SMT Development Update: Burn-Ups

SMT Burn Up.jpg

Hello Steemians, as many of you know, SMT development has been underway for quite some time. While engineering resources had to be diverted toward HF20 development, we are now well on our way to returning total focus to SMTs. Two months ago we closely examined the work that has been done, and the work left to do, which enabled us to re-baseline and plan for a release date. Thanks to that work, we were able to develop an organization and tracking system for SMT development which we discussed in our post Tracking SMT Development Progress. In that system you will see every single work item our blockchain team has identified that needs to be completed in order to launch SMTs on the dates we have announced.

Invitation to Monitor Our Progress

We want to keep everyone as informed as possible with respect to ongoing development. To that end we plan to share the burn-up charts we use internally to monitor our progress in relation to our goal of releasing an SMT TestNet in January. We will do our best to update this chart and share it publicly every week. We will also list the work that was completed each week.

SMT work completed last week:
https://github.com/steemit/steem/issues/2696

Screen Shot 2018-10-17 at 4.16.23 PM.png

The blue dots symbolize the number of points that we have completed for SMT development. For those who don’t know, assigning “Story Points” is part of Agile Software Development. They are a “unit of measure for expressing an estimate of the overall effort that will be required to fully implement a product backlog item or any other piece of work” and determined by using a Fibonacci Scale.

The red line symbolizes the rate at which we need to complete tasks and the point-values of those tasks. As you can see, the total number of points that need to be completed in order for SMTs to be ready for release are a bit over 300. The reason the blue line is flat is that most of our resources were dedicated to HF20-related development during that time.

As we return our focus to SMT development, the blue line must approach the red line, and even surpass it, if we are to deliver SMT TestNet on time. We have concluded our Post Mortem of HF20 (which we will share publicly) and believe we can still deliver SMTs on the planned release date. By publishing our burn-up charts every week, we hope to demonstrate the progress as it happens.

The Steem Blockchain Team

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It's nice to see that you're willing to show you're behind schedule. Here's to hoping you guys can catch up!

Whatever happened to unlimited editing???

This is what was promised long before HF20. The unlimited editing never happened. It then got pushed to HF20. Again, it never happened. Why don't we have unlimited editing as promised?


Reference: https://steemit.com/steem/@steemitblog/hardfork-20-what-to-expect-tomorrow

I don't know how the situation is after HF20, but a few weeks before everything crashed with HF20 - it was/is possible with the Steeditor app. I've already edited a few posts and can confirm that it worked! It might work after HF20 too.

I am glad you are being more open with the community and bringing everyone up to speed on the development.

We all learned a great deal from the situation with Hard Fork 20. One of the biggest lessons is that we all need to do everything we can to get on the same page. Most do not expect perfect or flawless upgrades. This is technology and there are apt to be bugs.

However, if people have a chance to monitor what is going on, then there will be few surprises. Getting everyone on the same page is vital to avoid the in-fighting and backstabbing we saw a few weeks ago.

After all, each of us has the same desire; Steem to become one of the leading blockchains.

Thanks for the update.

I have always been surprised at the low level of communication and engagement with the community from @steemit, specially considering steem is setup as a social media blockchain.

Anyway, it's good to see @steemitblog posting more regularly and keeping users informed.

Hopefully increased transparency will allow everyone that uses and builds on this great blockchain to be better prepared and plan accordingly.

I am looking forward to SMTs and I am sure we will get a few of those "Initial Community Offerings" that @ned is hinting at being airdropped.

I have packed my bags and am ready to go! Where's that rocket?

@kabir88

@kabir88

That is a really interesting way of tracking development! Thanks for being open about where the team is at currently. I know SMTs are your main priority, but what about Communities?

Much of Hivemind has been complete for a while, so current focus is mainly on SMTs. Just because we are focusing on one aspect of the stack at a given moment in time does not mean we are abandoning another. Typically, work in one area just slows as it becomes apparent that more resources need to be allocated to another.

Oh, yeah I wasn't implying that work there had stopped. More just wondering how that development fits into the work on SMTs: for example if it's something that would roll out before, simultaneously with, or after the next major fork?

Because Hivemind is non-consensus it doesn't have to be scheduled in that manner. These two products work very well together, so it is our goal to get them out around the same time. But Hivemind doesn't require hardforks or even the participation of witnesses. It's just regular software. That also means it is less challenging to develop.

Got it! Thanks for the explanation @andrarchy :-)

Hey, @andrarchy.

Yes, thanks for this. I've been looking for an update of some kind on hivemind and communities, so it's nice to know what intentions are, and that it's less challenging to produce. I think there are many of us here who are as excited about the prospects of communities as much as we are SMTs, so just the idea of both of them coming out around the same time is morale boosting. :)

beat me to reading it. 😂@glenalbrethsen hey I was literally about to tag you here but you

That's funny, because I was thinking I should do the same, but then wasn't remembering exactly who it was I was having the conversation with, because I've spoken to quite a few people about this. :)

Glad you remembered you and I had one of those conversations at least.

I'd like him to do some clarifying though. Hopefully he'll see what I said and have time to reply.

Lots of development being made in github I see! It’s good to see some solid progress being made, keep at it fellas :))

Great update, loving the accountibility.

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This is an awesome great step towards negating all comments regarding Steemit Inc’s lack of transparency.

We look forward to SMTs very much and hope that blue line will approach the red without any issues asap.

We’ll be keeping track of the burn-ups

Interesting project development update!

We have a feature called CoinGecko Beam where your team can "beam" updates such as these to the wider crypto community through our platform and API.

We're highly intrigued with SMT development and would love it if we can enable you give real time updates to those outside of the Steem Community.

Do contact us at hello@coingecko.com and we'll be more than happy to give you more info!

Thanks for the update. I look forward to seeing those lines converge. Exciting stuff.

Kudos! I always appreciate how the devs loop everyone in with regards to updates like these. Keep doing a great job for all of us. ^_^

Greetings @steemitblog, there is still an error to correct in the Steemit code, Steem Power delegations canceled before the HF and whose return date corresponds to a day after the HF20 are not returned to their owners, in my case I have 3 delegations of Steem Power that have not returned to me despite having been canceled more than 7 days ago. For example:

https://steemd.com/b/26219028#706497a88036dc3a082a99f48fbf26f964661a69

This delegation was canceled 26 days ago and I still do not receive the respective Steem Power.

Saludos @steemitblog, aún queda un error por corregir en el código de Steemit, las delegaciones de Steem Power canceladas antes del HF y cuya fecha de retorno corresponde a un día posterior al HF20 no están retornado a sus poseedores, en mi caso tengo 3 delegaciones de Steem Power que no han retornado a mí a pesar de haber sido canceladas hace más de 7 días. Por ejemplo:

https://steemd.com/b/26219028#706497a88036dc3a082a99f48fbf26f964661a69

Esta delegación fue cancelada hace 26 días y aun no recibo el Steem Power respectivo.

So... this is awesome! Great transparency.

If I think it's perfect, this new way of communicating.

Hey, @steemitblog.

This is good. It's good to see the development moving forward, it's good to see that even though the HF put SMT development behind, that it's being acknowledged and things continue to move forward. In reality, you can only do what you can do with the resources you have available.

I personally look forward to your HF20 post mortem. I also wonder if there's been more on where to go from here regarding RCs and the devs, witnesses and community coming together for a solution? I understand there's another patch coming out to adjust RC transaction costs. Is there a specific date next week for that?

Thank you for the communication.

@andrarchy

some months back it was announced that we can now edit old posts but it is still not possibe to do so on steemit or other aps , do you know the reason behind it?

upvoting for visibilty

Good that they are working on improving the platform from all points of view, steemit should already globalize its function, create steemians centers in countries with more users, to do marketing work that help expand this wonderful network.

Thanks for the info of what's going on behind the curtains. We all need this to take our choices.
Keep on

Oh I know burn-ups! Good to see em!

It sounds great @steemitblog. Thanks for the inform which will get us prepared for the responsibilities. I see the weekly update plan as apt. Meanwhile how do you hope to get the communities integrated into what you are doing?

This is great! Most of us are waiting (im)patiently for the release of SMTs, seeing a progress chart weekly (?) will calm some of those nerves. I'm sending some go go developers! your way and go back to waiting patiently to probably one of the most exciting developments on Steem.

Assuming the chart was plotted before the HF20 debacle, then SMT testnet release will be late. Or of low quality, which would also delay the release to mainnet.

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It looks like it will be late but let's hope we are wrong.

Of course

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There are other factors to consider such as capacity that make your comment not necessarily fact. While it is possible that we may be late, I assure you that quality is the priority.

Transparency is the root for both trust and understanding from the community. You are doing exactly that, and I fucking love it.

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Transparency is great!

thanks for keeping us updated on the progress

Nice. Thanks for the update. more wins

Wow, very happy to see transparency about the development of SMT.

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To be honest, this is awesome. I was waiting for something like this for a long time and I'm happy to see something is being done.

Given the hybrid nature of this project: with a centralized Steem INC, a semi-decentralized witness community and a completely decentralized community of content creators and consumers, communication is a key issue. Every small improvement here should create huge ripples. Just as any blunder creates even bigger ripples...

Thanks for the transparency being shown in this process. It is great you are willing to demonstrate the challenges as we know that sometimes things don't go as planned. I hope that community can help efforts when needed!

Ohhh yeah guys... Work work work. Let's bring them smoothly 😉

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Love the transparency! More is needed on a weekly bases 😀

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In any software development process, delays are expected. Some of the best companies in the world must delay build releases due to unexpected issues. Thanks for being transparent!

Thank you for transparency. Believe it or not, I truly think that even publically showcasing "poor development" / "slow progress" can actually make people more comfortable. Sure, if one of your posts shows that your behind, people will get upset. But overall I think more people will be happy that you chose to be open about it.

Thank you very much for your continued development! Good luck!

this really is a good thing and seeing that blue line under the red one must be as frustrating for the design team to see as it is for all steemians... So I guess its that much more motivation to get is to where it is supposed to be.
keep up the good work

Thank you for the udates. I love scrum and it's one the software development processes I've proposed to our organization.

I'm happy you've adopted agile and doing scrum. It's one of the things I look for organizations.

I have every expectation that SMT's will work just as well as HF20

The SMTs are certainly the most anticipated feature on Steem and have been a grand topic of discord over here. The transparent approach for is really a great step forward for a greater trust into the development.

Some welcome transparency. Hope you can converge those lines.

I think transparency is key. Mistakes were made with hf20 and confidence has to be regained. I'm still not totally clear on what SMTs will bring, but I'll be sure to discuss it with people at Steemfest. See you there

Great update and transparency. We can clearly see how serious our developer is

Thank you for keeping us updated. knowing what is going on is important for potential investors and content creators to see.

This is really great! And a needed step toward a normalized relationship between the constituents of this awesome blockchain.

Thank you for the update and clarity on the process and schedule. These types of insights are important for everyone! It shows that there is dialogue with the community at large so I know there are many that appreciate the update. Keep up the work and we will get to SMT's before we know it, but not until it is properly tested of course; there is no rush to have an important component such as this fully tested and vetted.

Good to see there is a project plan in place. With that being said, I'd love to contribute to catch the team up.

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!dilbert

m98jdk1gyjt01.gif

!Frank

giphy.gif

!popcorn

SP块链梦之队(The Steem Blockchain Team)又回归到追梦的道路上了,这是大家朝着梦想目标又前进了一大步!

The Steem Blockchain Team is back on the road to the dream, which is a big step forward towards the dream goal!

Hey sir, how do I get off the blacklist?

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And what criminal activity is that?

crickets