It seems that I was mistaken thinking that LTC is going to end up as a test-bed for UASF. BW has just started signalling Segwit over there, which puts it above the necessary 75% (unless Jihad tries to rent out more hashrate in an attempt to stop it).
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Seriously ... Asicboost or no asicboost really doesn't make a difference. It is someone's imagination that asicboost will let Bitmain control the Bitcoin network. I simple won't happen. They need a lot more than 20% boost in performance to do that, and that is assuming asicboost actually works.
It seems like you are really frustrated about ASICBoost being outed. I wonder why that is. Seriously ... Asicboost or no asicboost really doesn't make a difference. It is someone's imagination that asicboost will let Bitmain control the Bitcoin network. I simple won't happen. They need a lot more than 20% boost in performance to do that, and that is assuming asicboost actually works.
It is also undeniable that some central planning is good for the overall development of Bitcoin. The developers propose something then it is for the nodes and the miners to decide which ones they want or what they do not want. It is the centralization of mining or the possibility of miner collusion that is bad. They have gained much leverage on the network that now they have become like an enemy of the Core developers to impose what they want.
Decentralized planning doesn't work. Just use the plane analogy. Do you let you passengers decide the size and type of your engines?