What is bitcoin core?

[Sophia1029]

Sorry this is probably a stupid question but I really don't know can someone briefly explain what "Bitcoin Core 0.9.3" is for me? Every post I look at about it assumes that everyone understands what it is. Is it something that I need to have if I have bitcoin? Who is the person that updates these things and "regulates" the bitcoin system?

[Cyberdyne]

It's a piece of software that you can use to manage your bitcoins. It grew from the very original bitcoin wallet software that Satoshi himself wrote, back in 2008. You can download the latest Bitcoin Core by visiting http://bitcoin.org, however due to the fact that it requires you to download 20+ GB of transaction data, I'd recommend newbies to create a wallet on http://blockchain.info instead.

[xDan]

It's the "original" software, the reference client. It downloads the entire blockchain (20+ GB), so takes a lot of space and can be pretty slow.

You don't need it unless you want to help support the bitcoin network. The average user should not be using it.

[Sophia1029]

It's the "original" software, the reference client. It downloads the entire blockchain (20+ GB), so takes a lot of space and can be pretty slow.

You don't need it unless you want to help support the bitcoin network. The average user should not be using it.

Okay thanks,
I still don't understand but good enough for me. Lol

[Flashman]

The average user should not be using it.

Rather, the average user should not feel guilty about not using it, but they are quite welcome to use it if they really want.

[xDan]

Okay thanks,
I still don't understand but good enough for me. Lol

It's just one of many pieces of software you could use. Like if you were filesharing with bittorrent or something, there are many different softwares for that.

The Bitcoin Core is probably the most secure, as it is a "thick client", as opposed to the lighter weight "thin clients". And Bitcoin Core is the one maintained by the main (core) bitcoin developers, and forms the backbone of the network.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin-Qt
https://bitcoinhelp.net/know/how-to-get-started
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Thin_Client_Security

And on who "updates and regulates" the system:
https://bitcoin.org/en/development

It's an open source project, and here you can see the work various people are doing on it:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commits/master

Rather, the average user should not feel guilty about not using it, but they are quite welcome to use it if they really want.

Yes. By all means try it out.

[Jamie_Boulder]

Okay thanks,
I still don't understand but good enough for me. Lol

It's just one of many pieces of software you could use. Like if you were filesharing with bittorrent or something, there are many different softwares for that.

The Bitcoin Core is probably the most secure, as it is a "thick client", as opposed to the lighter weight "thin clients". And Bitcoin Core is the one maintained by the main (core) bitcoin developers, and forms the backbone of the network.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin-Qt
https://bitcoinhelp.net/know/how-to-get-started
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Thin_Client_Security

And on who "updates and regulates" the system:
https://bitcoin.org/en/development

It's an open source project, and here you can see the work various people are doing on it:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commits/master

Rather, the average user should not feel guilty about not using it, but they are quite welcome to use it if they really want.

Yes. By all means try it out.

Brilliant answer, if I could rate it 5 stars xDan I would!

[Wusolini]

Bitcoin core refers to software "bitcoin-qt" - an official bitcoin wallet

It's just piece of software, a client (very same as your torrent client if you know) but this one communicates with other bitcoin clients.
There is no central bitcoin system only a wide network of these clients, thus it's called P2P.

You dont need to be part of this network, as it requires to download the blockchain. For zou would be better to use web or lightwight wallets (blockchain.info, multibit, electrum...)
    

[mordekaiser]

its the bitcoin wallet that helps build the network, like mentioned bitcoin qt.

you also need to update always, because the last there was something called a "heart bleed bug", which stole peoples balance or something.

[pooya87]

Sorry this is probably a stupid question but I really don't know can someone briefly explain what "Bitcoin Core 0.9.3" is for me? Every post I look at about it assumes that everyone understands what it is. Is it something that I need to have if I have bitcoin? Who is the person that updates these things and "regulates" the bitcoin system?

you don't need Bitcoin Core to handle your bitcoins. it is one option, or in other words it is one of the many wallets that you can have but it is the original thing.

[Simon8x]

As Flashman and xDan explained, bitcoin core is probably not the best options for new bitcoin users. You may want to try thin clients like Electrum or web wallets like blockchain.info.

[HeroCat]

This is Bitcoin wallet, where you can store your BTC in your computer. I would suggest Multibit wallet - it is better in use or use online Blockchain wallet 

[Yuki1988]

Who is the person that updates these things and "regulates" the bitcoin system?

For the bitcoin core software, it is the core developers doing the updates and maintenance. You can reach them through emails (https://bitcoin.org/en/development) or IRC (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/IRC_channels).

For the whole project, it is decentralized. Every full node and every miner have a say on every change. The core developers can't force a change in the protocol without getting users support.