulty adjustment
  - Block rates
  - Reward schedule
    -- Premine


4. Checkpoint
  - Blocks
  - Transactions
  - Work


5. Online tools:
  - Seeder
  - Mining pool
  - Block explorer


6. Scrypt GPU miner: test and benchmark
  - AMD
  - Nvidia
  - ASIC?


7. Wallets:
  - MAC
  - Paper
  - Android
  - iOS
  - Appearance and security


8. Algorithm support:
  - X11+
  - NIST5
  - Scrypt variants


9. Code reviews, security audits, stress testing


10. Document everything, with a FAQ, quick HOWTOs, illustrated tutorials, videos, curriculum


OUCH, sounds like a seriously major project for a bunch of people. Urgently soliciting suggestions, recipes, contributions, bounties. You can assume that I will RTFM and Google more obvious stuff myself.

NOTE: We are working with the latest Bitcoin/Litecoin codebase, not one of the 2 or 3-year-old ones, that vast majority of Altcoins have been based upon. Guides and suggestions for those have been reviewed already and found lacking, which led to the formation of this initiative in the first place.

Generic statements that "this is easy" or "has been done already" will results in "name that tune" responses.

Several serious members already went through a number of these tasks, in their own repos. I can attempt to review and merge the changes, but would really welcome merges, pull requests, anything. Also, Litecoin is moving towards 0.14 Bitcoin compatibility and Bitcoin is at 0.14.1. So the codebase will always be a moving target.

So far I have intentionally avoided creating a Slack channel or Telegram or whatever chat environment is in vogue on a given day. Plenty of dead channels around already, at least a dozen that I've signed up for. If three people commit to check and post on some channel once a day, I'll publish one.

Presently I steer more dedicated folks to sign-up and post on the practicecoin.com Forum http://practicecoin.com/index.php/forum/practice-coin-forum/
Already have been chatting directly with a couple of contributors via Skype.
  Tearo

Question to the community in the thread:
Should I bother to respond to trolls, or simply ignore? I am leaning towards an Ignore.
  Tearo
P.S. Never did post on Reddit, but perhaps this is a good reminder that I should. Narkive is some kinda newsgroup archive, prolly not worth a second look. Opinions on cross-posting on Bitcoingarden.org?

Its been a while since u first posted on reddit and narkiv, what have u been doing all this time and why havent u contributed to the broad society instead of spamming about ur proctology  coin, that is indeed suspicious that u came up with it in the last seconds before the countdown on ur unpaid mortgage ended. I dont know if u have an agenda but u are looking to rake in money and therefore should be vetted by a trustworthy person that can vouch for u preferably ur advocate.

A power grab by Libertarians, Peacenicks sharpening weapons, Humanitarians ready for violence, Orgasmic farmers braiding sheep, Demagogues globalizing, Repo men glowing orange.
Should be fun.
  Tearo

Discussing an alternative to Chronobank, an Altcoin that would be measured in the units of Hours, but with a very localized community focus
http://practicecoin.com/index.php/topic/alt-alt-coin-concepts-other-units-of-account-hours-bushels-barrels-tonnes/

BTC_wolf, welcome to our growing group of Altcoin enthusiasts. Behind the scenes, we are making progress in getting our first cryptocurrency minted. It has been a tad slower than expected, as we are all doing this in our spare time. But the goal of having a well understood and documented and tested Altcoin codebase, derived from the current Bitcoin baseline, is very relevant to many developers on this forum.
  Tearo

I registered in the forum, I would be very happy to be able to follow this project closely and promote it on Twitter

Three more applicants for GIGs, with web, graphics design and marketing skills.

Supporting via email and Skype almost a dozen fledgling Altcoin proposals, to help them hone their ideas and work through marketing and launch plans. Anything from total noobs to rather knowledgeable individuals. Something like 50/30/20% split between Asia, US, and Eastern Europe. Some of the projects are purely commercial, but two can be considered as "public benefit" or "special interest".
  Tearo

Five out of ten Practice Coin Rewards are still available http://practicecoin.com/index.php/topic/introductions/
  Tearo

Coin Parameters and Timeline http://practicecoin.com/index.php/2017/05/09/coin-parameters/

First cut of the PRA coin is now running on 'regtest'.
For early access to the 'testnet' sign-up on the Practice Coin Forum.
Seven rewards for the established Bitcointalk members joining the Forum are still available:  http://practicecoin.com/index.php/topic/forum-rules/#post-95
There will also be rewards for participation in the 'testnet'.
  Tearo