Now called Core Lightning, Blockstream’s Lightning Network implementation seeks to be Bitcoin’s interoperable, specification-focused standard.
Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream recently rebranded its Lightning Network implementation from c-lightning to Core Lightning (CLN) in an attempt to highlight the project’s long-term focus on interoperability and specification work.
The initial name, which alluded to the C programming language the implementation is built in, didn’t reflect the company’s actual intent with the project. Now, Core Lightning seeks to reflect the Blockstream implementation’s value proposition.
“We hope the refreshed name better communicates CLN’s focus on interoperability, specification work, and the ongoing aim to provide a reference implementation with priority on correctness and robustness,” the company said in a .
Decker shared his thoughts on Bosworth’s comments and on the BOLT spec process during the London Bitcoin Devs meetup.
“I think those are very strong statements from someone who has never participated in a single spec meeting,” he said. “There is a bit of contention in the spec process but that is by design. If one implementation were able to dictate what the entire network looks like, we would end up with a very myopic view of what the network could be and we wouldn’t be able to serve all of the different use cases that we are serving.”
“And so yes, sometimes the spec process is frustrating, I totally agree with that,” he added. “We certainly have different views on what the network should look like. But by this thesis, antithesis and synthesis process we come up with a system that is much more able to serve our users than if one implementation were to do it alone.”
“I personally don’t work on the spec so I don’t feel qualified to give an answer,” Gugger said at the meetup, commenting on Bosworth’s email. “I just wanted to add that I don’t necessarily agree with all the points that Alex mentioned. I definitely would have said it in a different way as well. I think lack of resources to work on the spec sometimes is interpreted as us blocking stuff which is not the intention and not our goal of course. We want to put in more work on the spec so I hope we will improve there. It is an interesting thing to observe, how that frustration sometimes comes to the surface. Thank you [Decker and ACINQ Developer Bastien Teinturier] for all the work you do on the spec. I need to pick up as well so I’ll do my best.”
Russel also commented on Bosworth’s email in a Twitter thread where he pledged to spend more time on polishing and marketing CLN, as he said that LND didn’t implement Lightning first and didn’t implement it best — though its community is great, he added.
“Turns out they’ve decided they can leverage network dominance into protocol control, and the spec process isn’t ‘real,’” he wrote in the thread. “Lightning Labs has claimed ownership of the Lightning network in many ways: I’ve been reluctant to call them out in public. But the lightning network and community deserves better.”
Russel did not respond to questions from Bitcoin Magazine referring to this thread. Lightning Labs declined to comment.
“Back in 2016 we came from three different directions and decided to join all of the things that we learned during this initial experimentation phase into a single specification so that we could collaborate and interoperate,” Decker said at the meetup. “This experimental phase must always be followed up by a proposal that is introspectable by everybody else and can be implemented by everybody else. Sometimes that formal proposal is missing and that prevents the other implementations giving their own review on that feature. This review is very important to make sure it works for everybody and that it is the best we can make it.”
“Like the name Lightning Network suggests, it very much profits from the network effects we get by being compatible, by being able to interoperate and enabling all implementations to play on a level playing field,” he later added.
Implementations Complement Each Other, They Don’t Compete
Besides that very specific controversy regarding the specification process, Lightning implementations mostly work separately and then together to bring the best and most demanded features to the network, ensuring an overall better user experience.
As a result, Blockstream’s move to push CLN as a spec-compliant, modular and lightweight offering comes as an alternative for those interested in running a node implementation that strives to be completely interoperable with the rest of the network and provides a unique set of benefits to those who do.
As different implementations strive to become their best version and cater to a specific use case by exploring their own value proposition, the user is ultimately the one to benefit as greater and better options emerge.