So what does 'Fork' mean?

[R2D221]

So basically a) a fork will have to happen rather it is a month from now or a year and b) it only has negitive outcomes?  This is where I think bitcoin gets really confusing.   

Of course you're confused. Where did you get that there are only negative outcomes? Clearly one decision is the right one. The problem is people don't agree on which one.

[ktorn]

No is a god thing.

An unintended network fork that is not quickly addressed and resolved is pretty much the death of the coin.

Perhaps the OP is referring to a planned hard-fork, to introduce necessary changes that simply break the previous consensus logic. In that case of course it's a good thing.

[tspacepilot]

This is great, as it is some people were complaining that it is hard for common people to use bitcoins and now this will make things super hard. Fantastico!

Actually, it shouldn't make it much harder. The fork only occurs when >90% of the nodes on the network switch to the new version. If this doesn't happen, the the old version will still be used. By having almost all of the network use the new version, then consensus will be achieved and any business with large amounts of money or customers at stake will switch to the new version because that will be the one that is valid.

So when exactly is this fork taking place?

There is no official date yet, but it will likely occur sometime in early 2016 if all goes as planned.

Wrong, nothing about 90% is mentioned anywhere. One fork stops being active when no one runs it.
And by the way, Bitcoin-xt is out there ready to be downloaded. Just not running on a fork yet.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/383jam/support_larger_blocks_by_running_a_bitcoin_xt/

Ok, I guess you're right that a fork ends when no one is running it.  But isn't it true that after the 90% (of blocks in the last 1000 are the new version) that the new version nodes stop accepting blocks which are the old version?  Ie, there is something about 90% mentioned somewhere, perhaps just not exactly as was said above---it's that 90% of the last 1000 blocks triggers rejection of old-style blocks by all nodes on the new software. I could be wrong.

Also, I thought I saw something about Gavin switching to developing on bitcoin_xt, was that right or was it just a threat or something?

[twister]

I am really confused with all of this, I just hope that it doesn't happen anytime soon because a lot of people need to understand about its pros and cons and what exactly they need to do prepare for the fork, I was reading the discussion here True or False: If not enough people join 20MGCoin, we fork into Bitcoin and 20MGCoin [I'd then want Bitcoin] and as far as I understand from it, if I have 2 bitcoins in my wallet, after the fork I will have 2 bitcoins on each blockchain?? but only one of it might have any value and the other will sink to the bottom of the ocean? But that is only if it is an even split, I don't think it'd be that even.

And does this mean that we would need new clients for the new blockchain?

In any case, you will need to run the "A" version of the software to deposit "A" coin or use the "A" coins that you withdrew, and the "B" version for the "B" coins.

What about people who are not aware of this and don't use Bitcoin Core?

Sorry if it is a dumb question, I am just trying to understand it's affects. Be gentle!

[achow101]

I am really confused with all of this, I just hope that it doesn't happen anytime soon because a lot of people need to understand about its pros and cons and what exactly they need to do prepare for the fork, I was reading the discussion here True or False: If not enough people join 20MGCoin, we fork into Bitcoin and 20MGCoin [I'd then want Bitcoin] and as far as I understand from it, if I have 2 bitcoins in my wallet, after the fork I will have 2 bitcoins on each blockchain?? but only one of it might have any value and the other will sink to the bottom of the ocean? But that is only if it is an even split, I don't think it'd be that even.

And does this mean that we would need new clients for the new blockchain?

In any case, you will need to run the "A" version of the software to deposit "A" coin or use the "A" coins that you withdrew, and the "B" version for the "B" coins.

What about people who are not aware of this and don't use Bitcoin Core?

Sorry if it is a dumb question, I am just trying to understand it's affects. Be gentle!

That is not true. In order for the fork to happen a super-majority (meaning >95%) of the last 1000 blocks mined must abide by the new version rules and the old version rules. That means that those blocks have a new version number, but are still smaller than 1 MB. Only after the super-majority of the blocks is achieved will the blockchain hard fork with the creation of a block that is greater than 1 MB. The vast majority of the network will accept the new fork, the remaining minority will be left on a stale, insecure blockchain which pretty much no one will accept or use.

[tspacepilot]

I am really confused with all of this, I just hope that it doesn't happen anytime soon because a lot of people need to understand about its pros and cons and what exactly they need to do prepare for the fork, I was reading the discussion here True or False: If not enough people join 20MGCoin, we fork into Bitcoin and 20MGCoin [I'd then want Bitcoin] and as far as I understand from it, if I have 2 bitcoins in my wallet, after the fork I will have 2 bitcoins on each blockchain?? but only one of it might have any value and the other will sink to the bottom of the ocean? But that is only if it is an even split, I don't think it'd be that even.

And does this mean that we would need new clients for the new blockchain?

In any case, you will need to run the "A" version of the software to deposit "A" coin or use the "A" coins that you withdrew, and the "B" version for the "B" coins.

What about people who are not aware of this and don't use Bitcoin Core?

Sorry if it is a dumb question, I am just trying to understand it's affects. Be gentle!

That is not true. In order for the fork to happen a super-majority (meaning >95%) of the last 1000 blocks mined must abide by the new version rules and the old version rules. That means that those blocks have a new version number, but are still smaller than 1 MB. Only after the super-majority of the blocks is achieved will the blockchain hard fork with the creation of a block that is greater than 1 MB. The vast majority of the network will accept the new fork, the remaining minority will be left on a stale, insecure blockchain which pretty much no one will accept or use.

The other thing is that for the casual user, who doesn't mine and doesn't run a ful node, they'll basically be unaffected.  Their spv client will send a transaction the same as before, and their walet wil be parsing the prope blockchain as long as they stay on some reasonably update software.  I really don't think he casual user has to worry.  However, there's a lot of interesting discussion and learining to be done if you like finding out more.

Don't worry!  But knowledge is power.

[alani123]

Where's DannyHamilton when we need him?

[twister]

Where's DannyHamilton when we need him?

He has all of us blocked for carrying the signature advertisement.  

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=973843.0

[alani123]

Where's DannyHamilton when we need him?

He has all of us blocked for carrying the signature advertisement.  

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=973843.0

I'm well aware of this, but still, he's not that active recently. Explaining the fork's theory would have been a time for him to shine.

[ed_teech]

https://bitcoin.org/en/developer-guide#block-height-and-forking

The Bitcoin developer guide has a section on forking.

[R2D221]

Where's DannyHamilton when we need him?

He has all of us blocked for carrying the signature advertisement.  

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=973843.0

I'm well aware of this, but still, he's not that active recently. Explaining the fork's theory would have been a time for him to shine.

He has explained it before, but people just don't understand. He must be as tired as everyone of this shit.