Web3 People #2 - Bill Laboon (Director of Education & Governance Initiatives at Web3 Foundation)
W eb3 People are interviews with people related to Web3 Foundation, Parity Technologies, Kusama and Polkadot’s ecosystem.
Twitter: twitter.com/web3pp
Medium: web3people.medium.com
Telegram: t.me/web3_people
Hi Bill, thank you very much for joining us, a pleasure to have you here. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What’s your background? Can you share your Linkedin profile with us?
Thanks for having me. I’m the Director of Education and Community at Web3 Foundation here in Switzerland, although I am originally from Pittsburgh in the United States. Before this, I taught at the University of Pittsburgh for five years as a lecturer in the Computer Science department. Before that, I was a software engineer, consultant, quality assurance engineer, field engineer, technical lead, and manager — I’ve held pretty much every role that one can have in the field of software development. My LinkedIn is:
How were your beginnings in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies?
I’m probably one of the few people who became interested in blockchain because I was interested in hashing algorithms. I was doing analysis on hashing algorithms for decentralized storage, when someone I was working with told me about Bitcoin and how it was using hashes to make an Internet-native money. This was around 2010; I looked into it, but I had seen several other attempts of this kind and it wasn’t really my area of interest. About 2012, a friend of mine was giving talks on Bitcoin and I finally started to really get it. I started looking more into it and was eventually drawn in deeper, eventually giving talks on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, teaching classes on it at the University of Pittsburgh, and of course in 2019 joining Web3 Foundation to help build the future of the decentralized web.
You are known to be the author of two books: A Friendly Introduction to Software Testing and Strength in Numbers. How was the process of deciding to write them to share some of your knowledge? Where does it come from or how has your desire to educate, help and teach people throughout your career come about?
I’ve always felt myself to be a teacher. Even before officially becoming a lecturer, I’ve given lots of talks at various Pittsburgh technical meetups and internally at the different companies at which I’ve worked.
For both A Friendly Introduction to Software Testing and Strength in Testing, I saw that there was a gap in the field. When I started teaching a course on software testing at the University of Pittsburgh, I went through at least five or six different textbooks and couldn’t find one that really fit my needs — specifically, to teach undergraduate students modern software testing and quality assurance techniques. After a bit of complaining, I figured that I should be the change that I wished to see in the world and wrote the textbook. It turns out that others out there have also had trouble finding good textbooks on software testing, and it’s been used by over ten different colleges and universities since then. It’s always been available for free in PDF form, and the print copy is pretty cheap as textbooks go. It always upset me when I had to buy a book for class for a hundred dollars.
Similarly, for Strength in Numbers, it seemed like there were no science fiction books which tried to see what cryptocurrency would do for society. This seemed strange to me, because this is what science fiction does — tries to map out what the future will be based on what a technology is like today. Think of Isaac Asimov in the early days of robots and computing, or William Gibson in the early days of biological modification. I was curious about how society could be changed by blockchain technology, and also wanted to explain how it works without people having to buy a textbook themselves. So Strength in Numbers is really a few books in one — a standard science fiction story about what society would be like if non-digital money faded away, an adventure/mystery story, and a primer on how blockchains actually work. Of course, I started writing it in 2016/2017 and released in 2018. I feel as though it’s already a bit out of date, but this is an unavoidable problem when you try to write about the future!
You are currently Director of Education and Community at Web3 Foundation. What’s it like working at Web3 Foundation?
Very decentralized! We have a lot of people from all over the world working together, and we’re very non-hierarchical. I love it here — I have a lot of autonomy in what I do, and believe in the mission.
What is the mission and vision of the Web3 Foundation? What exactly is Web 3.0? What do you think of the future?
Web3 Foundation helps build the decentralized web — a future where people own and control their own data.
I think the future is going to see more decentralization and more power in the hands of individual users, if we let it. Technology has historically, in aggregate, helped the cause of human liberty. That’s not to say that it is inevitable, and there are plenty of examples of technology used for nefarious purposes — but Web3 Foundation is helping to avoid it.
What is the purpose of the Web3 Foundation Grant Program?
Web3 Foundation Grants Program helps improve and support projects which are of general benefit to the growth of the decentralized web and the Polkadot ecosystem.
Note that the Grants Program does not focus on helping projects with marketing or specific commercial applications; rather, it is meant to develop technology and software which will be broadly useful to the ecosystem as a whole. It’s also really not meant for specific events, meetups, etc, even though those are also useful for the ecosystem. If you’re developing a new series of NFTs, the grants program is not a good fit for you; if you’re developing a re-usable Substrate pallet to make it easier to create and store NFTs, this is something that we’d be interested in helping you develop.
That said, there are lots of other ways to receive funding for projects in the ecosystem, such as Treasury Proposals, tips, and the upcoming Thousand Contributors Programme.
You’re Kusama Council Member. What is day-to-day like as a member of the Council? Could you explain how is your work there?
On a day to day basis, I check for motions, tips, and treasury proposals, and offer my advice and/or vote on them. I also spend a bit of time reading through and responding to comments on Polkassembly and in other platforms such as Matrix. Not everything is done strictly on-chain; there is almost always a lot of discussion happening in the background which ordinary users don’t always notice. That said, they’re not secret; virtually all conversations happen in the open, and we are always seeking input from non-Council users. I can say that I.
How do you describe Polkadot to friends?
It’s the Internet of blockchains — a chance for developers to choose what is the level of abstraction they want to build at, and for users to choose the blockchain which best fits their needs, yet all being able to communicate and share security with each other. Just like some people prefer.
What exactly is Substrate Framework?
Substrate is a tool that lets anyone build their own blockchain. As a bonus, they can also easily connect as a parachain to Polkadot or Kusama, but this isn’t necessary. There are a few Substrate-based chains that have never connected to Polkadot as a parachain.
Substrate is actually one of the things that first made me interested in Web3 Foundation, having seen Gavin Wood’s “Build a Blockchain in an Hour” talk at Web3 Summit 2018. I was pretty excited that a year later, I was giving my own talk (on on-chain governance) at Web3 Summit 2019!
What is the origin of the name Polkadot and Kusama?
The idea of Polkadot is that it is a pattern with no center, just like Polkadot itself.
What’s the most exciting thing about Polkadot/Kusama? What are some big opportunities on Substrate and Polkadot/Kusama?
There are quite a few exciting things happening — it’s hard to choose. The launch of XCMv3, making cross-chain communication easier and richer; the Polkadot-Kusama bridge, allowing interactions between the canary network and main network; XCMP, which would allow much more scalable interactions between chains; it’s a very interesting time to be involved!
This doesn’t even begin to talk about the specific chains and projects launching on Polkadot, many of which would not be possible without the power of Substrate. Having the ability to create your own runtime, and not being limited by the borders of what smart contracts are capable of, lets you do so much. We’re seeing this in a lot of parachains now.
Why has Kusama Canary Network been created? What if Kusama never exist? Why is Kusama Needed?
Kusama is our chain for “no promises” and “expecting chaos”. It’s a network with real economic value that code gets tried out first before moving to Polkadot. It’s a chance to determine if things work outside of a test environment but before it gets to Polkadot. Generally you will only have a real stress test and real adversaries when there is an economic incentive for people to go after it. We see this with Kusama, and have found a few problems already before code or features move to Polkadot. For example, right now we are seeing parachain block time slowing based on the number of parachains running on Kusama. Note that the number of parachains is almost three times the number running on Polkadot; this is like an early warning of what would have happened in Polkadot. However, because it was noticed in Kusama, developers at Parity are working on solutions now before it’s even noticeable on Polkadot.
Kusama also has a great community of people who are interested in playing in an environment where they are always on the cutting edge.
What will happen after 100 parachains exist?
It’s important to note that 100 parachains is an estimate of how many parachains can work on Polkadot. It may end up being more or less, although recent benchmarks make engineers think that more than 100 is possible with some relatively straightforward optimizations.
However, there are numerous ways that scaling can occur even after we hit the limit. First is hierarchical, or nested, relay chains — that is, having parachains which themselves act as relay chains, and perhaps this can expand to several layers (so a relay chain has a parachain which acts as a relay chain, and that “para-relay-chain” has its own “para-relay-chains”…) which would expand scaling by several orders of magnitude. Layer 2 systems can work on parachains, as well. There are possibilities of more interesting scalability solutions as well, such as individual sub-consensuses on parachains, where a parachain might have an “initial” consensus and then a stronger consensus using the normal Polkadot rules.
Long story short, there are plenty of possibilities for Polkadot to accept more parachains and increase throughput.
True Decentralization. Is it Possible?
I think it’s important to realize that decentralization is a spectrum, and “True Decentralization” is a Platonic ideal. Asking if true decentralization is possible is like asking of Love is possible, or if Beauty is possible. Everything in this world has trade-offs and this includes decentralization, and reasonable people can disagree on what decentralization means. For example, Bitcoin Core is developed has a single implementation, whereas Bitcoin Cash has several different major node implementations. Is Bitcoin Core more decentralized because it’s a single system with more nodes and more hashpower (although there are a small number of developers on the core software), or is Bitcoin Cash more decentralized because there are numerous implementations (but less hashpower and more chance for forks, either intentional or unintentional, due to possibilities of consensus failure)?
My goal is not to take sides on that battle, but rather to explain that defining decentralization is difficult, especially when we start speaking of “true decentralization”.There is no such thing as a perfect system, but there can be more or less decentralized systems. Polkadot is always striving to be more decentralized. Just a few examples are increasing the number of validators, the new Council-less governance system being proposed, Web3 Foundation providing grants for alternative implementations, etc.
What do you think of the Community of Polkadot Ambassadors around the world?
I’m always amazed at what they’re doing and the projects that they are building out. I try to stay in contact with as many as I can.
See you at Polkadot Decoded 2022?
Of course!
Do you have any hobbies?
I’m a big fan of both reading and board games, especially chess and Risk. Of course, as I am living in Switzerland, learning German and skiing also take up a lot of my free time.
Do you have any movies or books that have impacted you to recommend to Web3 People readers?
There are a lot of great books on blockchains, but I want to recommend a few that I think have been more fundamental to my career and philosophy -
Soul of a New Machine - Tracy Kidder
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - Steven Levy
The Illuminatus! Trilogy - Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
Thank you very much for answering the questions, it was really a pleasure talking to you.. where can we find you?
You can find me on Twitter at @BillLaboon, Subsocial at https://app.subsocial.network/accounts/3tiKakuy6RaHWThsHts23De8XwpaNdvw8PwwXcJqeVSN6w8w, or Reddit as /u/W3F_Bill.
Of course, if you really want to follow me, you should do it on-chain, and I am much more active on Kusama (the more fun network, in my opinion). My verified identity is on my account: JFArxqV6rqPSwBok3zQDnj5jL6vwsZQDwYXXqb1cFygnYVt.
Thanks for having me!
The pleasure is ours, thank you!
