Let’s learn from the mistakes of the Bitcoin community.
I favor ZcashCo keeping control of the /r/Zcash subreddit for the time being. (I am not affiliated with ZcashCo, nor have I ever met anyone that is part of ZcashCo.)
Leadership matters, and leaders matter. I believe Bitcoin would be in a much better place right now had Satoshi stuck around longer. Had he stuck around longer, he could have influenced the whole block-size-limit war.
We are off to a great start building a strong, vibrant, antifragile, and inclusive community, in large part due to the leadership of @zooko and the ZcashCo. If Zcash succeeds, I think we will look back on the following events as pivotal:
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Zooko breaking bread with a member of the ZClassic team. (See ZEC/ZCash will die, ZClassic is here now - #28 by Shawn and ZEC/ZCash will die, ZClassic is here now - #40 by zooko)
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@nathan-at-least and Zooko’s October 7, 2016 blog post entitled, “Consensual Currency”. (See Consensual Currency - Electric Coin Company) In that blog post, they wrote: “If [Zcash] thrives and grows big enough, it will eventually split into multiple sub-communities that share and use multiple technologies. This will probably include forks of the original Zcash blockchain. Don’t be scared — that’s a good thing.”
These actions create an inclusive, antifragile path forward. The Zcash code is open source; forks have already occurred and are likely to occur in the future. Why waste time trying to impose one’s viewpoints on others in the community by trying to prevent or discourage forks?
Contrast the above with many leaders of the Bitcoin community, who preach freedom but practice the opposite (censorship, threats of litigation, backroom deals).
The reason I buy Zcash is in part due to my belief in the wisdom of Zooko and the other current leaders of ZcashCo. Zooko, I understand that ZcashCo is building a technology that is bigger than you and bigger than ZcashCo itself, but I think it is advantageous to the community as a whole for ZcashCo to maintain control over the /r/Zcash subreddit, lest it eventually fall into the hands of people that don’t share your same commitment to the principles laid out in the “Consensual Currency” blog post.
As for handing over ownership and control of the subreddit to the Foundation, there is no telling who is going to have control of the Foundation in the future. Just look at what became of the Bitcoin Foundation. I’d rather the subreddit be controlled by ZCashCo, who I believe has demonstrated great leadership so far.
As for what to do with the subreddit in the near term. I favor keeping it closed for the time being. Redditors are free to discuss Zcash on other subreddits. By keeping it closed, it will make clear that no one subreddit is the “official” Zcash subreddit.
Long Live Zcash!