The last iteration would have been the launch. But this is nitpicking, the poll is about gauging the general sentiment.
Looking at the previous polls gives us interesting insight into the sentiment at the time.
Sorry, but I have to rant a bit regarding delayed launch:
Let’s face it, people here have been terrible at predicting the launch date, but who can blame them? The project was originally supposed to launch in 2014.
In 2019 - 80% thought we were mere months away from launch, and that’s not the first time the community has felt that way. In 2019, after some internal reorganization of the team things were indeed looking up, perhaps better than ever. We were told that progress over the next 2 months would leave us spinning backwards, yet here we are, 2022 is around the corner and there is no sign of launch, not even testnet.
It’s not discussed anymore. We used to have github charts showing remaining process, but that was several years ago now. Whatever happened with the MVP?
A reoccurring theme over the years: We’re seemingly super close to launch, and everyone believes it. Then something comes up. In 2014 it was decided to re-write everything in Rust. In 2018 PARSEC was all the rage. Now it’s DBC.
On top of this it the endless amount of refactoring and performance related work that just never ends. Maybe it’s the engineers dilemma - or just perfectionism gone wild.
Seriously, go dive into the old forum history and feel the sentiment at various stages. It’s amazingly accurate:
- 2014: Huge push to get it out in 2014
- 2015: When is maidsafe launching (2015 edition)
- 2016: I’m excited at the 100% chance of SAFE’s full 2016 launch
- 2017: Is it true that Maidsafe isn’t likely to launch until the latter end of 2018?
This is just a few examples, there are so many more. When you read these threads, does it seem like people think the launch is 8+ years away in 2014? 5+ years away in 2017?
I’m not blaming, but expectation does not match reality whatsoever.
At some point it might be worthwhile to ask how this could have happened. How could we be so wrong? How did weeks turn into months, months into years, and years into soon what will be decades?
Of course, a project of this scale is no easy feat, but that’s why a MVP was needed. Sometimes you need to cut corners to deliver. I’m a programmer, I know how tempting it is to keep perfecting my projects, but it never ends. Give me all the time in the world, I can continue to improve, explore new technologies forever and never deliver.
The future is looking extremely grim for the web. Mainstream thought, politicians and big business has all but taken over the major role and control of the internet. Freedom is long dead. Centralized platforms is easily regulated and forced to supress information. The anarchic, free, decentralized web is today a pipe dream. Almost all providers (from hosts to domain providers) participates in cancel culture. Those who refuse gets canceled themselves.
We needed a decentralized web 5 years ago, but today it is an emergency.
I don’t want to have to make another poll 5 years from now.