The issues that led to my initial support of @elfspice and Calibrae were centered around the lack/manner of communication between steemit.inc and the steem community, steemit.inc's massive stake and the problems created by the massive disparity of stake influence and all that comes from it.
It was always my preference that Steem succeed and I have been given new hope that is possible because @ned has clearly indicated he's heard my concerns. I believe genuine steps are already being taken to address those concerns that many of us share. This is fantastic.
I still believe steem forks have the potential to be a good thing for Steem and could be very valuable in and of themselves. However, I no longer believe that Calibrae is a fork I can support. In my opinion, elfspice does not have enough support to make a serious attempt and is haphazardly attempting to solve many issues that steem currently has all at once. At the outset, the idea was to remove stake mined before the steemit app existed and to copy across everyone else's account attributes like stake and rep whilst also addressing the scalability issues....an experiment that I think would have been very interesting. Unfortunately, both presented extremely difficult technical challenges. It is very hard to follow and unpick where all the stake is. I think the latest idea is to give everyone the same stake, potentially also an interesting experiment, but interested Steemians with something worth protecting in steem would no longer have a safety blanket under which to choose where to spend their time and other resource. The risk profile is significantly changed away from Calibrae.....at least in my opinion.
I sent @elfspice a donation for his work because he has added value to Steem simply by acting as a crucible for debate and I wanted to give him the chance to explore his ideas. He may be technically gifted, I don't know. But what I do know from what I have seen is that his approach is haphazard at best. I do know that the scalability issues are extremely challenging. He needs a great deal of support around him, a solid foundation and a constant pressure towards discipline in order to get the best out. I cannot see that kind of support forming around him any time soon and I fear it will sadly lead to frustration and a tendency to veer into less constructive activities, communications and ultimately a failure to deliver.
If you read this elfspice, I think until you have a solid team around you and have a firm strategy for a new steem-fork experiment, that you should bury the hatchet and start afresh on steemit. The current approach cannot possibly work, there are too many things you are trying to change at once whilst re-designing the architecture. It is an extremely daunting task for anyone. You have done a great service to steem and you've inspired debate, support for your ideas and hopefully some changes in steemit.inc's approach. That is amazing and very valuable. Come back to steem unencumbered and with an open heart, I'll follow you as would many others I'm sure.
All of us must understand that if we want steem to survive, we have to set higher standards for ourselves and expect more from each other. We have to expect more from steemit.inc, from our witnesses, from those with significant stake, from businesses exploiting the steem pool, from everyone.
What is the intent behind steemit? It's a tool for protecting life, liberty and property. Can you see anything else in the whole world, in the whole of history working as well as steem does in reaching for that goal? I can't. What does that mean? It means we are on the cutting edge, everything every single steemian does takes us closer or further away from our chances of succeeding in achieving those goals. Aren't they goals literally everyone can agree upon?!
So every time you do something on steemit......and hell, we are all gonna make mistakes and put our feet in our mouths or misunderstand something or get upset or have a bad day.....just try at least to think, is this helping toward those lofty goals or or not? If enough of us care for long enough, then we can make steem work and change the world for the better for everyone.
Happy Steeming