Monero Tip Bot ready to launch on Mainnet / Discussion

[omani]

hello dear monero-ecosystem,

the funding of the monero tip bot is almost done and many milestones were reached.

I took the time to do some refactoring (since I will open source it as stated in the CCS). I want to let it run for a final testing on stagenet for a while to see the outcome of the refactoring.

meanwhile....

I want to use the chance to discuss a very important topic and that topic is: the trust building of the bot when we go on mainnet. in my CCS I proposed to deliver the bot to the core team if the core team would be willing to do it. unfortunately after speaking to a few of them including fluffy, and not being able to resolve that part of the deal, I decided to reach out to the monero ecosystem since I'm not only a happy member of this team but I also see the opportunity for us to push something forward here. my main thought was, that we are equally trusted as the core team (hopefully) and it's just that we have a different name.

now here are my concerns: as soon as we open source the code of the bot, practically anyone will be able to host his/her own Monero Tip Bot on telegram. and as we all know - especially in the crypto space - nothing is safe and secure and all well. means, expect that people will abuse the bot by scamming other peoples money (monero). since the bot offers a service of a custodial wallet (the hoster has the private keys), we need trust in the community.

so we have to build a trusted environment for the people who got pretty used to the currently running monero tip bot on stagenet, which grows with a rate of ~5 users per day. (to give you guys some numbers).

this is why:

• I want to announce that the "official" monero tip bot will be hosted and maintained and run by the monero-ecosystem. what is important here is that it is not important (at all), who (which person) will host the bot, in terms of PR (public relations) or the announcement.

the important thing for the people out there is just to know that there can be many copies of this bot, but the one and only you can really trust is the "official" monero tip bot run by this very monero ecosystem team that delivers high quality products <- this is my long term goal btw.

so with this issue:

• I want to clarify my incentives
• what Im thinking an announcement should look like
• the importance of a trusted member or team that people can trust and rely on
• by - in the same time - radiating out to the public that further improvements on the monero ecosystem is important
• deliver the message that we - as a team - each one of us is important and we as a team do coexist with the core team and package the good and important stuff around monero and the ecosystem of it. we can be as equally trusted as the core team.
• etc.

I think you get my point. the monero tip bot is the first step in reaching this important step of building trust. and for many more to come in the future.

let's discuss this issue. Im looking forward to hearing your opinions and comments.

your omani

[erciccione]

Hey @omani thank you for you trust, but i think there are some misconceptions about what's the role of the Ecosystem project.

we are equally trusted as the core team (hopefully) and it's just that we have a different name.

This is not really the case. The core team is deemed trusted because all the members have been around for years and they worked deeply enough with monero to be considered worth of trust. The Ecosystem is much different from this point of view (besid being very new). We don't handle any sensitive or potentially disrupting information (except me, since i have access to all repositories.. and i'm not a big fan of that) and we don't handle "common" money. Also, we have a lot of members and some are inactive. Who accept this responsability must be able to provide a high level of security for those coins, because they will become a target as soon as they get the key.

The members of this project are not chosen the same way members of the core team are. We only check the integrity and quality of the project that are proposed to us, who is maintaining them is not too important (as long as they respect the rules we estabilished together). The core team handle and is responsible for the Monero repos and the general fund, which is a huge responsabiity.

So, my opinion is that i'm totally happy to host the code of the tipbot here on the Ecosytem, but i don't think the members of the project should be given the responsability of managing user's money. I think would be best to find a trusted member of the community willing to accept this big responsability.

This is an interesting discussion btw, i'm curious to hear the opinion of other @monero-ecosystem/maintainers

[Lafudoci]

as soon as we open source the code of the bot, practically anyone will be able to host his/her own Monero Tip Bot on telegram.

You can simply make a simple guide within the tipbot repo. And use the repo's ecosystem page to spread the tipbot information. In this way you can point people to the "official" tipbot under the framework of Monero ecosystem.

[woodser]

So, my opinion is that i'm totally happy to host the code of the tipbot here on the Ecosytem, but i don't think the members of the project should be given the responsability of managing user's money.

@erciccione I agree.

[omani]

as soon as we open source the code of the bot, practically anyone will be able to host his/her own Monero Tip Bot on telegram.

You can simply make a simple guide within the tipbot repo. And use the repo's ecosystem page to spread the tipbot information. In this way you can point people to the "official" tipbot under the framework of Monero ecosystem.

@Lafudoci yes this is how it will be done.

also I wanna implement a PGP sign/verify method to show that this bot is the "official" one.

[omani]

..., but i don't think the members of the project should be given the responsability of managing user's money. I think would be best to find a trusted member of the community willing to accept this big responsability.

@erciccione so what is the difference between the first statement and the last?

you think it would be best to find a trusted member of the community? (community means anyone in the monero world?). but you don't think the members of the project should be given the responsability of managing user's money.

which is which?

I guess you mean just some single entity should be doing this, if at all, rather than making the whole ecosystem responsible?

[erciccione]

which is which?

Both, i don't see the two things related.

I guess you mean just some single entity should be doing this, if at all, rather than making the whole ecosystem responsible?

Exactly.

[omani]

After many discussions, a trusted member was found. this issue can be closed.