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I don't support ASICs on cryptonight nor arbitrary changes to this or that algorithm with no useful properties of its own but intended to give temporary advantage to GPU miners for some limited period after a switch.
Isn't that all of the modifications to cryptonight so far in a nutshell?
Yes and no. Monero's stated policy is to tweak the algorithm to break existing ASICs and deter new new ones, which would fit within what I said, in doing little other than creating a temporary advantage. I don't think that's a good approach for AEON in part because the frequent forks are a burden on limited developer resources, more likely to result in a screwup due to limited resources, fewer eyeballs on the code, etc.
The first tweak (variant 1) did only that, and did not even attempt to improve the ASIC-resistance in any fundamental way. The second and third (third being CN-R) tweaks actually attempt to improve ASIC-resistance to some degree and by some accounts (not really confirmed nor confirmable) have reduced the ASIC advantage, though not enough. RandomX attempt to reduce the advantage drastically and reduce the need for frequent forking. I do not know if it would or will be successful.
