By my count, JoelKatz seems to have won this thread several times over by now.
There are people who understand the economics behind your points, they're just (mostly) staying out of this.
Confirming that JoelKatz has won this thread several times over.
On another note, why do people who have not even the slightest interest in using bitcoins stick around this forum for months and make hundreds of posts? (rhetorical)
I don't know what you people mean by winning a thread. I share my view and I try to understand other people's view.
If I change my mind the one that gains more its me, not the other person.
I have the intuition that his view is based on dogma, but if I discover that he's only based on true assumptions and logic I have no problem admiting that I was wrong.
In fact I love to change my mind. The feeling that you were blind and now you see is very good.
On another note, why do people who have not even the slightest interest in using bitcoins stick around this forum for months and make hundreds of posts? (rhetorical)
Well in all likelihood they believe in the technological aspects of the project not necessarily the specific implementation and believe for the fate of the technology it is better to alter the implementation than to compete with it or may not have the technical skills to do it on their own.
Seems obvious to me.....
If you're talking about me, I have much interest in using bitcoin, because it is much better than the monetary system we have now.
I see two main groups within the monetary system critics.
From the austrian school we criticize the central bank role.
Within the local currencies trend, the critique is usually more focused on interest.
I criticize both and that's why I propose freicoin and support ripple (although you can have interest with ripple I think the rate would tend to zero).
I also support bitcoin, many people around me know bitcoin thanks to me. I don't talk about freicoin when I introduced them to the bitcoin concept.
I'm a software engineer (well, I don't have the paper that says so yet, I have to finish the final project, but I'm already working as programmer) and I could develop freicoin if I study the bitcoin code. It's a simple change for someone who already knows the code.
But there's no point in having the code if most people who know the idea don't like it.
Also I don't think I have the experience needed to coordinate a free software project like that.