What an amazing thread! In my time here I don't think I've seen one quite like this. It seems to me that almost everybody in the community is involved in this discussion, and the issues herein are VERY IMPORTANT!
Why not write a proposal for what you want, offer to manage it, sell it to the community and recruit us or someone else to do the work?
You know quite well that this is absurd.
This documentation has to come from one of the top developers, probably BM himself.
Me (or anybody else) being a middle man in this process is pointless as there is no value added in my attempting to manage BM.
I understand that CNX has much more motivation to pursue a business opportunity like MAS than to create documentation and open up true competition against itself.
However CNX needs to make this altruistic (yet paid) effort or otherwise DPOS is pure fiction.
You got my message so I'll shut up now.
Adding new applications to the BitShares platform does not constitute any kind of a turn.
1) Stealth
2) Maker
3) Lending (Bond) market
4) Prediction market
5) MAS
We now have 5 and may well have a dozen such candidate businesses by this time next year.
In the mean time, each candidate needs a champion willing to raise or supply the cash to develop it.
Here is the manipulation, Stan: the above list is purely theoretical at this stage.
You pretend we have a choice but actually we don't.
As long as CNX is the only player capable of implementing changes affecting BitShares protocol - this is a one-man show.
DPOS and shareholders voting on worker proposals is pure fiction at this stage.
We (the shareholders) did not have a choice between Stealth and Maker. We were offered Stealth or nothing. So we chose Stealth.
Now again the same thing is happening: we do not have a choice between DEX and MAS. We are offered MAS or nothing.
So my appeal to CNX is this: be fair and offer us a choice. You are welcome to propose a vision but do not force this vision upon us (the shareholders).
And to have a choice we must wait till there is at least one more development team in the ecosystem capable of offering worker proposals as complex as Prediction Markets or Maker.
Then CNX will have every right to propose MAS as an alternative to DEX and let the shareholders actually choose between MAS and DEX (or choose to finance both).
I don't want to have developers who have a vision.
I want developers who are happy to be paid for implementing the vision of the shareholders.
As we have it now, it got all mixed up: we have developers and vision creators as one entity.
Which leaves us with this "choice": share their vision or sell.
Jakub, you are one of my proxies for good reason, you see things similarly to me in terms of getting things done.
I also see Stan's rhetoric as more hype than real, practical substance much of the time. More marketing than reality.
Here's my perspective:
1) I STRONGLY believe documentation and management are MAJOR reasons we can't attract more devs
2) CNX can't stay focused to complete major features through a complete deployment cycle
3) The DPoS governance model is great in concept, but the rough edges will never be resolved without focus
4) The pattern of management that CNX / Stan / Dan continue is too rich in vision and too lean in carrying it out
5) Leadership is more than a vision; it definitely starts there but practical results and management also matter greatly
I was going to elaborate on each of those points but I am only going to do so for item 1. I have lost the will to continue repeating myself when CNX seems hell bent on moving in their own direction, ignoring the community's input and repeating the same old mistakes AGAIN! I'm tired of this meandering management. Oh wait, it's New Years, Dan is going thru his yearly goals assessment. Watch out BitShares, another pivot may be coming your way!
-1- Pointing to exceptional people like xeroc as examples of how "anyone" can just look at the code and understand it are indeed ABSURD. How the fuck can you understand how to get shit done when things change ALL THE TIME? There is NO STABILITY HERE! Efforts aren't finished here! I've seen my share of code in my career and it's very rare that code of any significant complexity can be understood by new devs well enough to implement major functionality without some form of big picture guidance AS WELL AS the nuances of understanding the API at the low level. Look at all the time wasted by various non-core dev teams when the skills and knowledge they learned under BitShares 1 was thrown out the window unilaterally and without ANY warning! Do you think the management genius that let that happen is endearing and appealing to devs, or does it convey just the opposite attitude?
The DEX is "done" except for...
Well then, IT'S NOT DONE, so stop saying it is. If it's "done" why can't devs code liquidity bots? The API is inconsistent, the docs are minimal and you expect devs to "figure it all out" on their own, especially when it's in a constant state of flux? That's delusional. It's simply not practical to expect anyone outside of the core dev team or other highly experienced DPoS coders (and just how many of those are there?) to be able to or want to act as tech writers to bring documentation up to a level that learning the BitShares API is possible quickly for any outside dev proficient in C++.
Enough already.
CNX, stop this constant shifting, and stop disrupting focus. I see you going back to your Bytemaster Blog, that's nice, I truly enjoy reading them. Just be sure you are clear about where the CNX team focus is. Put some detailed thought into that and come up with a solid plan worthy of your intellect. Find a way to stick to it, change only when it's necessary after weighing the pros, cons and costs, on community, investor / shareholder morale.
There are many of us here who are true believers in the original vision of a decentralized monetary system based on DPoS blockchain tech, but it's really tough to keep seeing the same mistakes in and shortcomings in CNX management. You have accomplished a great deal, but it's not enough. When it is, it will be obvious to you and everyone else.