Bitcoin Forum

Back in 2013, user "Matthew N. Wright" created this (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=236325.0) thread.


In 2015, user "JarvisTechnology" created this (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1056700.0) thread. According to it, it was meant to come in February 2015.


User "From Above" creates this (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1070396.0) thread.


Timeline (as far as I can see)
~June 2012: User "Matthew N. Wright" donates 10 BTC for the development of the new forum
June 17th, 2013: User "Matthew N. Wright" asks about that development of the new forum, mentions his 10 BTC donation and also asks for a status report regarding the last 12 months of development. link (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=236325.0)
May 2015: User "JarvisTechnology" asks about the progress development and understands that theymos could have run into some issues. JarvisTechnology asks when the new forum will come. link (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1056700.0)
May 2015: User "From Above" asks for an ETA for the new forum. No reply. link (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1070396.0)
October 2017: The question arises again, by user "thefreshprinceofbell" link (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2291849.0)

Am I completely missing something? Are we no longer working on the new forum? It's been like 9 years...
If this is meant to be the beta, it doesn't even load for me: http://beta.bitcointalk.org

Epochtalk is supposedly the "new" forum software that's being worked on. But yea, it's been a while.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=167.0
https://epochtalk.org/
https://github.com/epochtalk

Some sources for the new forum software

• Epochtalk installation readme (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5298742.msg55921443#msg55921443)
• A few testing forums from the software
  
  • Coinbistro.com - Epochtalk testing grounds (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5158825.0). That website is no longer working.
  • Cryptos-Currencies.Com : First forum using Epochtalk (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5115500.0). Check with cryptos-currencies.com (https://www.cryptos-currencies.com/boards)

That's quite the understatement.  The new forum software was being talked about when I joined the forum over 6 years ago, as OP pointed out, and I'm confident that if Theymos really wanted to upgrade bitcointalk he could easily do so in a much shorter time period.  He's got access to the necessary funds and I'm pretty sure he'd have all the coders he'd need, because if that were the bottleneck there would be tons of members stepping up to help.

So I've no clue what the deal is with this mythical epochtalk version of the forum, nor do I care personally.  I happen to like this version just the way it is, without many changes to the look and feel and function of it.  However, I do find it very odd that this thing has been strung along for so many years without an explanation as to why that's the case (or at least I've never heard one, but I'll confess that I have the New Forum Software subsection on ignore, so I could be missing one if it exists).

Theymos wants the new forum software tested for security flaws. I think this is the primary hold up. There are a bunch of PRs that have sat idle for months+ so I don’t know that it is being actively worked on, although there may be hidden branches that are being used.

I don’t think the new forum software is going to be implemented anytime soon.

This shouldn't take 9 years...



Honestly? I think I agree with you.
But, as I mentioned in this (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5347996.msg57403353#msg57403353) thread, there are just small stupid things that just NEED to be updated. These small things should take no more than a few days to fix. It's kind of ridiculous honestly

Honestly tell me how many people here want the new forum to be out here ? I don't think many people want the change as they are happy with the current forum. Maybe the demand of the new forum is not so high and therefore we are having a delay in it development/testing. Maybe we need to deploy a poll and see if people really needs a new forum ?

That's correct but it doesn't make sense to introduce it before it has passed all of its tests ^{[it'll be a workaround that might introduce other problems as opposed to a solution]}.

The last time I checked, he was the only one ^{[not sure if that's still the case]}, and in regards to the latter part, I don't think it's that easy to hire a coder/programmer/developer without ulterior motives.

---

Here you go: Link (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5108349.msg49921196#msg49921196)

The forum software has been requested many times and various features which have been requested here are expected to be functioning on the new software, furthermore, I do not think general opinion actually matters as the project is already too far gone to be halted with so much money being invested already.
If the holdup is due to low testing, I believe there could have been an alternative solution beside getting volunteer testers for the website.

Well, that was 2019, nearly 3 years ago. IIRC, the development for epochtalk started quite a while back but has been quite a few years since then. Cobra once mentioned that millions were spent on this; also quite a while back.

I can't find any updates later than that though...

I think the forum should stay as is.

This forum is kind of like a Bitcoin Museum that was built by Satoshi, and we should leave it that way (I realize its already different from the first iteration)...

I just can't imagine coming to a hip, modernized forum to read Satoshi's initial posts...

The forum gets the job done: people are free to express themselves any way they so choose...

Spam will always be a problem so long as there are sig campaigns and bounties, regardless of what software the forum uses.

Theymos should airdrop the forum donations to all active accounts with addresses in their profile. Beginning with accounts that start with "n"

You can also Join the discord Server that was created from Cyrus when the Bitcoin halfing party was going on.
There is a Channel in there for the new Forum Software and you get notification when a new repo is done and what was done in this Channel.
Im on Mobile now and will post the discord Link laters.
But for now im also good how the Forum is as written from nutildah.

I don't think there should be any need for hurrying to release the new software since it's to correct the flaws of the old software and also contains some useful update that will make the forum more attractive t for use. Am sure at the end the new software will meet up to everyone's expectations.

Actually yes 9 years is a lot of time even for testing, Maybe theymos hasn't made up his mind as to if there should be a new forum.
This forum is already meeting all the needs of the users, most likely new forum will be for aesthetics to adapt to the needs of a new generation that sees eye candy first and information provided later.

Some questions - Will the new forum replace the current forum, Will it share the database of this forum so that we wouldn't have to start our journey again?

I get that, but my point is that it's been years now.  How many tests need to be passed and how long does that take?  Again I'll admit that I'm not a computer programmer, but my gut is telling me that there's no way it should be taking this long with the resources Theymos must have at his disposal.

I hear what you're saying, but I'm not buying it.  Even if a coder/programmer/developer had ulterior motives (and I seriously doubt Theymos wouldn't be able to find someone who didn't have such nefarious motives), I don't think Theymos or anyone else would have a problem checking to see that no malicious code was introduced or something else of that nature.  And if he's doing this all by himself, I'd have to ask myself "why?".  Every company that needs code written has it done by a team--to my understanding at least.  Granted, bitcointalk isn't a company, but it's not a one-man operation either.

I said there was a possibility that I'd completely missed such an explanation, and it turns out I did.  Thank you to SFR for quoting it.

I guess in the end I'm just being skeptical, and again, it's without the benefit of having any coding/programming experience, so in reality I don't know exactly what it takes to accomplish what Theymos is trying to do.  But as I also said, my gut is telling me (strongly) that it shouldn't take as many years as it has to upgrade the forum--and it still hasn't been upgraded, and it doesn't seem like that's going to happen in the near future.

This is what I have in my head, especially after reading the quote from Theymos:

I get the impression that Theymos is a brilliant person.
I know the forum has a lot of funds at its disposal.  
I think there are tons of members who are willing to lend a hand--which probably include some that he trusts.  
I know that code is something that can be analyzed for anything malicious, which would make it very hard for someone to sabotage the new forum software.
I have a very hard time believing a forum upgrade should take years to complete, unless it's only being worked on very infrequently.
I think Theymos is aiming for absolute perfection, and to his detriment.  
I wonder if, by the time he's finished, the new forum software might already be outdated.

But in the end....I don't care, as I said in my previous post.  I'm satisfied with the forum as it is and if Theymos never finishes the new software, I'd be fine with that.  However, since we're discussing it I wanted to voice my perception of the whole thing.  I could be wrong in several areas, and I don't mind being called out on it.  It's how I learn.

Hear, hear.

I am not entirely sure, but it is possible that theymos does not have the resources to test for security flaws, meaning he does not know who he can ask to test the forum software for security issues.

There is (or at least was) a lot of business conducted via the forum, and as such, the forum is a big security target, if there are available exploits, they will be tried on the forum, while a forum in which people talk about football might have multiple glaring security flaws, and no one will care to exploit them as there wouldn't be anything to gain from doing so.

The forum uses SMF software. Satoshi likely did little more than install the SMF software on the forum server, and possibly changed some configurations. Satoshi did not create SMF (most likely), and there are thousands of other forums that also run on SMF software.

The majority of modifications to the forum software were done by theymos, or someone hired by theymos.

Was theymos used to ask for donations for development of new forum? Wow

Bear in mind that 1 btc was probably couple of hundreds of dollars 9 years ago when new forum development started, so quite different than how much it is now.

Regarding the new forum, since it's been in development for so long long, maybe it's for the best to just ditch the idea and instead improve the current one with a couple of features, if possible.

So what did theymos do with the 6,000 BTC he apparently got donated for the development of the new forum? Were these maybe spent on the hosting of the current site?

I guess I would be outnumbered when I say "don't fix it if it isn't broken". I wouldn't mind if the forum stayed the way it is. The new generations don't like forums anyway because there are other and faster methods of communicating. I'm not convinced that creating a new modern forum would do much in generating an increased interest in Bitcointalk. What it will do is create various bugs and glitches and user complaints.   

I also have no problem keeping the forum as it is now, it serves its purpose, and apart from the looks and some new features users and their posts will not change for the better with any new forum. From everything I've read about the new forum, I got the impression that many are not really so interested in the fate of the new forum, but wonder how it is possible that the whole thing takes so long and how much money has actually been spent on the project so far.

I personally don't bother with these issues, this is a private forum after all and the owner has the right to postpone the launch of a new forum for the next 10 years if he wants to - all this arguing about when this will happen will certainly not speed things up.

I get what you mean, but it's kind of the fact that it was promised it was coming very soon multiple times, and it still hasn't come.

"Soon" is a replacement for "in the future". Whether that future takes place before my grandchildren are born, that's up to the gods.

@enzogla, I can't speak for you, but I've received a lot of promises in my life that haven't been fulfilled to this day (and I believe they will stay that way), so I've learned that any promise should not be taken for granted. Life is too short to bother with such trivial issues, because a new forum will not improve your or my life - and from the comments, you could conclude that most old members would not mind if the forum remained exactly as it is now.

Mmmmm, ok, I second this proposal :D

About the "BTCitcoin museum", I agree that it is a pity to lose the vintage UI but the idea should be that the new features and improvements made worth the loss.

Anyway, I think that there is a much more important issue that should be fixed, with or without the new forum, which is the lack of proper SEO/SEM, essential IMO if we want to keep being competitive against other Social Media.

I wouldn't really say that the new generations dislike forums. Just that now there are more discussion platforms, but forums still have a place especially niche communities.

If there's an official TikTok forum, imagine how many zoomers would flock their way there while I just watch from the sidelines and smh my head

As far as I can tell it's not being tested at all, not in a structured QA manner anyway, at least I'm not aware of any test plans or even requirements to be tested against. There are some volunteers putting their own time into this but that's not going to result in high (or even acceptable) quality software. I've already expressed my dismay numerous times at spending hundreds of bitcoins to create a piece of software and stopping 10-20 BTC short of pushing it over the finish line but what do I know.

I'm of the same opinion as @nutildah @Pmalek @Lucius and @JohnBitCo

The most important aspect of the forum is the content, that will remain the same regardless.

It might be nice to have a new forum eventually but im not getting impatient about it,
it will arrive when it arrives until then this is still working fine.

So, in conclusion, the new forum isn't coming and we're sticking with the current one?
It's not necessarily a bad thing, but theymos kind of ripped people off as far as I can see.. for example Matthew from my original post (link to his thread (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=236325.0))

I'm not saying he's a bad guy or anything, but can we at least know if we the new forum is or is not coming? As I've found out in this thread, lots of people don't actually mind the current forum and don't mind sticking with it.