1. it needed to be tested on solo miners and a pool.
2. All namecoin miners needed to be aware of the update giving them ample time to get the udpate prior to the release of merged mining.
3. Rushing things allows for mistakes as has been seen on the solidcoin network which Coinhunter has provided quick updates to. We all seen what happened to the quick development and not enough testing prior to launch/update.

These three reasons are ample enough to debunk the claim that developers of namecoin are taking too long and are a "prime network for such an attack".

+1 Yes he has. BitcoinEXpress has flip flopped on his claimed motives for his actions.

Bitcoins are also experimental even in the words of Gavin Andresen. So would you advocate an attack on the bitcoin network too if someone had enough hashing power to kill the network? Something tells me you would be against it.

Very sorry, I'm not up on the facts either.  I haven't read up on merged mining yet.  At least nothing that completely explained it to me yet.

Agreed, timing could be crucial to this end and one more exception to my statement.

So do you expect merged mining to bring back namecoins?
[/quote]

It will solve the security problem in terms of the amount of terahashes pointed at it.

Once again there is a solution in the immediate future of namecoin. As I asked, how is this attack justified given the merged mining concept is complete but not currently in action because of the block number chosen by the namecoin community?

Funny how he conveniently chooses to attack namecoin right before the solution that has been implemented is to take place huh. Sounds like he isn't here to save us from an outsider who will attack the network but is in it for the control/power/profit part of it plain and simple.

The funny thing is that in about 250 block namecoin will be using merged mining. Now if there was no solution to the difficulty or security of the network then yes your comment above is correct. So how do you justify his timing of wanting to attack the network? The guy initially thought that merged mining would occur at block 25,000. So much for his competence on being up and up on the current status of the namecoin network huh.

+1 Probably one of the few postings I agree with coinhunter on. But he is right there is only one reason and that is power/control/profit. Anyone who defends someone with such motives and actions is stupid in my opinion as well.

The funny thing about his attack is he gets to pick the terms under the attack are being done, which puts him outside of the community effort of this or any other project related to bitcoin. If this was a community based effort in testing the network he would have allowed input from the entire community (mainly namecoin supporter) and then go from there.

EDIT: Just because something can be done doesn't immediately make it right for anyone to do it. Example: His wife is giving birth to their first child. Someone in the hospital staff could say well we want to test a new elixir on the newly born child because it could be the cure for cancer for all of humanity and "it can be done so it should be done". Even if the hospital's motives are for profit there should be a way to protect against this...

Guess it the concept is flawed altogether now huh.

Competance is not only limited to being able to understand conceptual and pragmatic aspects of a block chain and the surrounding issues.

Competence also applies to morals as well. Simply saying that this attack on namecoin is for "research and information" to better bitcoin but then also him claiming its purpose is to see how much of a defense namecoin can amass is contradictory. Testing and attacking and destroying are all difference concepts.

So tell me this:

1. Why can't this test be used on i0coin or ixcoin instead?
2. Once you folks have rewritten history in the namecoin block chain who do you think will want to be a part of a block chain that has been dismantled and will likely be controlled by those who attacked it? (My answer is: No one.)

Those who mine namecoins or bought into namecoins who are going to have their holdings vanish due to this attack (if successful) will likely not participate in that network anymore thus rendering the network useless and leaving a bad taste in users' mouths.

Also why stop at rewriting the blockchain to block 10,000 and just rewrite it to block #2 instead? That way you can mine all of the namecoins and control every aspect of the namecoin network.

Why not just screw everyone and not just the later adopters?

I did also see that recently BitcoinEXpress posted a reply to Gavin's sticky note on this forum about how he thinks that Gavin warning people about alt-chains is in his (Gavin's) best interest and not others. Also if you follow BitcoinEXpress' postings he has advocated that he does not believe bitcoin or any other chain will succeed ultimately and thus could care less about the outcome of all cryptocurrencies currently.

This is also a contradiction because recently, as stated above, he has claimed this attack is for the benefit of bitcoin. That is bullshit.

This is the same guy who also claimed to have made 600BTC profit on ixcoins. This guy has claimed his intentions are purely for profit. He has never advocated that he wanted to better bitcoin or any alt-chain through testing, of which this "attack" is not a test but as he puts it "wanting to see how much of a defense namecoin supports can amass".

One thing I can appreciate is that he did make this public. Thank you for that BitcoinEXpress.

I'm sorry but rewriting over 9000 blocks as opposed to say 100 or 1000 or all 19000, is stupid.

He isn't doing this for the research part of it. Purely if you look at his recent postings this guy is arrogant.

What do any of us think he will likely do with the newly mined namecoins that are going to replace close to half of the currently existing namecoins? The answer is turn a profit.

What he is claiming will happen about centralizing the domain name registering process is the opposite of the whole purpose of the cryptocurrency movement which is DECENTRALIZATION which obviously he has no appreciation for given that he wants to control the network any which way he can.

EDIT: Also by your statement you are saying that it is okay to have an attitude if you have competence which is untrue. No one should have this type of attitude and be considered righteous in doing what he is about to do.

Wow someone is definitely getting cocky and arrogant.

Don't trust yourself too?

Those who can buy a load of them.

what's todays price for this?

Might be a while before then.

Hmm bummers.

Good point. I wonder what will happen when the block history gets to like 10 terabytes. Then it will take forever to download it with current technology.

i'll take it. Send it to my address which I still need to add to my account.

I;ve noticed that my 6990's do best with no settings just the default setup.

I did not realize there were futures on bitcoins. Where do I go for this?

Not enough buyers. Simply put.