I’ve been inspired to start a Steem witness. I’m nearly live.
I hope.
I’m not a technical genius, so I can tell you getting a 'Steem witness' is terribly hard.
I’ve put all the pieces together and should be up in a few days, but the path is strewn with problems and challenges that you have to get past. It is not a trivial task.
I’m just about there, if my Seed node can chew through the Blockchain. (Yes, what does that even mean?)
Getting a witness up is incredibly difficult because there is no coherent resource on how to do it, let alone a ‘Dummy’s Guide.’
If you are a Unix hacker, Github denizen or programmer, its not too tough, but it is still not a cakewalk.
If you are a ‘normal’ you have a problem, which is why there are not many ‘Stemm witnesses’ out there for a project with hundreds of millions of dollars in coins in circulation. Conrtrast the huge number of GPU miners digging for 'Shirtcoins.'
I think I can be able to put a simple, be it long, step by step guide together for the 'witness' process. Not one that says, ‘install your docker, slash, bang wallop… and your job is done” but one that drops the bar a fair way down from the technical pole-vault height it is currently set at.
Is there an audience for such a guide?
If there is, upvote this post and I’ll set off to do one.
It is bound to be a multi-part work as folks like us need copious and clear exposition, with no assumptions of technical experience.
some folks might believe you need to be suffering PTSD nighmare to deserve to have a 'witness' by I feel Steem could use more under a 100 servers to drive its world.
There are guides out there, like Jerry Banfield’s superb input, but a none technical person will find it extremely difficult to get their witness up.
Steem witness setup information is fragmented and hosts of questions are left open and not clearly answered for ‘Dummies’ like me.
Most people will simply not be able to get a witness together unless they go on a autodidactic nerd-extravaganza of weeks of degree level learning. Getting a witness going is like constructing flat pack furniture in the dark with your teeth without the pack of screws.
So if you think a ‘Dummies guide’ would be a good thing.
However I don’t know, tell me if there is a need, because I can certainly put one together, as an award winning journalist who has worked for Wired/Forbes and a few other such folk.
If the community says its worth many hours of time trying to produce an entry level Witness guide, I will give it a shot because I like the idea of Steem for all its byzantine flaws.
Show me you want it and get on the case.