
Programmable blockchains in context: Ethereum’s Future - prostoalex
https://medium.com/@ConsenSys/programmable-blockchains-in-context-ethereum-s-future-cd8451eb421e#.czg9jk79h
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WhitneyLand
This article is way too long and could have said the same thing in a quarter
of the space. Roundabout trips through history of IBM and the mainframe intend
to lay a foundational understanding but really don't succeed.

Even when it finally gets to blockchains and Ethereum I think we need a more
to the point description.

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t0mk
exactly, it's unnecessarily long. And it's written in a wannabe-cool language,
totally inappropriate for describing the technical concept.

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TeeWEE
Is there some article that better explains the subject matter? I would like to
learn more but i dont want to read this article.

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bachback
[https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/White-
Paper](https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/White-Paper)

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WJW
The idea of domain name serving over the internet without any intervention is
fascinating, though it would be interesting to see what the societal reaction
would be when someone registers childporn.com or assassinationmarket.com (with
corresponding content, of course). As soon as mainstream society discovers
that this content can't be taken offline, the backlash to the whole system
might be severe.

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bachback
good point. wikileaks was a small organization which managed to create an
uncensorable system, AFAIK among other things by using a wide net of ISP's
relations. one can solve some of these problems based on votes. currently
google and ICANN largely defines where the boundaries are (who-is policy of
domains, what constitutes trademark, etc.)

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iMark
I'm curious how the immutability of block chains meshes with the fragility of
programming. What happens when a contract on the Ethereum blockchain is found
to have a bug? How can it be amended?

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joosters
Simple! When a bug is found, someone (or even everyone) involved with the
contract loses their money. It's one of the many downsides to handing control
of your cash over to an irreversible computer program.

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CyberDildonics
Which part of the current legal system are you afraid of losing?

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mojotoad
Given that contracts can call other contracts and, presumably, set up new
contracts, I wonder if it's possible to set up self-referential loops of
never-ending contracts. Denial of service?

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amelius
Is it possible to run protocols like Bitcoin on top of this?

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kevinnk
If by Bitcoin you mean a block chain based cryptocurrency, then yes, since
Ethereum is already a blockchain based cryptocurrency. If you mean the exact
protocol of bitcoin, the answer is also yes (Ethereum is turning complete, so
it should be able to do anything minus networking) although in practice it
would be inefficient.

