New Patches Released

As you probably know, Steem HardFork 20 was released 2 days ago and didn't go quite as smoothly as we had hoped. Steemit Inc. has now put out several updates to correct the issues we're facing. The most noticeable issue users experienced dealt with Resource Credits and the inability to post, comment, or upvote with their accounts. This was due to a bug where everybody's RCs were pushed back to a negative value, instead of starting at zero. A quick fix was pushed out via 0.20.3 to correct this which I installed on my witness immediately.

NOTE: I've been glued to our witness forums and other channels so I'm on top of everything that's going on. And my witness has not missed a beat.

Updating to v0.20.4

Today, v0.20.4 was released to fix even more bugs that have been found, and to ultimately restore continuity on the blockchain. The most noticeable patch in this version will multiply the resource budgets by 10x.

According to Steemit Inc.

This should guarantee that users will be able to do around 10 times as many operations on the blockchain over the course of 5 days than they are able to now, although this could vary depending on the types of operations. The root cause of the most glaring issues that users are facing is that the initial resource budgeting was far too limiting. Dramatically increasing the resource budgets is the fastest way to remove those limits and return users to the experiences they are accustomed to.

There has been some debate as to whether this will truly correct the issue. But we're moving forward with the patch nonetheless. And I've already updated my witness with this newest version.

Other Fixes in this Release

You can read the full release notes on Github to learn about other fixes this patch aims to correct. Most of the issues are pertaining to RCs which are what allows users to transact on the blockchain, and was the highlight of HF20's release. It's unfortunate that the issues we're having involve the end users (and their experience) to this extent. Had it been another aspect of the blockchain, many people would've never even noticed. But because this directly impacts the way users transact on the platform, it's gotten a lot of bad press.

My Thoughts

I'm glad to see that we're on the right path to correcting these issues. Although it hasn't been pretty, we're getting the job done. And we have to give ourselves credit as the front-runner in this market. We're the leading blockchain when it comes to a freemium social media crypto platform. And the new features we're adding have never been done before. We're trailblazers in a market that we basically created! So yeah... let's give ourselves a little break.

At the same time, let's learn from past mistakes. It goes without saying that Steemit Inc. has been bombarded with complaints, frustrations, and negative comments. But they've also received some very constructive criticism which I truly believe they've taken to heart. Witnesses like @reggaemuffin have offered sincere solutions for future blockchain releases and how we move forward with testing new code. And @ned has even appeared in our witness channels which is the first I've seen since I began my journey as a witness. So I'm very optimistic for our future and what this blockchain will bring down the road!