Olympic, the Frontier pre-release client, is out!

StephanTual · May 2015

This is it! PoC9 is entering its final phase, nicknamed 'Olympic' and you can now download binaries for your favorite operating system.

This means that Frontier, the first release of Ethereum, is only a few weeks away. In order to put the network through its paces, we are offering prizes (for a total of 25K ether) for a variety of challenges.

You can download the software at:
https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/releases/tag/v0.9.18

And you can find the list of prizes at:
https://blog.ethereum.org/2015/05/09/olympic-frontier-pre-release/

binhn · May 2015

Is the cpp at the same level v0.9.18? the download link you provided only for go-ethereum. Thanks.

StephanTual · May 2015

@binhn - "Olympic" is a designation for a very specific set of software, namely the Go Client CLI, called Geth. It will form the audited code we'll release in "Frontier", and is bundled in the link I provided.

Other clients, like the C++ client, are obviously designed to be compatible with Ethereum, well, they form Ethereum really, but will continue active development even after Frontier is launched, and won't be audited for a while. We therefore do not label them as "Olympic" or "Frontier".

binhn · May 2015

@StephanTual thanks for the explanation

Frenchfaso · May 2015

Hy there, is it right that ethers mined with 'Olympic' have no value?
We have to wait a couple of weeks for the 'Frontier' release?
tnx :-)

Smithgift · May 2015

@Frenchfaso: Yes and no. The ether you directly mine in Olympic has no value, but there are a variety real Frontier/Homestead ether prizes available for having mined during Olympic.

Frenchfaso · May 2015

@Smithgift Thanks

Frenchfaso · May 2015

I wonder how hard it will be to mine some Ethers once Frontier is up&running..

etherninja · May 2015

CPU unlikely. GPU you might get a few during the first few weeks with a single card. But no one really knows. A lot of people will be starting up their old retired riggs from the graveyard. I still debating the cost/risk of swooping up a few 290x's on ebay.

0x00fc572550f3bdfe84f72e3eaa99d02a43f69733

Maren85 · May 2015

That's where ethereum has utterly crumbled in my opinion. I was interested in it maybe 12 months ago when I was reading one of VB's whitepapers and it said it was going to be CPU mined only.

I thought that was fantastic and would mean real people would be interested as everyone had similar chances to contribute and wouldn't matter how much money you can spend on mining rigs and GPU's, since then it's certainly gone downhill, the announcement about allowing GPU mining is only about 3 months old that's why it's still so unreliable, it killed of a lot of my interest and I'm sure I'm not the only one and it's just opened up another get rich quick scheme for all the bitcoin crowd.

You can see them already on the forum posting about mining and hardware with no clue about what lies behind, with no interest in finding out either, it's a disgrace and is already a big disappointment with something that started off so promising.

Frenchfaso · May 2015

@Maren85 I agree that the GPU mining thing is probably attracting many 'retired' bitcoin miners, but I'm sure many indie/small-team developers are also sensing the great opportunity that this platform could offer.
For Ethereum to succeed, we need a lot of developers, and the more Dapps (and users) on the network, the more miners you will need to keep the whole thing running.
So, I guess adding GPU mining support was probably a really smart move, for the future of Ethereum.

PS: When, in a few years, "Ethereum" will be a synonym for "Internet", the world will be a better place

Michael_A · May 2015

@Frenchfaso I agree the value of ethereum will be based not on how many GPU are mining, but on the quality of Dapps, the number of people who are going to use these Dapps on a regular basis.

For those who are plugins old GPU rigs... well don't forget Ethereum use a Ethash POW algo, those old mining rigs were optimise to mine Sha-256 and Script coins, lot of them are not efficient enough for mining ether.
We know already POW won't last, my bet is the DEV team is already working hard behind close door to integrate a POS solution.
Who want to invest in mining rigs just for couple month?

Maren85 · May 2015

We've already been told they are working on POS and it will be swapped over within the first year I seem to remember reading or it might have been after the first year.

Regardless, we were also told that it would be launching in April and we were told not too long ago that GPU's wouldn't be used so I would't hold my breath on anything just yet, at this point, I wouldn't even trust it being called Ethereum, might change it to BitCoin 2.0

It just means Ethereum will be letting people use their BitCoin rigs and fancy GPU's just long enough to make a nice chunk of money at everyone elses expense and move on, awesome.

levi · May 2015

@Maren85,

If it were CPU mining, "Not everyone has twelve servers and twenty five workstations to mine on and my home CPU cannot keep up." Also, botnets.

At least with GPU mining, the hardware had to be purchased pretty recently (memory requirements) and you can also run it on your PC while browsing the web, since it doesn't lock up your CPU.

-Levi

Maren85 · May 2015

Who said anything about needing twelve servers and twenty five workstations, you've missed the whole point, not everyone has a 2gig+ GPU but everyone has a CPU

levi · May 2015

The point is, it is easier for me to acquire 25 CPU's than 25 GPU's. If you are having a problem finding one GPU, you still wouldn't be able to compete.

levi · May 2015

Did you pre-purchase ether to be so negative regarding its future? I think most of the community is very excited. If you are worried about the release date, you should check the Milestones on the github. I would much prefer a secure product than one released at your leisure.

Frenchfaso · May 2015

Smithgift said:
@Frenchfaso: Yes and no. The ether you directly mine in Olympic has no value, but there are a variety real Frontier/Homestead ether prizes available for having mined during Olympic.

Thank you for your answer!
Another question has come to my mind, is the current Olympic Ether-reward already at 10% or is it 100% of Homestead?

LarsPensjo · May 2015

Frenchfaso said:
..., and the more Dapps (and users) on the network, the more miners you will need to keep the whole thing running.

The number of possible Dapps doesn't correlate with the number of miners. You only need one miner. If you have more miners, they are all going to try to repeat the same thing (except only one of them successfully mines the next block).

So, I guess adding GPU mining support was probably a really smart move, for the future of Ethereum.

In the same way, GPU mining doesn't add to the power of Dapps.

As has been mentioned elsewhere, GPU mining is temporary, and eventually replaced by PoS. When that happens, you should be able to use "weak" computers without graphics altogether. I don't think there will be an incentive to mine on multiple machines, as the chance to mine a block only depends on your "stake".

Maren85 · May 2015

Congrats Levi, your probably the biggest idiot I've seen on here to date. I'm not entirely convinced you speak English so I'll make it easy for you.

If you think buying 25 computers is the same or easier then buying 25 trumped up GPU's then you have no concept of what goes into a computer, what they cost or what on Earth your talking about.

You should have a read up of what computers are, you can have a look here if your struggling, they don't need $200+ GPU's to run but they do need some form of CPU, what I read about Etheruem long before the presale was it was supposedly for everyone, not just for the pre ASIC Bitcoin kids to make a nice chunk of change, which is why it was going to be CPU only as everyone with a PC has a CPU, do you see how that works? Logic...Check the link, you'll see.

As LarsPensjo says, it doesn't matter about multiple machines,

Next, I did purchase Ether in the presale and I have been interested in Ethereum for a long time, having a community that's excited has absolutely nothing to do with anything, you might as well as said the sky is blue and the grass is green to prove your point.

I never said I was worried about a release date, I said the date that we were told has been and long gone.

What I explained rather simply was that Etheruem started as being open for everyone as everyone with a computer has a CPU, not everyone with a computer has a $200+ GPU. Do you see how that works? Logic...

I also explained that if Ethereum has now gone back on that before it's even launched, what else is going to change? It's about credibility and a level of trust.

levi · May 2015

Allow a breakdown. (We'll round it down to 24) GPU's you will need:
6x 1200 Watt power supplies, 6x 4slot PCI-E motherboards, 6 CPU's (1 per motherboard), 6 Cooling systems for the CPUs, Minimum 4 GB of RAM per system, Operating system (plus time to configure), cases, energy, and cooling for the room.

If I own a PC, I probably own one or two PCI-E slots to add a dedicated graphics card. I probably do not have expansion options for my CPU like a server configuration.

I administrate a large cluster of servers for multiple corporate customers.
There are also such things as "botnets." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botnet)
Both of these scenarios would make single CPU mining unprofitable for the average PC user.

If you prefer to passive aggressively spread FUD to the detriment of everyone involved, perhaps you should find a new community in which to do it. The Ethereum community is very helpful and very kind. The developers are working as hard as possible to release a secure product as soon as possible. https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/milestones/Frontier

Edit: "your probably the biggest idiot"

As for English language, check out the proper use of "You're vs Your" and "Run-On" sentences.
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-You're-and-Your
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run-on_sentence

StephanTual · May 2015

@levi @maren85 - no ad hominem and no flame wars on forum.ethereum.org - zero tolerance policy means it's both your first and last warning. Play nice

marimes · May 2015

Hi Stephan, I tried to approach a running setup through multiple ways (Windows7, Mac using sources, binaries, chocolatey, homebrew) and hit different blockers with each of these routes. What is the currently best way to get going with contracts and mining? Thanks!

oomo · May 2015

I do agree with what @Maren85 mentioned above. We are building a service on top of Ethereum and for us it is very critical that Ethereum is successful too. We were also hoping that our servers would be mining ether during it's ideal CPU cycle and use the mined ether to process our services. Now, we to mine some serious ether, if we need heavy duty GPU setups, it changes our business model. If needed, we were planning on buying some Ether when we go live, so we are not prohibitive to continue on our path. Though it does concern me that GPU mining could prohibit the success of Ethereum.

Genoil · May 2015

@oomo @Maren85 it's not a matter of "allowing" GPU mining. At some point you settle on a proof of work algorithm and you move on. Hadn't they released the GPU miner, somebody else would have made it and possibly kept it closed-source. That's a risk you simply can't afford to take.

Smithgift · May 2015

For what it's worth, I remember the devs said earlier they might encourage the possibility of GPU mining, but ASICs was what they wanted to fight. Even if GPU mining is what we ended up with, you can still use a GPU after the mining is over, but you can't use an ASIC for anything else.

oomo · May 2015

Yes, disallowing ASIC is the right goal, to eliminate those ASIC mining farms, which are accessible to limited miners. Though, it appears that moving to GPU mining moves the bar upper or lower (based on how you look at it) to people with powerful GPUs. For Ethereum to become as Bitcoin 2.0 or Web 3.0 platform, they need to first focus on ease of adaptability and not focus on exclusivity. Why not utilize the old machine that is just sitting around? I was even thinking of creating a cluster of Raspberry PIs, which obviously doesn't have fancy GPUs, and use it to mine some ether.

Overall, I think, Ethereum decentralized platform, could very well bring some meaning to "Network as a Computer" - If it allows any device on the network, which is a computing device. My BD Players, my set-top boxes, my streaming media players and even my current TV is either running Linux or JavaME or Android with network connectivity and it could very well be mining some ether which I can potentially use to Rent a Movie on Hulu or whatever. As a consumer of these devices and energy it consumes, it is generating revenue for me to spend on services - And all of this done because of Ethereum - Think about it.

tgerring · May 2015

oomo said:
Though, it appears that moving to GPU mining moves the bar upper or lower (based on how you look at it) to people with powerful GPUs.

Unfortunately, due to the popularity of GPUs as massively parallel processors, it's become quite easy to port almost any maths to it. Resistance against this is fighting the inevitable and probably not worth the effort. But you're right, in the end... Even my slightly older GPU only has 1GB RAM, which isn't really enough and I would need a whole new system to support the appropriate cards

LarsPensjo · May 2015

There is also the case of a 51% POW attack. It has to be really costly to be able to mount a 51% attack. Because of that, any small scale miner can only be allowed to have a very minuscule effect.

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Olympic, the Frontier pre-release client, is out!

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