Exactly that is what I meant to say. There must be a starting point. If the majority controls the hash rate, you can't just come up and say now I have a new rule in place and it needs to be implemented. Take for example if the current block size is 250kb and a hard fork is required to change it to 1mb for example, how would that be made valid??
And that is where the speculation on a hidden secret code comes about. It's like a passphare that gives authority to one single node to dictate the terms.
And that is where the speculation on a hidden secret code comes about. It's like a passphare that gives authority to one single node to dictate the terms.
Just because you don't know how something works does not mean that you can create a conspiracy theory out of thin air that will somehow be true. There is no secret code.
If developers are under the impression that some change in the protocol is needed, they'd first discuss it and then propose it to the community. If there is some kind of consensus (for example, if a majority of mining operations say "yeah let's do it") the change is implemented into bitcoin core and possibly alternative node implementations, typically with a (future) block number after which the change will become active, to give nodes time to update their software. Once the block number has been reached, it depends on whether a majority of miners are actually using the new protocol version. If only some have upgraded, the "fork" will fizzle and fail because the main blockchain continues to adhere to the old protocol. If the majority use the new rules, only those who did not upgrade are left behind and will be unable to mine blocks that are accepted by the rest of the network. In either case, one version of the protocol "wins", and whoever uses the other version has a strong incentive to switch because otherwise he'd be unable to produce valid blocks.
Onkel Paul
^^^ this sounds logical to me.
Thank you for posting this
Onkel Paul may I ask if you know anything about the Safe Mode trigger?
I have just read this post of Satoshi's yesterday and until then I was under the impression that the longest chain always wins.
However, Satoshi clearly states here: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.29479
That: Safe mode can still be triggered by seeing a longer (greater total PoW) invalid block chain.
That is an old version of Bitcoin. Is the Safe Mode trigger still there?
And how does it work exactly?
Thank you for your time
