[hashcash] Some of my thoughts
- From: Mate Soos <msoos@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: hashcash@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2006 13:34:01 +0200
Hi!
Some of my thoughts about the discussions that were going on:
1) Modifying SMTP with challenge-response, etc: I do not blame anyone
for putting amazing amounts of pressure on someone who attempts to
modify SMTP. I have worked a lot with different mail servers (sendmail,
postfix, courier) and I can tell you: it's a nightmare even now. SMTP
must not be changed. If you contest this, you are not aware of the
magnitude of problems it is already causing
2) Concerning reputation: I wrote my Diploma thesis on trust model
simulation in ad-hoc networks. Let me tell you one thing: it is a
nightmare. I personally read the top 50-80 articles concerning
reputation in such a network (which resembles the internet from the
spammer point of view), and I did not find even one that came close to
solving the problem without using some proprietary hardware (i.e. smart
card, etc). This is not just my imagination working, this is a fact. If
you think that it can be done in one way or another, please tell the
research community, I am sure you will be richly awarded.
3) I personally believe that the idea of hashcash is brilliant. It is
transparent, simple and works. I believe the mailing list should be
propagating this idea, trying to make software compliant (e.g. there is
still no plugin for thunderbird). I personally tried this (I tried to
modify enigmail plugin for thunderbird so that it would make hashcash
stamp), but failed, I am not a really good programmer. At least I tried.
4) Regarding distributed and DNS-based distribution of the
hardness(lenght of 0's) of the stamp: Doing it the DNS way is simple.
Once hashcash gains momentum, there will be other people who solve this
problem (companies, maybe, or just commited individuals). I do not think
we should be concerned about this. If people realise that hashcash has a
huge potential, they will solve this problem.
I know that what I wrote sounds harsh. However, I believe there should
be groups of people doing individual tasks, not one group doing all
tasks. Our mission is to propagate hashcash and show its viability. Once
it is shown to be working, others will take care of the rest.
Máté
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