Confusing Downloads section

[somename]

https://namecoin.info/download/ doesn't have arch info unless (which I discovered 10 mins too late) one clicks on Grab Binaries.
Having an architecture for which there are no binaries, I tried adding both Debian and Ubuntu repos and after I while I realized that armhf may not be supported.

Perhaps that section - or even the home page that sends people to that page - could be reworked a bit to make it clear what is supported.

On the Github page README.md (https://github.com/namecoin/namecoin-co ... /README.md) still has no info how to build, so a person new to Namecoin can easily waste more time (if they download a non-nc* release) there.

This time I wasted 10 mins on trying to download a binary package, but before I had wasted 1+ hour on troubleshooting a non-nc release from the github repo (I avoided that mistake this time, but there may be other users whose first attempt may be equally fruitless so watch out folks.)

[biolizard89]

https://namecoin.info/download/ doesn't have arch info unless (which I discovered 10 mins too late) one clicks on Grab Binaries.
Having an architecture for which there are no binaries, I tried adding both Debian and Ubuntu repos and after I while I realized that armhf may not be supported.

Perhaps that section - or even the home page that sends people to that page - could be reworked a bit to make it clear what is supported.

On the Github page README.md (https://github.com/namecoin/namecoin-co ... /README.md) still has no info how to build, so a person new to Namecoin can easily waste more time (if they download a non-nc* release) there.

This time I wasted 10 mins on trying to download a binary package, but before I had wasted 1+ hour on troubleshooting a non-nc release from the github repo (I avoided that mistake this time, but there may be other users whose first attempt may be equally fruitless so watch out folks.)

FWIW, I have a "beta downloads page" PR pending review, which doesn't use package repos anymore (because Namecoin Core doesn't have official packages). Any chance you could help review it? https://github.com/namecoin/namecoin.org/pull/60

[somename]

FWIW, I have a "beta downloads page" PR pending review, which doesn't use package repos anymore (because Namecoin Core doesn't have official packages). Any chance you could help review it? https://github.com/namecoin/namecoin.org/pull/60

Looks good.

* Lin - maybe a note to docs (how to build for non-Intel arch) could be added to the Linux section?
* Win - It's slightly confusing that there are 2 Windows builds (with the same release!) which requires a bit of back and forth to figure out, but it's good. I tried to download and install one of them and it worked fine.

Some additional feedback:
Before I used to use an older Namecoin (server) package for Windows and a Python/Qt based Namecoin GUI for Windows to manage it (I can't see it listed now and I don't have access to that computer any more so I can't give the exact name - I think it was done by Phelix?).

"Namecoin Core Client" and "Namecoin-Qt Client" seem to overlap a bit.

Before I could use that Python GUI to connect to a Namecoin server on Win or Lin, but now with these existing options (Qt or Core) that doesn't seem possible (to have a "thin client" that connects to Namecoin RPC server running on Linux).
It looks like my second best choice is to run VNC server on Linux and replace manually built Namecoin Core with manually built Namecoin-Qt Client and access that GUI via VNC.

I don't know if other users can figure out these things more easily, but I've been using Namecoin for a while and didn't expect I'll be so confused.
The fact that Namecoin-Qt is v0.3.80 and Namecoin Core v0.12 is also confusing. Coming from a Bitcoin background I'd always assumed v0.3.80 is some super old version of Namecoin-Qt based on Bitcoin-Qt from before I started using Bitcoin, that's there only because the page hadn't been updated for a while or something, so I never attempted to download it until today.

Thanks

[cassini]

Before I could use that Python GUI to connect to a Namecoin server on Win or Lin, but now with these existing options (Qt or Core) that doesn't seem possible

Both Qt and Core still contain an RPC server, i.e. you can use that Python GUI just like you did before. If you've already tried and run into problems then you should have a look at your namecoin.conf file. Could it be that it still contains the deprecated "daemon" parameter? (Nowadays it needs to be the "server" parameter.)
namecoin.conf also needs rpcuser and rpcpassword, of course. Nothing has changed in this respect.

[somename]

Before I could use that Python GUI to connect to a Namecoin server on Win or Lin, but now with these existing options (Qt or Core) that doesn't seem possible

Both Qt and Core still contain an RPC server, i.e. you can use that Python GUI just like you did before. If you've already tried and run into problems then you should have a look at your namecoin.conf file. Could it be that it still contains the deprecated "daemon" parameter? (Nowadays it needs to be the "server" parameter.)
namecoin.conf also needs rpcuser and rpcpassword, of course. Nothing has changed in this respect.

I'd like to use the same GUI but it's not listed (I think it was always experimental?) and I forgot the name. Can you tell me where it is available or its name?

[biolizard89]

FWIW, I have a "beta downloads page" PR pending review, which doesn't use package repos anymore (because Namecoin Core doesn't have official packages). Any chance you could help review it? https://github.com/namecoin/namecoin.org/pull/60

Looks good.

* Lin - maybe a note to docs (how to build for non-Intel arch) could be added to the Linux section?

Build instructions are on GitHub; the instructions there should work fine for non-x86 architectures: https://github.com/namecoin/namecoin-co ... c#building . Should the "beta downloads" page point this out?

* Win - It's slightly confusing that there are 2 Windows builds (with the same release!) which requires a bit of back and forth to figure out, but it's good. I tried to download and install one of them and it worked fine.

2 Windows builds are available because the older one has more Gitian signatures. The current policy is that once a build obtains 3 Gitian signatures, all older builds for the same architecture get removed. This is only documented in a GitHub issue at the moment; I intend to add that info to the "release process" docs on GitHub as well. Should a mention of this be added to the "beta downloads" page too?

Some additional feedback:
Before I used to use an older Namecoin (server) package for Windows and a Python/Qt based Namecoin GUI for Windows to manage it (I can't see it listed now and I don't have access to that computer any more so I can't give the exact name - I think it was done by Phelix?).

I think it's called "nameGUI".

"Namecoin Core Client" and "Namecoin-Qt Client" seem to overlap a bit.

Namecoin Core has a newer version of Namecoin-Qt, but it doesn't yet have the "Manage Names" tab. A pull request for this is pending; the "beta downloads" page has builds of this PR if you want to test it.

Before I could use that Python GUI to connect to a Namecoin server on Win or Lin, but now with these existing options (Qt or Core) that doesn't seem possible (to have a "thin client" that connects to Namecoin RPC server running on Linux).
It looks like my second best choice is to run VNC server on Linux and replace manually built Namecoin Core with manually built Namecoin-Qt Client and access that GUI via VNC.

Either nameGUI or VNC should work for this use case, I think. I assume you know this, but for anyone else reading, don't expose Namecoin Core's RPC port to an untrusted network; only let it bind to localhost and use something like SSH tunneling to connect to it remotely.

I don't know if other users can figure out these things more easily, but I've been using Namecoin for a while and didn't expect I'll be so confused.
The fact that Namecoin-Qt is v0.3.80 and Namecoin Core v0.12 is also confusing. Coming from a Bitcoin background I'd always assumed v0.3.80 is some super old version of Namecoin-Qt based on Bitcoin-Qt from before I started using Bitcoin, that's there only because the page hadn't been updated for a while or something, so I never attempted to download it until today.

Thanks

Yes, Namecoin 0.3.80 is based on Bitcoin 0.3.x. That's because Vince stopped merging changes from upstream Bitcoin around that version. Namecoin Core is a complete rewrite based on current Bitcoin Core. You should use Namecoin Core unless you need the "Manage Names" tab in the Qt GUI.

[somename]

Okay I am now starting to understand this.

Observations regarding Namecoin Legacy:

1) On the "legacy" download page (https://github.com/namecoin/namecoin-legacy) there's a "how to build" link at the bottom. The link (https://github.com/namecoin/namecoin-legacy) is correct but as far as I can tell the content is for Namecoin Core (not legacy) so in reality there are no build instructions for the legacy code
2) For the legacy code, I went to source => docs/build-unix which told me to descend to src and run "make -f makefile.unix", but that file doesn't exist.

I don't have an x86 computer now, but I should in couple of weeks.
Then I'll take another look at the way this is organized as by looking only, it's hard to tell what just looks fine and what actually is fine.
For now I'll just use Namecoin Core with CLI (armhf) that I currently have running.
I'll submit additional feedback and maybe a docs/readme PR or two.

[biolizard89]

Okay I am now starting to understand this.

Observations regarding Namecoin Legacy:

1) On the "legacy" download page (https://github.com/namecoin/namecoin-legacy) there's a "how to build" link at the bottom. The link (https://github.com/namecoin/namecoin-legacy) is correct but as far as I can tell the content is for Namecoin Core (not legacy) so in reality there are no build instructions for the legacy code
2) For the legacy code, I went to source => docs/build-unix which told me to descend to src and run "make -f makefile.unix", but that file doesn't exist.

I don't have an x86 computer now, but I should in couple of weeks.
Then I'll take another look at the way this is organized as by looking only, it's hard to tell what just looks fine and what actually is fine.
For now I'll just use Namecoin Core with CLI (armhf) that I currently have running.
I'll submit additional feedback and maybe a docs/readme PR or two.

To build Legacy namecoind, just do "make" from the "src" directory. To build Legacy namecoin-qt, do "qmake; make" from the root directory. At least, that's what I recall. Been a while since I touched that. I don't expect to be accepting any pull requests for the Legacy repo, unless there's an emergency or something. Pull requests for the Core repo are welcome, although if they also affect Bitcoin Core, then they should be submitted upstream.