Bitcoin client is a resource hog and slow

[rjk]

I probably could run Electrum on my N900 (not sure) if I spent some time on it

Yes, you can. But you will need easydeb chroot. Python used on maemo5 is prehistoric.

Nice...   I'll try to run spesmilo while I'm at it too. Thanks for the tip.

Especially my wife will be happy when she sees this on her N900. She just started actively using Bitcoin, and constantly asking what her preferred client should be.

Luke-jr has compiled all kinds of custom stuff for the N900, ask him about it. I think one such thing was bitcoind itself, crosscompiled to work with whatever distro he was running. (Suse? I don't remember)

[memvola]

I probably could run Electrum on my N900 (not sure) if I spent some time on it

Yes, you can. But you will need easydeb chroot. Python used on maemo5 is prehistoric.

Nice...  I'll try to run spesmilo while I'm at it too. Thanks for the tip.

Especially my wife will be happy when she sees this on her N900. She just started actively using Bitcoin, and constantly asking what her preferred client should be.

Luke-jr has compiled all kinds of custom stuff for the N900, ask him about it. I think one such thing was bitcoind itself, crosscompiled to work with whatever distro he was running. (Suse? I don't remember)

I've got a functional bitcoind on my N900, but block verification was rather slow last time I checked. However, I now run Electrum on it, sharing the same wallet with my PC. It's fast and GTK GUI feels integrated, and no wallet sync is necessary. We now need an Android port and all will be bliss.

I think people keeping the entire blockchain is essential for the sanity of the network, so I'll probably keep running one bitcoind instance somewhere as long as a mere mortal can.

[MoneyIsDebt]

If you're on a mac, use the command

Code:

sudo fs_usage -w

to see that the client is using the disk a lot, especially when downloading / updating the chain. This makes it much slower than it needs to be. I was able to speed it up by softlinking the log file to /dev/null and placing the blockchain on a ramdisk so the harddrive wasn't touched. I'm pretty sure this can be fixed in the code (keep the blockchain in (virtual)memory until done updating it or program quits).

[HappyFunnyFoo]

This is the drawback to encrypted currency.  Instead of having a bank take care of a lot of the administrative annoyances of the monetary system for you (long-term transaction records, sending and receiving your money, security), you get to bear a slice of the overhead directly yourself.  You are your own "mini-bank."  Personally, I'd rather have a FDIC-insured bank do it for free, enjoy the perks of interest, and enjoy the perks of zero transaction fees, and invest the hours of time and effort into making more money.  Bitcoin is a well-done concept, but it's by no means a medium of exchange and vessel of monetary storage, at least for the average competent businessman who knows time is money.

Here's what you get with a bank checking account and savings account in the USA through ING direct:
$0 in fees
Small amounts of interest (on $50,000 of deposits, you're going to earn $200-$400 per year in interest!  Currently yields are 0.8% APY)
Virtually zero resource load on your computer (running the online banking web portal is pretty undemanding)
FDIC insurance, the world's most powerful government and military guaranteeing $100,000 of my deposits! WooT.

Here's what you get with bitcoin:
Transaction fees on a per transaction basis (boo!)
No interest (super boo!)
Moderate resource load on your computer (downloading the blockchain requires a paid for internet service - fail), although in the long term the resource load will be insurmountable (100GB blockchain some day)
No insurance and nonexistent client-side security unless you spend money / time / effort properly securing your wallet (super duper boo).

Bitcoin has a way to go to beat banks, credit cards, and plain old cash.  For those of you who who are considering a non sequitor into evil fiat currency, buy S&P automatic index funds, trust me you're really bad at investing if you think btc is the way to go to beat usd.

[Kluge]

Here's what you get with bitcoin:
1) Transaction fees on a per transaction basis (boo!)
2) No interest (super boo!)
3) Moderate resource load on your computer (downloading the blockchain requires a paid for internet service - fail), although in the long term the resource load will be insurmountable 3_ (100GB blockchain some day)
4)No insurance and nonexistent client-side security unless you spend money / time / effort properly securing your wallet (super duper boo).

1) The transaction fees amount to less than half a US cent. Online transactions involving banks frequently go through Paypal, which charges something like $.30 + 2.99% -- wires can be quite expensive, and checks are sloooooooow.
2) If you're just holding your government fiat, it's probably declining in value. Just as you take a risk in investing your money in a bank through deposits (though the FDIC point's certainly valid), you can deposit with BTC banks, where fairly reputable members can offer upward of 12% MPR with "dynamic deposit" in the form of GLBSE assets which can be immediately withdrawn.
3) Grab a thin client like Electrum if it's a problem. The devs have sound plans on how to solve the storage problem when it becomes significantly large (blockchain currently amounts to less than one percent of total storage capacity in the vast majority of HDDs on the market).
4) Encryption already exists in the "official" Satoshi client. With the Armory client, security is taken to a whole new level. As for FDIC insurance, I doubt we'll get the USG to create an agency to handle bank runs, but there might be other options if the market wants it. For now, when lenders are desperate, we resort to inter-lender loans to cover deposits and any other liquidity problems.

[memvola]

This is the drawback to encrypted currency.

What is an encrypted currency?

WHBT