Weekly Dev Update #67

Hey Y’all, 

Last week we released a new LIP discussing ‘Pulse’: a proposed proof of stake protocol for Loki. You can read that here: https://github.com/loki-project/loki-improvement-proposals/blob/master/LIPS/LIP-5.md. We also continued to move towards the 5.0.0 release for Loki Core, which adds checkpointing and a number of other features. Keep your ear to the ground for the testnet announcement…some bounties will be available. 

Loki Core

• Quorum Net (Communication framework for Blink):

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/844

• Don’t form invalid block_extended_infos:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/852

• Add testnet checkpoints and enable checkpoints with .json file formatting:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/851

• Switch to using validators for checkpoints:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/850

• Fix bans taking ports into account:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/849

• Update Service Node + Governance reward core test:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/848

• Print height in checkpointing errors:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/853

• Include tip of chain when recalculating difficulty:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/847

• Use pre-penalty base reward for calculating non-miner block rewards:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/846

   

• Increase robustness of uptime proof relaying:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/845

• Report potential decommissions and recommissions for a node:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/843

• Enforce checkpoint quorums min size and soft fork it for testnet:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/842

• Make empty quorum if height is checkpointable but insufficient nodes:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki/pull/854

Lokinet

If you’re on our Discord you can catch Jeff, the lead developer of LLARP, live streaming as he codes at https://www.twitch.tv/uguu25519. He typically streams on Tuesday mornings, 9am – 12pm Eastern (US) time.

What Went on Last Week with Lokinet: 

We finally fixed an issue that had been plaguing Lokinet for several weeks! Connections to a remote Lokinet node would timeout for a few seconds every 10 minutes when a Lokinet client changed to a new path (particularly noticeable on long-running pings)…We’re putting out a minor point release (0.5.2) to address this. The Lokinet devs are also set to conduct their first ever weekly dev meeting using voice chat over Lokinet. 

PR Activity:

• Statically link release binaries by default:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-network/pull/829

• Major refactoring work to improve performance for 0.6:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-network/pull/830

  (the PR was closed but is still being worked out and will be back)

• Handover drop fixes causing the timeouts mentioned above:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-network/pull/834

  ,

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-network/pull/836

• Finish removal of libutp (most of it was already removed before the v0.5.0 release):

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-network/pull/833

• Prepare 0.5.2 for release:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-network/pull/837

  ,

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-network/pull/838

• Change how webhooks are invoked to make them spam the discord channel less:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-network/pull/839

• Ongoing work to batch packet acknowledgements to reduce bandwidth used by Lokinet traffic (particular for asymmetric speed connections)  (No PR yet)

Loki Messenger for Desktop 

• Custom UI rendering of mentions:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger/pull/520

• Add annotation endpoint and LokiFIleServerAPI:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger/pull/518

• Sign public chat messages:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger/pull/517

• Only display signed messages in group chat:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger/pull/517

• Add support for using and displaying messages with Markdown formatting:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger/pull/516

• Add analytics collection for Loki Messenger for Desktop:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger/pull/512

• Remove rejected authorisations from database:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger/pull/519

• Add UI elements for searching and selecting members in a group chat:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger/pull/513

• Show paired devices menu:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger/pull/509

Loki Storage Server

• Fix inactive nodes not responding to reachability tests:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-storage-server/pull/277

Loki Messenger for Mobile (iOS and Android)

What Went on Last Week with Loki Messenger:  

Multi-device is now mostly finished on desktop, and last week our primary focus was on integrating that work into our mobile platforms. We also looked into some ways to support attachments and share multi device mappings, which should be integrated over the next few weeks/months.  

Loki Messenger for iOS:

• Begin code changes necessary for Multi device support:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger-ios/pull/55

  ,

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger-ios/pull/54

  ,

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger-ios/pull/53

  ,

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger-ios/pull/52

• Allow rendering of GIF’s thorough Giphy:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger-ios/pull/51

Loki Messenger for Android:

• Add multi device database support:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger-android/pull/26

• Add support for GIF rendering through Giphy:

  https://github.com/loki-project/loki-messenger-android/pull/25

Thanks,  

Kee