Launching Telos — Running the Last Mile
By Mark Cohen and Jesse Schulman
It may seem like things are a little quiet on the Telos front, but nothing could be farther from the truth. After nearly five months of working together, the Telos Launch Group (the “TLG”) is now running like a well oiled machine, with TLG members working diligently across the many workgroups all singularly focused on our approaching launch.
Some recent milestones worthy of note:
- The dev team has produced near 1000 lines of new code in the last 24 hours.
- Almost all contracts are now complete, and have, or are soon to enter the final testing phases.
- The final remaining contract for the TFVT (Telos Foundation Voting Token) is under construction.
- A TIPFS swarm for Telos voting and governance has been created by several BPs and is undergoing rigorous testing.
And while we’ve always maintained a list of items that are necessary to be in place in order to launch. With so many differing yet interdependent parts, prior to initiating the launch, we wanted to provide more insight into the launch process itself, and hence have put together a list of all the tasks that are required to cover that last mile.
Here then are the milestones that must be reached prior to initiating the launch of the TBN:
Code Milestone:
The development team will provide the network launch team a release-candidate build of the Telos code.
Launch Script:
Automation is key to creating consistent, reliable processes. Due to the complexity of the launch process, we seek to automate as much of it as possible to minimize risk, and maximize our success. The network launch team is finalizing a launch “script”, which will automate the execution of all the necessary tasks required to launch, including the integration of system contracts, and injection of accounts (genesis snapshot, community rewards pool, accounts for established Telos and EOS block producers, Telos Foundation accounts, etc.).
Launch Script Validation:
Once the launch script has been finalized, it needs to be meticulously examined. The development team will go over the launch script with a fine-toothed comb, looking at all the processes it (the script) implements, and validating both their necessity and functionality.
Launch Script Testing:
Once validated, the script then moves to the testing stage. Only after successfully testing the script by differing members of the launch team (a minimum of twice, ideally more) will the script be considered ready for launch.
Stagenet:
So that our testing represents a real-world environment as closely as possible, the launch directors will spin up a “stagenet” — a temporary network intended to simulate the post launch network, or Telos “mainnet.” The stagenet allows us to:
- Employ stagenet participants (block producer candidates) to confirm expected behavior.
- Rigorously test all system functions, such as regproducer (registration of producers), voting (voting for producers), automated kick (removal of non-producing producers), rotation functionality, etc…
- Rigorously test new system contracts, such as arbitration (dispute resolution), TFVT (Telos Foundation Voting Tokens), worker proposal, etc…
Buy RAM:
RAM is a precious resource on eosio-based chains, and traditionally has been the sole storage medium. Under the guidance of the Interim Telos Foundation RAM Administration Director, the TLG will purchase approximately 50% of the initial Telos system RAM, which will then be sold back into the system in order to eliminate any automatic profit windfall in the RAM market. As a check against uncontrolled use of RAM Administration funds, all RAM Administration accounts are protected via multi-signature controls.
TIPFS:
TIPFS, Telos’ integration of IPFS, provides off-chain distributed, decentralized and persistent storage. While TIPFS holds great promise, a limited implementation of TIPFS will be included at launch to store the critical governance documents required for Telos’ ratify.amend and worker proposals contracts.
Elections:
The final stage is to perform mock elections for the Telos Foundation board positions, as the foundation will play a crucial role post launch, with its mandate to steward and help facilitate the success of the TBN. The Telos Foundation board is elected by Telos Foundation Voting Token (TFVT) holders, comprised of members of the TLG and the Telos Community Rewards Pool. As elections are a key pillar of Telos’ governance, the testing of the electoral process is critical.
Only after we’ve repeatedly and consistently executed all of the aforementioned launch processes end to end without experiencing any issues, can we then with full confidence support a “go” vote — which would be nothing more than a decision to execute exactly what we’ve already validated as fully functional on a scheduled date, and consider that the launch of the Telos Mainnet.
Join the Telos conversation and get more info!
Telegram: https://t.me/HelloTelos
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelloTelos
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TelosFoundation.io
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheTelosNetwork
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TelosNetwork/
Discord: https://discordapp.com/channels/466757729508261889/468500684858327040
