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Topic: Preview build of our new client (only for the adventurous!) - page 2. (Read 2221 times)

member
Activity: 84
Merit: 10
You had me until:

  • UI is currently a .Net Windows Forms app.
hero member
Activity: 630
Merit: 500
Posts: 69
The catch is - we're closed source, at least for now. We feel that earning people's trust is about more than
just dumping the source code. Our source tree also has a lot of work in progress on cool features that we
would like to be the first client to support. Once we're ready to come out of beta, we'll re-evaluate this
decision. I am well aware of how well this will go down around here and I preemptively support your calls
for my head on a spike.

Nothing against that, your choice, your program.   I am curious if you have some credentials on projects you have worked on/been a part of, web sites, anything, that would make me want to put an executable file form you on my computer.  Good luck btw, I know security is of course priority one, but if people want things to expand, they have to think of the UI too.
newbie
Activity: 14
Merit: 0
Hi all!

For the past few weeks we've been working on an alternative UI for the Bitcoin client.
The goal is to create something that my mom could use and I believe we're getting there!
We feel that this is an important step towards mainstream acceptance of Bitcoin.

Technical details:
  • based on 0.3.23, tracking changes as they come in
  • UI is currently a .Net Windows Forms app. We have a native Mac and Win32 versions in the pipeline but for now we like to exploit the fast iteration of C# to find what works and what doesn't as quickly as possible.
  • Native code (bitcoin and supporting libraries) is statically linked with a thin managed C++ wrapper.
  • Private keys are encrypted with EVP_des_ede3_cbc with random IV and each wallet has a random salt.
  • Other than the encryption, the wallet format is the same but for now our client will refuse to import unencrypted wallets.
  • Import / export wallet to a simple JSON format. Import can merge in wallets encrypted with a different password (of course only if you have it).
    I think it's a more suitable format for backups (including the possibility of printing it out! Smiley )
  • RPC currently disabled
  • Early support for one of the bitcoin: URL schemes (the one that goes bitcoin:/amount/address/note, we'll support the others too).

In case you're wondering - we're eating our dogfood and have moved our meager Bitcoin holdings into our client.
It certainly makes testing and debugging a little bit more exciting!

The catch is - we're closed source, at least for now. We feel that earning people's trust is about more than just dumping the source code.
Our source tree also has a lot of work in progress on cool features that we would like to be the first client to support.
Once we're ready to come out of beta, we'll re-evaluate this decision.
I am well aware of how well this will go down around here and I preemptively support your calls for my head on a spike.

So here are the rules:
  • Don't run binaries from sources you don't trust, especially on a PC that has your Bitcoin wallet!
  • Don't put any non-trivial amount of Bitcoins into beta software! (we do and it can be nerve wracking!)
  • Even with the non-trivial amounts, back up your wallet frequently!
  • Don't ever forget your password, they are not recoverable!

For the terminally curious, here it is: http://allbitcoin.com

Sample the screenshots or run it in a VM - as far away from your wallet.dat as you can.

We would very much like to hear what you think about our progress so far!

- AllBitcoin
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