HackMD
EPF Dev Update #5
tl;dr:
- Improved the experience of building and installing Trin on Arch Linux.
- Designed a framework for documenting nodes.
- Started looking for a new project.
Trin and Arch Linux
I've had some trouble running Trin on my laptop for the past few weeks. I used a docker container as a quick fix, but this week I decided to fix it properly.
I did 3 things to fix this:
- Upgraded a dependency that was preventing some systems from compiling Trin.
- Wrote a guide on how to build Trin on Arch.
- Published an AUR package.
Framework for Documenting Nodes
There's a lot of room for improving the documentation of the portal network and the portal nodes. I started writing a proposal on how we could better structure Trin's docs, but I realized that the structure we use for Trin would also be useful for other nodes, not only portal nodes but Ethereum nodes in general.
Here is the design I came up with.
I'm not sure about what to do with it. I could start by proposing my design to Trin and other teams individually, but that doesn't seem like the best idea to establish a standard. I should probably publish it somewhere like ethereum-magicians.org, get some feedback, and iterate until I can write an ERC.
New Project
When I researched what project I could pick, I concluded that implementing the Canonical Transaction Index Network on Trin was my best choice. It was a fairly isolated contribution that would allow me to understand how Trin works, and it was meaningful in the sense that sooner or later, someone would have to implement it.
I was aware that the implementation was a low priority, but I decided to go with it because it was still something we wanted for the portal network.
During the last couple of weeks, there was some discussion around whether this network was necessary at all. So I decided not to work on it until it was decided.
On the portal implementers call of august 21, It was decided that there is no real reason to implement this network, so I'll focus on something else.
I'm okay with changing my project. I want to contribute to the portal network, and I'm glad the team let me know that my contribution was not going to be as important and that I should focus on something else. I'll spend the next week studying some ideas they gave me for a new project and hopefully will have a new proposal by the end of next week.
Since I'm already familiar with the portal network, I can probably start coding right after I decide on the new project. If this is the case, my original roadmap would stay unchanged, with the coding stage of my project starting in week 7 of the EPF.
