Workshops and Activation for CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY and CHECKSIGFROMSTACK

The recent publication of the call to review the CheckTemplateVerify (CTV) feature on June 9 has drawn attention to the relatively low engagement from the community, especially considering the substantial number of individuals (approximately 60) named in the announcement. Despite the significant interest implied by these numbers, only a mere five individuals have contributed code reviews to the specific CTV codebase discussion, marked as 31989, within the two months following the publication. Notably, among these contributors, merely two were signatories of the initial call, namely average-gary and stuxto, raising questions regarding the lack of participation from the remaining 58 signatories.

This situation underscores a broader concern about the overall process of achieving consensus within the bitcoin development community. The expectation that more developers, especially those who publicly supported the initiative by signing the letter, would actively engage in the review process has not been met. This discrepancy hints at potential barriers to participation or perhaps a misalignment between public endorsements and actual involvement in the developmental work.

In response to this challenge, there's an active effort to foster a more inclusive and neutral platform for consensus development. A notable initiative is the establishment of the Bitcoin Contracting Primitives Working Group, which operates through an open IRC channel. This group aims to facilitate discussions around bitcoin consensus in a manner that's accessible to anyone globally who considers themselves knowledgeable enough in the field. Unlike previous approaches that might have presented new proposals as final decisions made by an exclusive group of experts, this working group emphasizes openness and collaborative dialogue. The intention is to avoid the pitfalls and controversies that marred consensus changes during the 2015-2017 period, striving for a more democratic and transparent process.

For those interested in contributing or following the developments of this working group, further information and resources can be accessed through their GitHub repository, which can be found at https://github.com/ariard/bitcoin-contracting-primitives-wg. The organizer also offers to transfer repository ownership to parties willing to take a more active role in this endeavor, highlighting a commitment to fostering leadership and participation from within the community.