RE: The Gridcoin Fireside #6 - Gridcoin 4.0.3.0: The Scraper. This one is kind of a big deal.
I think you hit some hot topics for where I also hope this mechanism goes.
- More scrapers
- Some sort of rotation system based on some variables like location, OS, hardware, etc.
- Transparency and verified identification of scraper operators, so perhaps eventually institutions/entities getting involved. A mix between individuals and entities I think would be best.
I think there are dozens of potentials with regards to where we can take this mechanism and I am very excited to see what people come up with. Things like the gamification/incentive potentials. Maybe second, third, or fourth sets of scraper nodes for collecting additional off-chain data/statistics from other distributed computing platforms (or other things like solar energy production) to be incentivized.
The round robin of 50 scrapers sounds a lot like combining Brod's DWP proposal with this scraper mechanism which I think holds potential, but would need input by more technically minded people.
For now I think keeping things as is is the most practical route as this scraper, while minimal, lets us focus on the other things we need to fix. I see this as a boot-strap of what can become a fairly intricate system that has some pretty neat effects. I would not feel comfortable with the mechanism as is if either the network grows rapidly or if a significant amount of time passes (for now, let's say a year) without revisiting its operation and the points you brought up.
50 isnt a magic number I think we should reach, just saying if we had more quality providers than we need it would be better to share the load than turn offers away.