Bitcoin Forum

Bitcoin => Armory => Topic started by: keewee on November 21, 2013, 07:17:37 AM



Title: Different versions online/offline
Post by: keewee on November 21, 2013, 07:17:37 AM
I don't recall reading this here but are there any issues running the testing version on the online computer while the offline computer has the stable version on it? The reason I ask is that I'm running OS X Mavericks on my online (primary, new) computer and Mountain Lion on the offline computer, which is older hardware (Core Duo Mac Mini). Do they play nicely together?


Title: Re: Different versions online/offline
Post by: etotheipi on November 21, 2013, 07:33:20 AM
There is exactly zero problems mixing and matching operating systems and Armory versions.  The communication between online and offline computers is done through pure-ASCII files on USB, and I don't think the protocol has changed one bit since Armory was released 2 years ago.  So even ancient versions of Armory can be used on the offline computer, with the latest on the online computer.  And as long as both OSes read and write ASCII files, there's no problem there either.

This is why it's rarely necessary to upgrade the offline system.  ECDSA signing hasn't changed, and BIP 10 hasn't changed (though it will with the new wallets, BIP 32, payment protocol, and multisig!).  However, I have added some extra things that help offline signing; like popup warnings when transactions exhibit suspicious patterns, etc.  But it's not critical to upgrade it.  

The exception is this version I'm about to release: some people may optionally upgrade because they want the fragmented backup features.


Title: Re: Different versions online/offline
Post by: keewee on November 21, 2013, 09:20:43 AM
Thanks for the detailed reply!

Regarding the new payment protocol. I'm assuming BIP 10 will be retained for backwards compatibility between clients. Given this, if the offline computer is solely being used for coins that are in cold/offline storage then I can continue to use the older client for this purpose in the foreseeable future?