ZF Protocol Hangout about improving the NUP, September 16, at 1 PM ET

Technology
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Hello, ZF will host a community call to publicly discuss ways to improve the Network Upgrade Pipeline (NUP), moderated by Deirdre Connolly.

September 16, 2020 at 1:00 P.M. ET (10:00 A.M. PT)
You can sign up for it here: Zcash Protocol Hangout • September 16, 2020

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Historically ECC has set the Network Upgrade Pipeline to

This process is time-based and designed to ensure the consensus upgrades shipped to Zcash meet our historic standards for safety and quality.

Network-Upgrade-Pipeline-v1.0-1
Network-Upgrade-Pipeline-v1.0-12880×1292 417 KB

But there may be ways to improve this process, which is why the ZFND is hosting a call; to discuss and get feedback from the community.

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There are definitely ways to improve this process, foremost of which is to get more orgs involved so I’m very happy to see this!

@antonie, @Shawn: I am unable to attend due to timezones. Will there be a recording? I’ve asked ECC protocol folks to attend.

I look forward to what comes out of this! Thanks for organizing it.

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Great!

In preparation, can we get a summary of how this year’s network upgrades (NU3 and NU4) are playing out? Their schedules seems very different than the above template, and I wonder what’s learned from this.

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Zcon didn’t work out this year either : (

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Yes it will be recorded.

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As @Shawn mentioned, our goal with the NUP is to “ensure the consensus upgrades shipped to Zcash meet our historic standards for safety and quality”. We’ve largely achieved that goal and learned a lot about the NUP that could be improved upon in the process.

We feel what’s needed now is a more agile process that still retains the safeguards inherent in the NUP while making it easier for protocol teams outside of ECC and ZF to participate. This current NUP is a bit too rigid and some of the time periods could be compressed and more flexible.

Some specific thoughts we had:

  • Remove ZIP Review Begins as a specific item (ZIPs should be continually reviewed)
  • Reduce period between Draft ZIP Submission Deadline and Feature Selection from 2 months to 1 month
  • A feature prototype should be done on at least one consensus node to be considered for Feature Selection
  • All features selected for the upgrade should be included in the Specification and Implementation Audits
  • Prototype and Test Vectors Complete should include features running in testnet. We developed Testnet-in-a-Box to make this easier, essentially allowing independent teams to spin up their own multi-node testnet.
  • Allow minor changes to ZIPs or specifications after Specification Audit and Remediations Complete
  • Reduce Partner Adoption from 5 months to 3 months. We spend a good bit of time on ecosystem outreach well ahead of network upgrades to ensure partners have adequate time to upgrade and prepare. With Heartwood, we had confirmed over 80% of mining hashpower had upgraded prior to the activation.

Thanks @Shawn, @antonie, and @dconnolly for organizing today’s call. Excited to see what other ideas the community has for improving the NUP!

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Here you go!

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Danke!

…Whoops, I need at least 10 characters, so:

감사합니다

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