I’m a muppet. I am the first to admit it.
That is why I have set up a ‘witness’ server.
Linux, eh yes well, let’s just say it is not my forte.
Having seen a post by the electric Mr Jerry Banfield I’ve been moved to give being a ‘witness’ a go.
Firstly, I’ve got to say the set up process is a torture. There is no idiots guide. At least I couldn’t find one. I’ll be Frank, because Frank has given me permission, Steem’s witness system seems pretty gnarly.
If I want to mine a cryptocurrency, click bang, you can do it. POW is, electricity+capital = $$$. No arse to kiss, not games playable. Its cold. POW is cool.
On the other hand, the ‘witness’ system is basically code + politics and it has an aristocracy, where the guys in the top 20 with the best powdered wigs get all the land, money and wenches because they are part of a self-reinforcing group. Sorry I forgot the peasants gets 1 slice in 21.
Of course, as Vlad Putin says, “Oligarchs deserve everything they get,” and indeed who can argue.
My humble guess is the reason witnesses are so thin on the ground is that getting a ‘witness’ up needs serious nerd skills and a desire to burn $500+ bucks or more a year on a hope and a prayer and lots of kissy-kissy to have a chance to see a return.
At least for me, working out the process of getting a ‘witness server’ is a-kin to riffling through Einstein’s draws to try and work out how to build a nuclear reactor.
Learning to be a Unix guru and hacker with the prospect of flushing $500+ down the toilet only to be occasionally throw a bone from the high table is also not an appealing prospect. No wonder there aren’t many ‘witnesses.’
So why do it?
It’s a ‘skill yourself up’ challenge. (A big one.)
It supports what should be a great project.
New stuff is always fun.
Test STEEM’s core nervous system to see if it has any hope of long term success. (Longevity is a tricky trick)
Crypto is going to upend and improve a lot of thing and Steem could be one of the big pieces of that picture. Yet it could be Pets.com rather than Amazon.com. I want to know and you have to dig deep if you are going to have a chance to make the right call.
The whole Blockchain genre is: Code + Politics That’s heady mix. POW, POS, POC, blah, blah, these are all sociology experiments. Will they all work magic?
In my bones I feel the Proof of Stake methodology STEEM relies on could be its Achilles heal.
POS seems to be a repeat of the way our society works currently. History is full of abusive power concentrating stake holders, using their capital position to keep everyone else down. Money goes to money and that is what centralises and corrupts.
Is a POS therefore a guarantee of business as usual?
I could be wrong, but POW versus POS is a massive pivot point in this exciting new world and being a ‘witness’ is to be dunked straight into a dense POS reality. I need to know how POS pans out and the best way to do that is to be inside a POS system. so here I am.
I love my crypto-miners, they keep me warm at night, I have many, so now I will learn hands on about the other side of the mirror, the Proof of Stake world. Will it be my friend?
That lesson alone is worth ‘witnessing’ for Steem.
In any investment there is a simple test. Which way does the money flow. To you or from you. If it flows out, someone else is receiving it and for an investment, that’s not good.
I will see first-hand how this works and I will tell you blow by blow and there will be no kissy, kissy. The kissy, kissy of POS is not a pretty sight. I don’t have to fawn to my POW miners, I just need to give them Kilowatts. They need fans not flattery.
But I am here to learn POS and give some time, money and resources to the STEEM community in exchange for a exploration of a new paradigm.
So thanks dear and wonderful readers for your valuable and near divine attention, if you could honour me and grant me your valuable witness vote I will be infinitely indebted you.
“Muah, muah, muah, darling.”
My Seed IP is: 45.76.140.222:2001 and you can vote for me @chillbill
Let the journey begin.