OK, line by line;
"I've read ripplescam.org before so I'm familiar with it."
Great. Please read it again.
"Part of my point is that from some of the talk I've surmised by reading this thread there has been allusions to to the fact that to get true Transparent Forging working as promised (to obtain transaction speeds that can compete with Ripple's) we are going to need high end servers running on VPS's that will require administration and money. "
Yes networks cost money and require administration to run.
"Who will be running these servers save for a few NXT fat-cats with a vested interest? "
The original Nxt VPS operators are taking a risk to volunteer their time and expertise to build and secure the Nxt network. After the Nxt Asset Exchange is released to the Nxt mainnet, forging fees will increase from the increased NXT based AE trading volume. This in turn translates to revenue for the original VPS operators in the form of forging NXT (transaction fees). As Nxt AE volume further increases, more people will have incentive to maintain Nxt nodes (which by the way do not need to be VPSs)
"How is that very much different or less centralized than what Ripple is doing?"
The Ripple system is operated on a distributed ledger, not a decentralized ledger like NXT is. Ripple is funded by Andreessen Horowitz and Google Labs. Google Labs surely would never hand sensitive customer data over to agencies with three letters would it?
"ripplescam is also a little outdated as they have released the server source code and anyone can run one. "
Of course anyone can run compromised software if they choose to.
"Bitstamp and Peercover would be likely candidates to do so if anything every happenedd to Ripple Labs, which is pretty much the same argument I hear regarding the type of people who will run servers for NXT."
This sentence is so vague it cannot be reasonably responded to. What is your question? Bitstamp and Peercover would be candidates to "do so" ? What?
"With Ripple at least I know it works, transactions in XRP are fast and irreversible and I don't have to worry about whether enough Ripple users are running nodes now or in the future or worry about DDOS attacks."
I know NXT works. Transactions in NXT are fast and irreversible with one minute block generation times. The Nxt network is designed to be the most efficient and secure blockchain technology with revolutionary features not found in any other cryptocurrency platform. The Nxt network is extensible with use of Arbitrary Messages and Automated Transactions.
NXT has already successfully fought off DDOS attacks months ago. That fear is misplaced. You should be more concerned about the implications of this article
http://bitcoinmagazine.com/10958/geostrategic-implications-bitcoin/ than whether or not NXT can fight off a DDOS attack. It can.
"As far as the decentralization goes, maybe NXT represents a slight improvement but that's about the only area it is superior. In almost every other area from what I can see, Ripple does it either the same or better."
Again, Ripple is a distributed ledger based system vs. NXT which is a decentralized ledger system. Does Ripple allow Issuers to issue their own currencies or their own shares in companies? How about Messaging? Does Ripple have that? Does Ripple have a decentralized Voting System near implementation? No?
"For a decentralized system to beat a centralized one it still has to be superior. Merchants and Consumers don't really care about the inner workings. It will come down to which system they trust more."
For the last time, Ripple is a distributed ledger based system and not a decentralized ledger based system like Nxt. Nxt is superior and offers numerous advantages to the corporate sponsored Ripple. Ripple powered by Google money. Decentralized? Not even. Good night.
You're reply was condescending and very biased. You said it yourself. Servers cost money to run. You haven't convinced e me that a decentralized ledger is anymore trustworthy than a distributed one is. NXT does not have miners like Bitcoin does, and requires a large portion of users to run open clients. No one knows if enough people will do this, especially since there's little financial incentive to do so.
It's a big unknown when it comes to POS and whether it will as well as BTC's mining system.
As far as I or anyone knows, NXT's "decentralized" ledger may represent weaker security than Ripple's distributed ledger. Maybe a lot of people will run open clients at first and then lose interest in doing do. Maybe the network will be weak, maybe not. Who knows. We won't know for many many years.
I know NXT works. Transactions in NXT are fast and irreversible with one minute block generation times.
There's a double-spending risk with NXT unless you wait for 10 confirmations. The promised 1000 TPS is very much in doubt.
As far as I know Ripple is 3-15 seconds per transaction and can't be double spent. Advantage Ripple.
The DDOS attacks I'm talking about will be against people who run open clients when Transparent Forging is implemented. Everyone has to broadcast their IP to the entire network meaning any script kiddie can attack you as soon as it's announced you are next in line to generate a block. Running a node means opening yourself up to attack. This only further disincentives people to run nodes. It's a severe weak-point and a huge question mark.
Does Ripple allow Issuers to issue their own currencies or their own shares in companies?
Yes, anyone can issue an asset in Ripple. Then you have to obtain trust for any sane person to buy it. Just like in NXT.
Messaging: does the world need this that badly? Don't we already have email and a million other ways to send messages for free? Not that impressed.
Voting: yeah that's kind of cool but if no one uses NXT then who cares. This is also possible with Bitcoin or any other blockchain based network.
"Bitstamp and Peercover would be likely candidates to do so if anything every happenedd to Ripple Labs, which is pretty much the same argument I hear regarding the type of people who will run servers for NXT."
This sentence is so vague it cannot be reasonably responded to. What is your question? Bitstamp and Peercover would be candidates to "do so" ? What?
I'm referring how whenever someone asks who will run NXT's servers it's implied that people who have a lot invested in NXT and are running assets will run them. To me that's not much more decentralized than what Ripple does. It's slightly less centralized.
Since anyone can run rippled (server), I'm not worried about something happening to Ripple Labs servers, because just as in NXT, entities with a vested interest in Ripple, like Peercover and Bitstamp would be motivated to run rippled servers. My point there is that the lines that separate why NXT is so much less centralized than Ripple is get blurrier all the time.
The world does not need a billion different digital currencies. It needs one. It's going to be Bitcoin unless a Next Generation currency
replaces it. If Bitcoin remains king then Mastercoin probably wins all the other territory (Decentralized Exchanges, etc) that NXT is trying to corner because it's built on top of BTC.
Ripple poses a threat to Bitcoin because it's greener, way faster and would work great a point of sale. It's far easier to use as well.
NXT right now is pretty much as slow as Bitcoin. Has a questionable and unproven method "forging" to secure the network and will require well heeled people to run high end servers.
I just don't see how it's much superior that's all. This is coming from an investor in NXT. I'm also heavy on XRP because at the end of the day the ledger type is irrelevant to regular human beings. They will go with what works best.
