GAUSS - what the hell is it?
tbh, I won't get deep into the technicals, because it's a lot - however, I scrapped the essential parts so everyone can understand the CORE idea ๐ฃ๏ธ
TLDR = it's
@RialoHQ 's smart, safe reconfiguration/upgrade mechanism, that helps devs/enginners evolve the blockchain (or any similar distributed system) without turning it OFF, like they would have to on traditional systems
is it an acronym? not this time - I think it's named after Carl Friedrich Gauss (a famous mathematician)
(if you remember this, it's probably enough imho)
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PREMISEโ๏ธ
a blockchain needs TWO main jobs done by its computer nodes (validators)
1) agree on the order of transactions (the consensus)
2) execute those txs & update the log (balances, smart contracts, etc)
but blockhains are also like an organism
they have to add new stuff
& remove what isn't working
but in order to move forward with this
they often have to change things like
a) who the validators are (add or remove some)
b) switch to a completely better consensus method (from PoW to PoS or vvers)
c) refresh/upgrade the core rules
typically, when you do this
you often have to โ๏ธ
โ๏ธ pause the whole chain
โ๏ธ do risky migration steps
โ๏ธ pause all txs & activity on dApps
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
GAUSS is different
it goes around these limitations
by using 2 separate LOGS
<a DIRTY/internal log>
it includes all the upgrade parts & coordination messages
<a CLEAN log>
only shows the real user transactions to the execution part so blockchain can keep functioning while upgrade is beeing prepared
[ this is how an upgrade using GAUSS looks like ]
โold team keeps working normally
โnew team prepares quietly in the background
โthey agree on one exact handover moment
โnew team takes over right after that moment
โchain keeps working
โalmost no interruption to users
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I like to think about it like upgrading your entire car's specs at a 10 sec pitstop during a F1 race, without even turning OFF the engine
@itachee_x @soumeya @yann_hodique