I don't understand why this is an issue -
If ver 0.8.2 is a problem, why not use 0.8.1 ?
Or someone recompile the 0.8.2 source with the changes you want/dont want ..
As far as I can see, no one has a central authority to decide anything on bitcoin.
The p2p network continues to work regardless of version ..
or am I wrong ?
You don't even need to recompile, you just edit a text file and restart.
The problem is that some people don't want
you to be able to change how
your node acts. They don't want you to have the option to refuse to relay their crap.
That is the reason for all of the fuss. 0.8.2 puts the node operator in charge of the relay policy for their own node.
Right -
So why does this thread exist ? - Why are there so many posts regarding boycotting
a version ? - Does G.Andresen have some special ability to force the bitcoin network
to adhere to this or that or as mentioned recently no longer allowing very small
transactions. If I'm using version 0.8.0 can I still make very small transactions ??
or is there some central server which has a global config file that all p2p connections
read and thus now prevent these mentioned small transactions ?
You can control what YOUR node does but you can't control what other nodes do. If your node can't find another node to relay and another miner willing to mine your small, spammy transactions they won't be confirmed.
People like to speak about the Bitcoin network in abstract as if it is the unified system runnning across multiple computers. The reality is that the "network" consists of thousands of independent nodes. You can't force another node to do something they don't want to. Prior to 0.8.2 other nodes had no way to block dust transactions. Now they do.