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A Development Roadmap in Context

A roadmap in open source development communities, such as those that drive permissionless blockchain software and networks, is a discussion among active contributors. The discussion asks of the contributors:

What are you working on?
When do you expect to have that completed?
What do you hope to work on?
When do you hope to have that started or completed?
What are you considering for the future?
How would you rank your personal development priorities for the project?
How would you rank development priorities for the project at large?
Where is more contribution sought and in what ways?

The discussion is then distilled and organized into a document.

Gridcoin's roadmap discussion has taken place over the past several weeks and I am thrilled to present the resulting document:

The Development Roadmap of the Gridcoin Network

Taking stock and looking forward

September 2019

Since the Release of the Previous Roadmap

Previous Roadmap

Before we look to the future, I believe it is important to acknowledge software and network developments of the past. Below is a breakdown of these developments both planned in the previous roadmap and in addition.

Milestones

Autotools - Closed on Jun 3, 2018
Annie Sue - Closed on Jul 24, 2018
Betsy - Closed on Oct 19, 2018
Camilla - Closed on Apr 3, 2019
Denise - Closed on May 10, 2019
Elizabeth - Closed on Aug 23, 2019

Developers With Commits

denravonska
iFoggz
James Cowens
Tomas Brod
The Charlatan
skcin
Cy Rossignol
caraka
Pythonix
Peppernrino
barton2526
a123b
personthingman2
michalkania
laanwj
letol
confuest
chrstphrchvz
RoboticMind
G-UK
smoe
scribblemaniac
rsparlin
linnaea

Major Developments

Stability
All Milestones

Steady superblock creation (ravon, jim owens)
Mitigate forking and reorganization issues (ravon)
Increased Syncing Speeds (ravon)
Bug fixes (ravon, jim owens, ifoggz, cycy)

CBR (jim owens, jringo)
GitHub Issue
Poll
Betsy Milestone

Develop an economic system that
- Incentivizes block creation
- Increases network security and stability
- Creates an intentional economic model to expand on in the future

The Gridcoin Oracle System (jim owens, ifoggz, tomasbrod, ravon)
Release Post
Denise Milestone

Develop an earned research reward distribution mechanism that scales to tens of thousands of beacons
NN Renamed and Ported to C++
Develop a neural net that can operate on both Linux and Windows clients
Rename the neural net to something more appropriate, at least outside of the codebase.
Develop an efficient superblock creation mechanism that ensures we do not DoS BOINC project servers.

Outreach (jringo, whoisterencelee, roboticmind, nateonthenet, Jim Owens)

Introduction Documents (ongoing)
Updated Gridcoin Whitepaper
Marketing Documents and Resources (ongoing)
Gridcoin Highlights
Blue Paper (ongoing)
GRC V8 Bluepaper
Gridcoin.us v2.0 (ongoing)
Gridcoin.world proposal

Miscellaneous

Polling definitions and parameters (jringo)
Polling Definitions and Parameters Proposal
- Develop clearly defined types of polls
- Develop clearly defined requirements for a proposal for each poll type to be valid
- Develop clearly define validation parameters that make a poll valid

Major Developments Not Found On The Previous Roadmap

UTXO Optimization (jim owens)
PR 1244
Side-Staking (jim owens, jringo, Pinkcoin)
Issue 202
PR 1265
Syncing Optimization (ravon)
Release Post
Preparation for Team Requirement Removal (jim owens, cycy)
Elizabeth Milestone

Infrastructure Development (jringo)
- Define the network and critical aspects
- Establish and focus channels of communication
- Define and develop a brand
- Lay foundation for outreach and marketing

Looking Forward

Below are expected software and non-software developments. Developments are not limited to those described, and not all described developments may see completion.

If you believe that you can contribute to any of the listed developments, please reach out to a developer or the community via GitHub, Slack, or Discord. Links have been provided.

Software Repo, for code development
Community Repo, for all non-code development

Slack Invite

Discord

Expected Software Developments

Team Requirement Removal
Most required mechanisms implemented. Expected with Fern release
Fern Milestone

Open GRC rewards to all BOINC participants by removing the Gridcoin team requirement

Whitelist/Greylist Automation
Most required mechanisms implemented. Final implementation required

Remove the need for a whitelist administrator by translating the whitelist/greylist rules into a code-is-law algorithm run by the Gridcoin software

Manual Reward Claims
In early architecture development. Design input sought
An Introduction to MRC
The Gridcoin Fireside #14 - MRC

Develop a way for crunchers to receive their earned research rewards without being required to stake
Utilize MRC-Fees to bootstrap a treasury system

UX/UI Improvements
512,000 GRC bounty for implementation of the new GUI. Ongoing development
New GUI Assets Ready to Go
Issue 847

Improve the overall user experience for new Gridcoin participants
Implement the new GUI assets

Magnitude Mechanism Improvements
In early design exploration. Input sought

Explore and possibly redefine how magnitude is distributed among BOINC projects and crunchers

GRC Distribution Mechanism Improvements
In early design exploration. Input sought

Explore and possibly redefine how GRC is minted and distributed

Treasury System
Basic skeleton outlined. Design and implementation input sought
Issue 202
The Gridcoin Fireside #17 - Building a Treasury

Develop a protocol-based mechanism to fund future developments, BOINC projects, initiatives, and scientific endeavors

Simplified Multi-Sig

Develop a simplified UX for multi-sig wallet creation and use

Code Rebase (continuing work with progressive developments)

Upgrade the codebase with the most recent Bitcoin/Peercoin/Blackcoin/etc. developments and reintegrate GRC specific mechanisms

Software Priorities

Priority illustrates how current developers are allocating their time and energy. An item's priority alone does not indicated an estimated time to completion.

High Priority

Team Requirement Removal
Manual Reward Claims
UX/UI Improvements

Medium Priority

Whitelist/Greylist Automation
Treasury System
Simplify Multi-Sig

Exploration Priority

Magnitude Mechanism Improvements
GRC Distribution Mechanism Improvements

Timing Expected Software Developments

It is impossible to time the release of a development that is not already complete. As such, developments have been ranked based on a combination of their estimated difficulty and priority ranking.

Short Term

Team Requirement Removal
Whitelist/Greylist Automation

Mid Term

Manual Reward Claims
UX/UI Improvements

Long Term

Magnitude Mechanism Improvements
GRC Distribution Mechanism Improvements
Treasury System

Expected Non-software Developments

All expected non-software developments will benefit from any community participation. Please do not hesitate to step forward to volunteer or, if you have provable reputation, reasonable requests for funding.

Short Term

Increased Marketing and Engagement

Mid Term

Increased Advertising
Increased Outreach
Increased Documentation
Tutorials and Visual Resources

Long Term

Further Bluepaper Development

Development Discussions

Development discussions are recurring topics in conversations among active contributors. Their basic principles are still being worked out.

Dynamic Block Rewards

Develop an economic model and algorithm that can control a monetary-fiscal-economic network through a permissionless blockchain-based protocol

Additional Superblocks/Abstraction Layer for Additional Computations

Develop distribution economics and technology for multiple incentive layers

Conclusion

It is always a pleasure to collect and organize the visions, musings, and developments of the folks working on Gridcoin. Whether it's for the science, for the future of crypto, for the challenge, or for the hell of it, everyone seems excited for the future and to thoroughly enjoy developing the project.

Personally, I can't wait to begin a new phase of growth with a steady base infrastructure, no BOINC team requirement, and a greater focus on marketing, outreach, and long-term infrastructure, game/network theory, and economic development.

For science!
j

The Development Roadmap of the Gridcoin Network (September 2019)