Now that I've got real hard data to work with, that is to say that thanks to having the server and web interface back online and that I can access the data, I've been able to confirm against my wallet transactions that
expected payouts did indeed continue for a 24 hour period after the stratum shutdown (they do not show on the server side stats however, as would be expected with a shutdown).
Of course, I couldn't confirm that until I had server side data.
If the pool operator knew what he was doing, he would have, should have, stated this and made the data available instead of saying “p2pool pays direct to the user when a block is found”.
All subsequent “dialog” would have been unnecessary.
Let's recap:
I ask if “all payouts due before going offline will be paid?
The correct answer is yes. (Indeed, that is what happened.)
The incorrect answer was the answer given (and this kind of babble to further exacerbate things
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.7913295 , and then insisting that the pool was still operating when it wasn't, etc., etc., giving you the idea that he's simply flipping you the bird - but he wasn't since he was really just trying to find a place to hide).
Everything else after that point was an exercise of one party trying to get at the truth, while the other evaded honest engagement to the point of using intimidation tactics (along with the help of some friends – suggesting that this is the modus operandi for a generalized phenomenon of incompetents running the show).
Instead of saying that so-and-so doesn't understand, or so-and-so is a troll, it would be a much better best practice to be honest and straight forward. Or did anyone really not know how a P2Pool payout really worked? The "
answer" was "
yes", and the secondary answer was “we will be able to confirm that the payouts happened once we have the pool back online”.
I correct myself, and apologize for calling Ahmed a fraud. A liar he still is since he was caught lying several times. Incompetent? Yes - at least to the point of not knowing how to communicate reality as it applies to a P2Pool, and most probably also to the extent of not really knowing the answer in the first place. He's probably a good person, and I hope I wasn't too hard on him. Calling him a fraud when he was most probably simply ignorant is certainly unfair, and given the new data brought to light, I must retract that statement.
How does one find themselves in the position of being mistaken for a fraudster? Too much insecurity and defensiveness leads to a black hole you can't climb out of. It's always best to be open and honest, especially when you purport to be working on open source projects!
As for everyone who was made to feel very uncomfortable by this exchange, I can only recommend further developing your critical analytical skills – even if you don't have the technical background, logic can still do wonders for your decision making (not to mention reading and understanding the issue to begin with). And expect a little more from yourselves and others than a menial sheeple attitude and existence.
Questions are to be answered, not disdained (or at least answered as best we can with the data available and in a serious manner).
Anyhow, the payouts did continue, for 24 hours after stratum shutdown, exactly how things should work, and exactly what expectations the first answer to the first question should have set.Hopefully this will be a learning experience for all of us.