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# HRF: LBtCftCL

> What is your project area of focus?

Bitcoin Core

> What is your project name?

Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line Update

> What is your name? 

Blockchain Commons

> Do you use/prefer a pseudonym? 

No


> Please provide a detailed project description. [2k words!]

Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line (LBTCftCL) has been one of Blockchain Commons' most successful initiatives. It's a book-length tutorial that helps future developers learn how Bitcoin works with hands-on experience. The course has proven very popular, generating 3,000+ stars and 750+ forks on GitHub. It's been translated into Portuguese and Spanish, with an Italian translation in process. We think it's a vital tool for bringing new developers into the blockchain ecosystem: some of the interns that we've worked with came into the field through the course.

Unfortunately, LBTCftCL has gotten out of date. The last major revision, which brought it up-to-date with Bitcoin Core 22.0, was three years ago. Bitcoin Core is now at 28.1.

The goal of this project is to bring LBTCftCL back up-to-date, so that it can serve the next generation of developers. This includes the following:

1. Update to Bitcoin Core 28.1
2. Focus on Segwit Transactions
3. Introduce Schnorr & TapRoot
4. Introduce MAST
5. Discuss MuSig & FROST
6. Introduce Descriptor Wallets
7. Replace testnet with signet
8. Explain QR Creation
9. Detail miniscript
10. Resolve Current PRs & Issues

This is a comprehensive upgrade that will update every example to 28.1 and add several new chapters. It's laid out in three parts: resolve current PRs & issues; update book to 28.1; add new content.

We also want to offer an easier way for developers to work on the course. Currently, they have to download a Bitcoin server or download and compile the source, which is a barrier to entry. 

A new remote desktop system created by Bitcoin Core contributor Bryan Bishop offers the answer: his Instamouse (https://instamouse.com/) system can run a Bitcoin development environment from a web page. We'd like to offer Instamouse "desktops" for LBTCftCL users that we'd keep online for a year as an experiment. Bryan Bishop has said that he'd support us in this work, to ensure that we have a desktop that meets our needs.

> Please provide a short project description in 1-2 sentences. (This will help us understand and explain your project in a concise manner)

The Learning Bitcoin update would help to bring new blockchain developers into the field by updating the current book-length course for the last few years of Bitcoin development. We'd also make it easier to participate in the course by offering a Bitcoin remote desktop for usage.


> How does your project relate to HRF's mission? 

Cryptocurrencies are a crucial tool for human rights in authoritarian regimes. HRF recognizes that with the Bitcoin Development Fund, which is focused on funding global Bitcoin adoption. However, in order for global adoption to occur, we need global developers. 

Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line makes it possible for anyone in the world to learn how Bitcoin works and to get started on the road to development with a hands-on course. These are the developers who will then offer local apps and services for those countries across the world. Our previous interns, which have been scattered across the globe, prove the course's success in this regard.


> Why should HRF fund your project? 

Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line has a proven track record for spurring global adoption. Our Portuguese and Spanish translations came about because of foreign-language speakers who learned Bitcoin from our English-language course and then volunteered to translate it to their own language. 

The course is also already substantive, and one of the best, most extensive ways to learn Bitcoin (and it's freely available on GitHub).

However, without funding we've been unable to keep the course up to date, and so we're aware that it's losing its usefulness day-by-day. By funding this update, HRF can leverage the work and cost that has already invested in the program and help to produce a great updated resource that will create more new Bitcoin developers.

> How do you measure success of your project? 

Pragmatically, the project will be successful when we produce a new version of Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line that is fully updated to Bitcoin Core 28.1 and that fully explains new concepts such as Taproot, Schnorr, and Descriptor Wallets, with  hands-on exercises for those topics.

However, we ultimately mark the success of Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line by the developers who enter the field after learning Bitcoin from our course. We know they exist because some became interns at Blockchain Commons and have since gone on to the wider field.

Our best proxy for that is the stars and forks we see on GitHub. As long as they continue to grow (and they have, even as the project has gotten out of date), then we know people are finding the resource and learning from it. 

> Please list your project Github, project social media accounts, and project websites if applicable 

https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/Learning-Bitcoin-from-the-Command-Line?tab=readme-ov-file#learning-bitcoin-from-the-command-line-220

> Is the project Free and Open Source? 

Yes


> What is your annual project budget? 

$25,000

> How much funding are you hoping to secure with this BDF Grant?

$25,000

> Please describe what funding will be used towards. 

$20,000 is dedicated to the update to the course by the same experienced technical writing team that put together the original course.

$5,000 is for experimenting with Instamouse, setting up one or more servers for Learning Bitcoin use, and supporting them over a one-year period following the tutorial update.

> Has this project received any prior funding? If yes, please describe. 

The earliest work on Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line, which was extensive but stopped short of a full release, was funded entirely by Blockstream.

Later work to bring the tutorial to a full 1.0 release and then up through 2.2.0 were funded internally by Blockchain Commons.

Portuguese and Spanish translations as well as a new chapter on various programming languages and an appendix on compiling Bitcoin Core were produced in part by Blockchain Commons interns, who were funded in part by an HRF grant. 

> What is your email? 

team@blockchaincommons.com


> What are your social media handles? 

@ChristopherA (Twitter, BlueSky)
christophera (LinkedIn)

> Please list the name + email of two references we can contact regarding your project. 

Bryan Bishop [email]
Peter Denton [email]

