Ethereum Developers Start Search for New Hard Fork Coordinator

Following the departure of core developer Afri Schoedon from the open-source project in late February, ethereum developers discussed the issue of who would take his place in coordinating hard forks, or system-wide software upgrades, in a meeting Friday. Schoeden left just last week after favorable remarks he made about another blockchain project sparked social media outcry.

The role as highlighted by Ethereum Foundation community relations manager Hudson Jameson would consist of “[deciding] on hard dates for submitting [Ethereum Improvement Proposals] for consideration, deciding on those EIPs, implementation and testing and then finally what day the hard fork would be.”

“Of course, they wouldn’t be a dictator in this regard, but they would be the one to come up with suggestions or different options to bring to the table,” added Jameson during the call.

Rather than delegating the role to a single individual, ethereum core developers agreed that the role of hard fork coordination could be split between two to three individuals.

Highlighting that a number of candidates have already stepped up to offer their support, Jameson concluded that the task of assessing applicants would be delegated to a group of ethereum volunteers called the “Ethereum Cat Herders.”

The group was initially started back in January by developer Lane Rettig, Jameson and Schoedon “for the broader purpose of coordination and project management” within the ethereum ecosystem.

Having successfully implemented two hard forks yesterday, ethereum core developers are now preparing for the next system-wide upgrade called Istanbul, as well as a possible upgrade to a new mining algorithm known as ProgPoW.