Please upgrade to Bitcoin 0.8 and help Android/MultiBit users!

[Mike Hearn]

Bitcoin 0.8 contains a new feature (Bloom filtering) that allows lightweight clients such as the Android app and MultiBit to sync their block chains dramatically faster. It works by allowing them to only download the parts of the chain they need rather than all of it, but in a way that still preserves security and privacy. Testers have reported being able to sync hundreds of blocks per second. It gets pure P2P apps much closer to the performance level of  apps like Electrum or BitcoinSpinner, which rely heavily on custom servers.

The new feature is supported by the current release candidates of MultiBit/Android wallet, but for it to work, they need to be able to find and connect to a Bitcoin 0.8 node. The latest versions of these apps haven't been released yet because we're waiting for more nodes to upgrade to Bitcoin 0.8. So ...

Please upgrade your nodes to Bitcoin 0.8 and help out Android users!

Even if you don't feel you need Bitcoin 0.8 for yourself, upgrading still helps everyone else!

Thanks.

[ciphermonk]

Sir! Yes Sir! Right away Sir!  

Edit: Great work by the way!

[jim618]

Another benefit of bloom filters to SPV users is that it dramatically
reduces your bandwidth usage. For users on 3G or capped usage
it really makes a difference.

On a rainy day when my signal drops to 2G (50 KB/s down) I still get 60 blocks a second.

Please upgrade to bitcoind v0.8

[ninjaboon]

powering up my server and updating now.

[TooCasual]

Aye Aye Cap'n!  Thar she blows!

TC

[teukon]

I backed up my wallet, shutdown my node (without detaching the database), installed the pre-built Linux binary, and fired it up.

Unlike previous upgrades, the node automatically started "Reindexing blocks on disk".  I assume this is to be expected.  Will my node be helpful to others before the scan is complete?  It looks like the scan will take a long time to complete.

My thanks to everyone that made this new release possible.

[Rothgar]

Re-indexing is normal. There was an upgrade of the database used to store the blockchain.  I'm sure your node will be more helpful when the scan is complete.  I don't know about during the scan.

[waspoza]

Done on my server and done on my home computer. Good job guys btw. Cheers!

[teukon]

Re-indexing is normal. There was an upgrade of the database used to store the blockchain.  I'm sure your node will be more helpful when the scan is complete.  I don't know about during the scan.

Ok.  I'll just leave it running overnight and see where it gets to.  I may be late to the party but a 24/7 node based in Asia should be worth something.

[grue]

0.8 adoption:
http://luke.dashjr.org/programs/bitcoin/files/charts/branches.html

[paraipan]

Aye Aye Cap'n!  Thar she blows!

TC

+1 done

[Timo Y]

Am I still helping if I run Bitcoin 0.8 behind Tor (not as a hidden service)?

[Jaw3bmasters]

I'm in an area with much mobile devices, updating.......

[cypherdoc]

is this download signed?

[Mike Hearn]

Bitcoin 0.8 is signed by the Foundation.

If you run a node via Tor then nobody can connect to it, so no, it doesn't help. We need nodes on the regular internet for this, sorry.

[cypherdoc]

Bitcoin 0.8 is signed by the Foundation.

If you run a node via Tor then nobody can connect to it, so no, it doesn't help. We need nodes on the regular internet for this, sorry.

then they ought to put their PGP signature on the bitcoin.org download site.

[niko]

Bitcoin 0.8 is signed by the Foundation.

If you run a node via Tor then nobody can connect to it, so no, it doesn't help. We need nodes on the regular internet for this, sorry.

then they ought to put their PGP signature on the bitcoin.org download site.

It is not signed via PGP. The signature is CA based.

[grue]

Am I still helping if I run Bitcoin 0.8 behind Tor (not as a hidden service)?

if you have ports forwarded (somehow), then yes.

[cypherdoc]

Bitcoin 0.8 is signed by the Foundation.

If you run a node via Tor then nobody can connect to it, so no, it doesn't help. We need nodes on the regular internet for this, sorry.

then they ought to put their PGP signature on the bitcoin.org download site.

It is not signed via PGP. The signature is CA based.

so how does that work?

[Sukrim]

Is there a node that you control or make use of to find 0.8 clients quicker which we can add via "addnode" so you also see our nodes? Or do you just hope that your client will after some days just randomly stumble upon a 0.8 full node because there are so many?