Bitcoin core error?

[truebits]

I am getting this orange header when I run Bitcoin core on my computer?

Warning: unknown new rules activated (versionbit 2)

What does this mean?

https://imgur.com/a/CI8K38S

[BlackHatCoiner]

Yeah, it means you haven't upgraded to 0.21.1. The version you're using doesn't have the rules of the Taproot soft fork. The nodes you're connecting to, essentially, tell you this; that there are new rules introduced.

To get rid of it, you'll have to upgrade. You may continue using your installed version, but you won't be able to verify Taproot transactions. To avoid this, just get the latest release: https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/

[DeathAngel]

Taproot is backward compatible, you don’t need to upgrade to the new version. I myself have ignored it & have no reduction in quality of my node.

[witcher_sense]

To get rid of it, you'll have to upgrade. You may continue using your installed version, but you won't be able to verify Taproot transactions. To avoid this, just get the latest release: https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/

Are there other ways to get rid of this annoying warning besides forced upgrades? This is not to say that Taproot soft fork is bad or not beneficial for the network, but people may have different reasons not to upgrade their software. Maybe they still haven't grasped how taproot works and what it does, in what way it changes the network.  Or they merely hate being told what to do. At the end of the day, the network is supposed to be decentralized to properly function. Other than that, this warning may be misleading to some people making them believe that their wallet is no longer supported by the network, which is also terrible for decentralization.

[pooya87]

This is not to say that Taproot soft fork is bad or not beneficial for the network, but people may have different reasons not to upgrade their software.

It's pretty simple, anyone who is running an outdated version is no longer running a full verifying node since their node is not capable of verifying a certain portion of transactions (the new types). This would raise the question of why are they chose to run a full node in first place?

[HCP]

Are there other ways to get rid of this annoying warning besides forced upgrades?

Short version: No.

Long version: download the Bitcoin Core source code, edit it to remove the warning, compile and run your custom version. Be happy.

[ABCbits]

Are there other ways to get rid of this annoying warning besides forced upgrades? This is not to say that Taproot soft fork is bad or not beneficial for the network, but people may have different reasons not to upgrade their software.

There's no parameter/option to disable such. However, Bitcoin Core developer decided to remove such message field (see https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/15471). So if people bother to upgrade to newer Bitcoin Core version, they won't see such message in the future.

Other than that, this warning may be misleading to some people making them believe that their wallet is no longer supported by the network, which is also terrible for decentralization.

I don't see how it's terrible for decentralization since the "problem" is the software, not the protocol/network.

[khaled0111]

I don't see how it's terrible for decentralization since the "problem" is the software, not the protocol/network.

I don't think it can even be considered a problem (at least from the user's perspective). It's a mere annoyance and doesn't disrupt any of the functionalities of the program. You can simply ignore it and keep using your node as usual. There are users who still run legacy nodes with no problems.

Other than that, this warning may be misleading to some people making them believe that their wallet is no longer supported by the network, which is also terrible for decentralization.

It's true that the warning might be confusing for new users but it doesn't affect in any way the decentralization of the network.

[witcher_sense]

Thank everyone for the answers, it may well be I am exaggerating when calling some little "annoyances" implemented into the Bitcoin Core client a threat to the decentralization of the network. My reasoning is this: decentralization (partly) relies on the number and the degree of distribution of nodes that validate rules, verify and propagate transactions. In Bitcoin,  there is no central entity that commands the network, there is no system admins responsible for software and hardware maintenance. There is no place for coercion at all. Everyone is free to be a part of the network and run his own software as long as it doesn't break any consensus rules. I consider the diversity in implementations of full nodes one of the important aspects to maintain decentralized. If one of the implementations has a critical vulnerability that may cause network failure, the probability of the network total collapse will directly depend on how many users are running that vulnerable implementation. If all users run the same implementation, what does it mean? It seems now the network is no longer decentralized because some users are now more equal than others, they became sysadmins that ensure that everyone's using the latest version that allegedly "fixes" all problems. By coercing people into updating to the latest version, they made the network vulnerable to attacks, and not decentralized since we got rulers to force upgrades.

[HCP]

It seems now the network is no longer decentralized because some users are now more equal than others, they became sysadmins that ensure that everyone's using the latest version that allegedly "fixes" all problems. By coercing people into updating to the latest version, they made the network vulnerable to attacks, and not decentralized since we got rulers to force upgrades.

I don't see how some users are more equal than others? It's not like people running the latest version magically get priority for their transactions or lower fees simply because they are on a specific version of the client. The network consensus is still the network consensus... and any changes that have been made so far have been "backwards compatible".

So, if you want to run your old version, run your old version. No one is forcing you to change. You have the choice. However, like all choices, they come with consequences... in this case, running an old version means you get an "annoying" (but harmless) warning message show up. It doesn't affect the usability or functionality of your client in anyway... or your ability to "help" with maintaining the decentralisation of the network.

There are plenty of alternatives to simply upgrading to the lastest version of the software you're already running. You could even choose, as ETFbitcoin suggested, to run a completely different implementation... or you could even modify your current one to your liking by altering the code to remove the message and recompiling.