Dual-Residency - Stacks Ecosystem DevOps & Tooling

[vidiabtc]

What's your name/your team's name?

Dio & Vidia

Best email on which to contact you?

komacine@protonmail.com

Personal Statement

We are two pseudonymous developers, Dio and Vidia. We both have a proven track record in the Stacks community, first as members of the Syvita Guild, then building the webapp to launch MiamiCoin, developing the first CityCoins mining pool smart contracts, as co-founders of Syvita Mining (which we have since left) and most recently as Ambassadors to the Stacks Foundation grants program. This diverse and well-rounded background, we feel, has provided us with a unique vantage point from which we could not only evaluate the inner workings of the grants program, but also (to some degree) the operations of the Stacks Foundation, and the Stacks Ecosystem as a whole. As Stacks Residents, we want to build tooling that helps these communities work better!

End Product [Describe in 150 words or less the what you plan to contribute to the community by the end of your residency, e.g. a whitepaper or a series of developer tools.]

Deliverable 1

In collaboration with the Grant Program Lead, Will Corcoran, work on the next iteration of the grants dashboard. With a focus on:

• Increasing proximity to the developer community on Github so they can more easily assist with grant review and maintain visibility on the grant pipeline.
• Implement actionable means by which grantees can be made more accountable to complete funded projects and share that work with the community.
• Implement actionable means by which the impact of awarded grants can be tracked.

Deliverable 2

In collaboration with Stacks Foundation Engineer, Jesse Wiley, assist with improving discrete workflows important to Foundation operations if and when opportunities for improved efficiency through technology present themselves. Help to bring the community to a more decentralized and user-owned internet through an easy to use application to run their own nodes.

Roadmap [Break your project down into a simple list of milestones and include the approximate dates by when you plan to complete them.]

• 2022 Quarter 3: Completion of revamped grants dashboard which will be more focused on community participation.
• 2022 Quarter 4: Completion of platform to track grant impact as well as grant progress. This overall will increase transparency into current grants and keep the community accountable to one another.
• 2023 Quarter 1: Begin work on an open source desktop application which can run background processes with the click of a button which can lead to the everyday user running their own node, Gaia hub, etc.
• 2023 Quarter 2: Deliver completed desktop application which can run a stacks node by the push of a button. As well as documentation accompanying this application. This tool would be a huge benefit to the Stacks ecosystem.

Appendix [Attach any supplemental materials such as previous work/accolades, notes, diagrams, preliminary research, or community interactions that could support your application.]

Our combined background and experience has provided us with a well-rounded understanding of the full stack of technologies core to building on Stacks:

• A deep understanding of the Stacks blockchain and core protocols
• A lot of experience with database design and backend architecture
• A fluent understanding of the most widely adopted Javascript frameworks / libraries and how to leverage all of these technologies via API’s and other middleware.
• A wealth of experience in developing smart contracts with Clarity.

Additionally, our project history has given us the opportunity to cultivate positive working relationships with many key teams in the Stacks ecosystem, including: ALEX, Gamma, Arkadiko, CityCoins and the Stacks Foundation.

[unclemantis]

+1 These guys know their way around the Stacks Kitchen! Always something baking!

[BowTiedDeployer]

+1

Always building. Always delivering. Always helping. Great guys with a great background.

[binayatripathi]

+1 I have seen Dio and Vidia around the Stacks ecosystem since the early days of the Citycoins launch. I can attest to their capabilities in delivering quality work that contributes to moving the Stacks ecosystem forward. Early work in developing smart contracts for the citycoins mining pools is just one example that I have seen them deliver on. In addition, although anons, these two are just awesome human beings I had an opportunity to come across during the Stacks Unleashed 2022 conference in April of 2022. I support this endeavor by them. LFG🚀

[mattyTokenomics]

Do these guys need anymore introduction than the team that built all the tooling for Syvita Mining, and helped CityCoins migrate to v2? I have worked closely with Dio and Vidia firsthand, and you can count on one hand the number of developers in the ecosystem that are in the same league as them when it comes to tooling and execution. From grants program transparency, to clarity dev tools, to easier tools for running nodes and mining, to tooling for protocol builders - there are so many high value things that need the attention of top class executors like Dio and Vidia.

[egtalbot]

Principals in Syvita Mining, Stacks maxis, key players in the citycoins ecosystem - this proposal and team is exactly what the residency program is designed for. Highly recommend approval!

[fiftyeightandeight]

+1 As we look to work more closely with Grant Program to further community integration, help such as what Dio and Vidia are offering will be crucial.

[shehzanmaredia]

Dio and Vidia are great, interested to see what they work on

[ryanwaits]

+1 this is a quality team to have working on improving the stacks tooling that we can all benefit from

[ceramicwhite]

Absolute legends! So glad we crossed paths and worked together, look forward to continued collaboration.

[Albert-Present]

I am excited for this grant because both deliverables will add great value to our ecosystem. I think these products will turn out great because not only does Dio have the technical expertise, but also Dio understands user needs very well. I know this because I have interacted with Dio on many occasion for grant support and other technical issues and Dio helped me with all of my questions both big and small. I hope that we may continue to support them so that we may continue to grow Stacks community together.

[Murgo12]

+1

[philiphacks]

+1 great people to have in the community and ecosystem!

[ChienteH]

+1 Dio and Vidia have the rare combination of technical expertise and professionalism to take on this challenging task of building community tooling. I strongly support their residency.

[xyzerobtc]

+1 Dio and Vidia have the been great stewards in the stacks ecosystem and have advise ZeroAuthorityDAO to make us better for the community. They are always professional, kind, and bring the technical know how to build decentralized applications. We have been fortunate to receive a grant and a reboot to build a better experience, rich features, and community engagement is totally support by us.

[Rapha-btc]

+1

Keeping talent of this caliber into the community is a must. It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. Whatever you do, don't let'em go.

[jhammond2012]

+1 Dio & Vidia. They bring great technical expertise and experience in the stacks ecosystem.

[peacockg]

Have known about Vidia and Dio since the early Miami Coin days. Got to know them even better as I mined NYC in the Syvita pool from the zero block onward. They were incredibly responsive on Discord as the pool became increasingly sophisticated and they were constantly upgrading features and responding to suggestions and fixes. Really impressive and consistently so. And then I was lucky enough to spend a fair amount of time talking to them in person at Bitcoin Unleashed and walked away impressed by what really great people they seemed to be as well. And strong support from Chiente? Well, throw this away and let me justsecond what she has to say.

[falkonprods]

As an early Syvita member and also grantee, I see the need for this and I am certain of vidia and dio's ability to deliver. Especially under the master tutelage of Mr. Will Corcoran. Strong Support.

[yknl]

Looking forward to seeing one click node and Gaia hub deploys! This is important work!

[orlandobtc]

+1 - While the current grants system gets the job done, as a grantee, it can definitely be improved, and I think these suggestions would definitely do so. I also am familiar with the teams and am confident that they'll be able to provide high-end work.

[Jamil]

+1 on this. Dio and vidia have been a cornerstone of the Stacks & CityCoins ecosystems, and are both incredibly talented developers who have continued to build and deliver, for longer than I've been in this ecosystem.

They have both the passion to improve developer tooling and infrastructure, and the talent to execute on it. Support their efforts here wholeheartedly.

[whoabuddy]

+1 Dio and Vidia have been amazing to work with and would be a great team to tackle these projects!

[HodlSTX]

+1 These guys are always delivering and always pushing the ecosystem forward. Would love to see them keep getting the support they need.

[BryanG1]

+1 -> Yes please. The more Dio & Vidia are building on behalf of the ecosystem, the better.

[paradigma-cl]

+1 This is a very important step in the strengthening of the Stacks Network

[sleepiJoe]

@vidiabtc please review here for roadmap 2023 Quarter 1 and 2023 Quarter 2 🙏

[jennymith]

What's your name/your team's name?

Dio & Vidia

Best email on which to contact you?

komacine@protonmail.com

Personal Statement

We are two pseudonymous developers, Dio and Vidia. We both have a proven track record in the Stacks community, first as members of the Syvita Guild, then building the webapp to launch MiamiCoin, developing the first CityCoins mining pool smart contracts, as co-founders of Syvita Mining (which we have since left) and most recently as Ambassadors to the Stacks Foundation grants program. This diverse and well-rounded background, we feel, has provided us with a unique vantage point from which we could not only evaluate the inner workings of the grants program, but also (to some degree) the operations of the Stacks Foundation, and the Stacks Ecosystem as a whole. As Stacks Residents, we want to build tooling that helps these communities work better!

End Product [Describe in 150 words or less the what you plan to contribute to the community by the end of your residency, e.g. a whitepaper or a series of developer tools.]

Deliverable 1

In collaboration with the Grant Program Lead, Will Corcoran, work on the next iteration of the grants dashboard. With a focus on:

* Increasing proximity to the developer community on Github so they can more easily assist with grant review and maintain visibility on the grant pipeline.

* Implement actionable means by which grantees can be made more accountable to complete funded projects and share that work with the community.

* Implement actionable means by which the impact of awarded grants can be tracked.

Deliverable 2

In collaboration with Stacks Foundation Engineer, Jesse Wiley, assist with improving discrete workflows important to Foundation operations if and when opportunities for improved efficiency through technology present themselves. Help to bring the community to a more decentralized and user-owned internet through an easy to use application to run their own nodes.

Roadmap [Break your project down into a simple list of milestones and include the approximate dates by when you plan to complete them.]

* 2022 Quarter 3: Completion of revamped grants dashboard which will be more focused on community participation.

* 2022 Quarter 4: Completion of platform to track grant impact as well as grant progress. This overall will increase transparency into current grants and keep the community accountable to one another.

* 2023 Quarter 1: Begin work on an open source desktop application which can run background processes with the click of a button which can lead to the everyday user running their own node, Gaia hub, etc.

* 2023 Quarter 2: Deliver completed desktop application which can run a stacks node by the push of a button. As well as documentation accompanying this application. This tool would be a huge benefit to the Stacks ecosystem.

Appendix [Attach any supplemental materials such as previous work/accolades, notes, diagrams, preliminary research, or community interactions that could support your application.]

Our combined background and experience has provided us with a well-rounded understanding of the full stack of technologies core to building on Stacks:

* A deep understanding of the Stacks blockchain and core protocols

* A lot of experience with database design and backend architecture

* A fluent understanding of the most widely adopted Javascript frameworks / libraries and how to leverage all of these technologies via API’s and other middleware.

* A wealth of experience in developing smart contracts with Clarity.

Additionally, our project history has given us the opportunity to cultivate positive working relationships with many key teams in the Stacks ecosystem, including: ALEX, Gamma, Arkadiko, CityCoins and the Stacks Foundation.

Quick application update: This residency is still undergoing review but we are aiming to deliver a final decision by the end of next week. Thanks for your patience!