Other Currencies Like Bitcoin?

[Jaylez]

So I hear about these other currencies like litecoin and namecoin but what are they and why? What's wrong with bitcoins? Should I care about these other currencies? Should I mine them? I've looked around for a while and I can't find anything that really explains it or tries to sell me the idea of that it's good and I should care so maybe you guys could help. Thanks in advance.

[Gabi]

Namecoin is a decentralized DNS system.

Litecoin use another mining algorythm

[JohnGalt]

There are several variations of bitcoin. The variations seek to improve on perceived deficiencies. Bitcoin is the original and will probably always dominate. Litecoin is probably the most popular variation. It has a faster confirmation time (2.5 minutes compared to 10 minutes).

Keep in mind that although they are related, they are still separate currencies, just like dollars and euros.

[Jaylez]

Is mining them worth it or should I stick to just bitcoin?

[super3]

namecoin can be mined alongside bitcoin, do both at once

Sadly the namecoin project development has been pretty slow.

[Jaylez]

Cool, thanks guys I'm trying merged mining. Is mining litecoin worth it?

[super3]

Cool, thanks guys I'm trying merged mining. Is mining litecoin worth it?

This is a pretty good resource about litecoin: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Litecoin

[super3]

Best bet is merged mining bitcoins with the gpu while cpu mining for litecoin.

Yet there is no service base for linecoin. What can I actually buy with litecoin? It is essentially worthless at this point in time.

[JohnGalt]

Best bet is merged mining bitcoins with the gpu while cpu mining for litecoin.

Yet there is no service base for linecoin. What can I actually buy with litecoin? It is essentially worthless at this point in time.

The same thing was said about bitcoin 2 years ago.

[super3]

Best bet is merged mining bitcoins with the gpu while cpu mining for litecoin.

Yet there is no service base for linecoin. What can I actually buy with litecoin? It is essentially worthless at this point in time.

The same thing was said about bitcoin 2 years ago.

Fair point, but again what can I do with litecoin that I can't do with Bitcoin. Litecoin just seems like a a copy of bitcoin with only a slight improvement in the technology. If there really was a secondary currency to Bitcoin I think it would have to be a bit different in structure to warrant being a "sliver to bitcoin's gold." This is all speculation and my opinion.