This week, we released Kinode Version 0.6, the latest instantiation of our decentralized operating system. Version 0.6 has plenty of fixes and improvements—more on those below—but the most important thing to know about 0.6 is that it is our first stable release candidate. In other words, we are one step closer to a dependable Kinode OS that can be used in perpetuity.
Software stability is an admirable goal. Every developer knows the pain of racing to keep their software compliant with ever more complex operating systems. Every user has had a favorite application glitch to death after Microsoft springs a surprise update. With Kinode, our aim is to replicate the Ethereum launch roadmap: reach a version that is stable and usable for all time, even as the system evolves. While Kinode will continue to update and improve its software in perpetuity, we also guarantee the system’s usability and permanence.
But why is this important?
Perpetual backwards compatibility is the only way to guarantee truly permissionless development. No system update will ever break your application and you will never need to ask Kinode for approval to build a particular app or function. Kinode Version 1.0 will be our declaration that Kinode is ready for developers to take control over the ecosystem and build as they see fit. Version 0.6 is a significant step toward that vision.
Then, once you deploy an application on Kinode, it will live forever.
Once you deploy an application on Kinode, it will just work.
All that talk is nice, but what actually changes in 0.6? For this release, our focus was making Kinode more stable, ergonomic, and robust. Updates include:
A full technical description of the release can be found on our Github.
The roadmap to Version 1.0 is simple: extensively test each new version, push the software to its limits, fix the bugs, and release the next version. Then, we rinse and repeat until the software stops breaking altogether. How long will this take? We’re not exactly sure—the distance between 0.6 and 1.0 is not fixed. What we do know is this: the timescale is months, not years. For now, our priority is to challenge each version until we cannot break it—to prepare the software to live forever—because that is what we will ask it to do.
Ultimately, Kinode is a totally new platform. It is built to integrate all facets of modern crypto application development into a unified programming environment unlike any other. Such ambition and scope requires exhaustive testing, and we urge you to join the network if you haven’t already and help us push 0.6 to its limits.
This is our first real step towards perpetual backwards compatibility.
See you on Kinode.