Speedy Trial support

If you have an opinion on ST (Speedy Trial) proposal please ACK/NACK this so we can log the level of support for this proposal

Details of the proposal are here: https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-March/018583.html

edit (April 14th 2021)
Jeremy Rubin has asked me to add the following:

"[bitcoin/bips#1104](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/pull/1104) has been proposed (and implemented via
[bitcoin/bitcoin#21377](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/21377)) as a concrete interpretation of @harding's original 
proposal. Feel free to re-ACK on the BIP PR (and in the core PR if you feel qualified to review) if this plan matches your 
expectations, or raise any concerns otherwise."

Just adding my NACK here for the record.

ST/BIP8 was reasonable as a subset of a proper longer-term BIP8, but even considering digging BIP9 out of its grave is just plain absurd and defeats the purpose of ST (to be a compromise subset between disagreement on LOT within the scope of the consensus around BIP8).

Furthermore, a fundamental premise of ST was that it would start ~immediately and end quickly. But over a month has passed already with only movement backward, second-guessing things we already had consensus on.

IMO, ST is simply dead at this point.

It’s not clear to me why BIP8 or any compromise with it was ever considered seriously. It was clear at the time that the wrong lessons had been learned from segwit. This whole BIP8 fiasco is just the fallout from that. BIP9 would be just fine.

@luke-jr can you give a definition for what consensus is? Is there a concrete and consistent definition you are applying that BIP8 LOT=true is satisfying that the current ST MTP start/stop + height of activation minimum is not meeting that can be applied here and in the future?

There seem to already be a process for activating softforks. BIP9.

The reason i like BIP9 is because its simple and it encourages consensus and gives plenty of time for this to form if it hasnt formed already and people are just waiting to signal.

@fresheneesz: I'm not frustrated by the process, I consider myself partly responsible for the process up until this point. So in that sense I can only be frustrated with myself. I don't know why there have been games (NACKs of technical minutiae with very weak rationales, community meetings to discuss technical minutiae, coin flips...) over BIP 8 vs 9 and block height vs mix of block height and MTP for Speedy Trial. I wasn't expecting them when Speedy Trial was proposed. If I had expected them I wouldn't have supported Speedy Trial in the first place. The whole point of Speedy Trial was to avoid gridlock and have a smooth (but rigorous) PR code review and merge path. I am very disappointed it hasn't turned out that way especially given the community support for this proposal.

By my count, there are 83 full ACKs, 3 ACKs with reservations, and (now) 3 NACKs. Sounds like overwhelming support of Speedy Trial.

Agreed, if the Core Speedy Trial PR #21377 can get merged I think we should work around that. If it can't get merged I think an alternative release to Core is our only hope for getting Taproot activated. In that scenario I would support BIP 8(LOT=true).

Regardless, the time for theoretical discussions and new proposals (or rehashing old ones) is over imo. I certainly won't be partaking in them. The initial proposed timetable for Speedy Trial had a startheight of May 1st. We are at April 11st and we don't have a merged PR in Core nor do we have any sense of what the timetable will be or what the finalized parameters are.

@luke-jr can you give a definition for what consensus is?

It’s not clear to me why BIP8 or any compromise with it was ever considered seriously. It was clear at the time that the wrong lessons had been learned from segwit. This whole BIP8 fiasco is just the fallout from that. BIP9 would be just fine.

@JeremyRubin, @evoskuil: Please take discussion of non-Speedy Trial topics to ##taproot-activation on IRC or the bitcoin-dev mailing list. Thanks

I'm going to rescind my ACK for Speedy Trial.

Agreed, if the Core Speedy Trial PR #21377 can get merged I think we should work around that.

Not trying to troll. I understand you are frustrated. But is it a final NACK or ACK?

@Rspigler: I personally won't be issuing any more ACKs or NACKs related to Speedy Trial, here or on Core PRs. I have tried to advance Speedy Trial in good faith (e.g. looking over the PRs and identifying that not only had we agreed on revised BIP 8 in the community meetings but a majority of reviewers had a slight preference for consistent use of block height) especially when I recognized that Speedy Trial had more community consensus than either BIP 8 (LOT=true) or BIP 8 (LOT =false)). Had I known at the time that there would be "NACKs of technical minutiae with very weak rationales, community meetings to discuss technical minutiae, coin flips...) over BIP 8 vs 9 and block height vs mix of block height and MTP for Speedy Trial" I would have NACKed Speedy Trial from the beginning.

I understand why Luke is angry and he should be. As he says Speedy Trial was supported by him (and me) because it had more consensus than either BIP 8 (LOT = true) or BIP 8 (LOT=false). For a small number of contributors (2?) to NACK using block height consistently across Speedy Trial and insist on not using BIP 8 is just bizarre to me in the context of where we were pre Speedy Trial and in the absence of a strong rationale to NACK using block heights consistently (test networks are not a strong rationale imo and nor is UASF marketing).

I am personally reviewing #21377 because I want to be as familiar with it as I can be and there is a very unlikely chance I find a bug etc in the code. But I won't ACK or NACK the PR and I won't issue any further ACKs or NACKs on this gist. I risk damaging my reputation (more than I already have) and making a mockery of the Core review process. In the very unlikely chance I find a bug I will of course raise it immediately.

For additional context see this and this from @maaku. He is staying out of this as he has quantum security reservations leading to him NACK Taproot itself. Regardless he writes better than me on BIP 8/9 and block height/mix of block height and MTP. He is also an author of a BIP on MTP.

bitcoin/bips#1104 has been proposed (and implemented via bitcoin/bitcoin#21377) as a concrete interpretation of @harding's original proposal. Feel free to re-ACK on the BIP PR (and in the core PR if you feel qualified to review) if this plan matches your expectations, or raise any concerns otherwise.

@michaelfolkson perhaps update the top post to point people appropriately