The Bitcoin Oldest Node Still Operating after 7 years!

[Julian ogan]

I was reading an article about the Bitcoin's oldest node was Bitcoin Core 0.8.1 which was released on 18th March, 2013 and it is still operating. This is the oldest node of any blockchain network.

While for Ethereum, the oldest reachable node according to ethernodes is go v1.4.18, which was released on the 15th of October 2016 but this node is not in sync. The oldest version that is in sync is 1.8.22.


>> If the oldest node is still running and in sync then why do we require the new node? What is the difference between the old and the new latest nodes?


Source: https://www.trustnodes.com/2019/12/23/the-oldest-bitcoin-node-still-runs-seven-years-on

[pooya87]

i thought you were talking about the oldest "running" node, as in a node that has been running ever since 7 years ago non-stop! i was disappointed to find out that it is about the oldest "version" of bitcoin core that is being used.

While for Ethereum, the oldest reachable node according to ethernodes is go v1.4.18, which was released on the 15th of October 2016 but this node is not in sync. The oldest version that is in sync is 1.8.22.

considering Etherum was released on July 30, 2015 that is not as bad as you may think. the problem with ETH is that they have done a lot of backward incompatible changes that forces you to upgrade, such as their chain roll back that split ethereum into the original (ETC) and the mutable chain (ETH), the difficulty bomb removal, ...

[ABCbits]

>> If the oldest node is still running and in sync then why do we require the new node?

* Bug or security fix
* Performance improvement
* Network update
* Proper support for new features (e.g. Bech32 address after SegWit activation)

What is the difference between the old and the new latest nodes?

You need to read changelog of each version of full node client to find out the difference

[hugeblack]

>> If the oldest node is still running and in sync then why do we require the new node? What is the difference between the old and the new latest nodes?

You do not need to upgrade every while but there are some changes that require an upgrade.
According to this site^[1], most of running bitcoin nodes are 0.18.1 & 0.19.0.1
I think this is one of the main reasons why so many nodes have been upgraded. The duplicate input vulnerability shouldn't be forgotten

you have 27 nodes on 0.8.5 & 27 on 0.15.1

Code:

37 /Satoshi:0.8.1/ Bitcoin Core
      36 /BitcoinUnlimited:1.0.3/ Bitcoin Unlimited
      33 /Satoshi:0.8.6/ Bitcoin Core
      33 /Satoshi:2.6.0.1/ Bitcoin Core
      31 /bitcoinj:0.15.5/Bitcoin Wallet:7.36/ Bitcoin Wallet for Android
      28 /Satoshi:0.15.2/ Bitcoin Core
      27 /Satoshi:0.8.5/ Bitcoin Core
      27 /bitcoinj:0.15.1/ other (excluded)

[1] https://luke.dashjr.org/programs/bitcoin/files/charts/software.html

[DdmrDdmr]

[<...>

You way want to review the link in your post ... My antivirus does not allow me to access the site, and there's also this:

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/url/ce37fa2cfa0040ed8f377029360883e9ec71b6681986d3d1c5f1b78e99cb0b98/detection

I don't know if it's a false positive (you can't even download Electrum these days without a bunch of sites stating it's harmful on Virustotal )...

[hugeblack]

I don't know if it's a false positive (you can't even download Electrum these days without a bunch of sites stating it's harmful on Virustotal )...

I found this link in @francispouliot tweet^[1], I read all the responses, "some of them are from well-known people," and no one ever gave a warning about it so I think it is safe.
Who trusts anti-virus? I stopped using it form a while, I am permitting trusted open-source apps as well as opinions of trusted people.

[1] https://twitter.com/francispouliot_/status/1125139855313387520