I see XT as a terrible way of doing something that is needed. There clearly was no consensus prior release.
A central group of developers agreeing is not consensus. It doesn't matter whether core devs all agree or not because it isn't their sole decision. Anyone can release a client without prior approval because this is not a closed-source project. The network decides, not the developers. If you want a coin where the developers make all the decisions and the users have no choice, there are plenty of closed-source projects out there you might prefer.
Please see the last paragraph of
this post and my post
here for further reasoning because I'm getting tired of repeating myself about this.
I wish the Core devs would come to a compromise soon so we can relax & all the panic that's arose from the current situation will evaporate
If there's panic, it's only from those who don't understand how simple this really all is. Again, it doesn't matter if the core devs compromise or not because it's not their sole decision. They are not in charge. We do not need their permission. Running an alternative client doesn't give the developers of that client "control" of the network. Please try to understand this simple fact.
I completely agree with what you're saying and with the posts that you mention. But there's defenitiy a bigger picture here. Hearn was talkin about a "developer dictatorship" very openly, even asked Wladimir to take full control. This is not only about bigger blocks. This is an open discussion about governance. XT, Gavin and Hearn represent the "discussion is over, let's take control of the situation our own way" side of the debate. And sadly, on that side of the debate, the negotiation is over. Now it's (to my eyes) a popularity contest. Whoever has more followers will end up saying from now on how bitcoin will be developed, hence the change in governance.
A developer dictatorship is exactly what we're getting from XT. Even if I'm wrong, if XT succceeds, the precedent it establishes is "Changes won't be discussed and analyzed, they will be implemented no matter the risk". And you're fooling yourself if you believe there are no risks involved with the XT implementation.
Like I said, I'm all for block-size increase, but not this way.
I urge people to start running BTC Core nodes, even if they don't mine. Even if at the end this doesn't help, it sends a pretty clear message to the comunity, specialy when the nodes metrics have been going down.
Also, you can do this:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/close-plz-1155830http://notbitcoinxt.poolto.be