I felt it was about time to provide an update on my end for those keen on learning how things are progressing on the Dutch front. My name is Jeff, a co-founder of Ethereum and one of the trio of directors (together with Vitalik and Gavin) of Ethereum ÐΞV, the development organization advancing Ethereum and its related technologies.
In recent months, I have been searching for an appropriate office location to establish the Amsterdam Hub. Unfortunately, it has proven to require more effort than I initially expected, and I have nothing to present thus far. I’ve handed this task over to my good friend and now collaborator, Maran. Maran will do everything possible to find the most suitable place for the Amsterdam hub and the development of Mist. Those utilizing the Ethereum programming language mutan might want to transition to Serpent or the upcoming standard programming language Solidity. I have made the pragmatic choice to concentrate my efforts on more urgent issues like the development of the protocol and the browser. Perhaps in time, I might resume its development.
ÐΞV Amsterdam
After two months of waiting, the lawyers have finally managed to establish the company here in Amsterdam (ugh, the Dutch and their bureaucracy, right?), and we’ve identified a bank that is willing to welcome us as their valued customers (…). Currently, we have several potential options for our office space, and I will share details as soon as I have more concrete information.
The Team
It’s high time the Amsterdam team received a proper introduction. These individuals are doing some exceptional work!
The first to join the Amsterdam team is Alex van de Sande (also known as avsa). Alex is a talented UX engineer who has been with us for quite some time. It was only a matter of time before he officially became a member of the ÐΞV team. Alex has taken on the responsibility of UI development and serves as a UX expert, currently prototyping the latest Web3 browser.
The second member to join the team is Viktor Trón. Vik is quite the math aficionado and is diligently working on the new DEVP2P, rigorously testing it. I have known Vik since the inception of the project back in January/February, and he is a fantastic person and a significant asset to this team.
The third addition to the team is Felix Lange. Felix is an enthusiastic Gopher (yay!) and the first thing he pointed out to me was that I had mishandled my go routines, resulting in numerous race conditions. How considerate of him (-; Felix will work on the Whisper implementation once the specifications have been officially finalized. Felix is a remarkable gopher with the potential to become a true Ethereum Core Developer.
The fourth team member is Daniel Nagy. Daniel has a background in cryptocurrency and security, and his initial assignment is to create a detailed specification for our DHT implementation and its development.
Last but certainly not least is Maran Hidskes. Maran has been part of this team before but in a completely different capacity. Previously, Maran worked on the protocol, but after welcoming a new member of his family, he decided to take some time off. Now, his primary role is to manage the daunting task of administration for ÐΞV Amsterdam.
Even though they are not part of any formal team, I would like to express my gratitude to Nick, Caktux, and Joris for their ongoing efforts in advancing our build systems. I would also like to specifically thank Nick for highlighting the discrepancies in our implementations: Nick, you truly are a delightful challenge (-;
Onwards
As we continue to progress towards the next installment in the Proof of Concept (PoC-7), we still have a considerable amount of work ahead of us.
Recently, I have begun constructing a toolkit so we can test Christoph’s (he’s on the Berlin team) impressive testing suite. Christoph has invested a significant amount of effort into developing a proper testing suite for the Ethereum protocol. I never realized people could find enjoyment in writing tests as you do; you have my utmost respect.
I have also initiated a cross-implementation JavaScript framework named ethereum.js. Ethereum.js is rapidly gaining traction among the rest of the Ether Hackers and is already being utilized by the Go websocket & JSON RPC implementation, C++ JSON RPC implementation, and the Node.js implementation. Ethereum.js represents a true collaborative effort from the ÐΞV cross-implementation team.
Our Polish partners at IMAPP (Paweł and Artur) have finalized their initial implementation of the JIT-compiled LLVM-based EVM and have agreed to create a Go bridge so that Mist can benefit from the speed enhancements in executing Ethereum contracts discussed earlier in Gav’s update.
Fin
I will strive to continue posting updates regarding Mist, the protocol, and ÐΞV in general, so stay tuned!
Jeff (jeffrey.spammenot.wilcke@ethdev.com)
