bips VS gui

Bitcoin transactions involve locking funds in scripts, which can only be spent if those locking conditions are met. The part of the script that expresses these locking conditions are called ScriptPubKeys. On the other hand, the part that provides unlocking scripts to satisfy the locking conditions is referred to as ScriptSig for legacy transactions, and ScriptWitness for SegWit Transactions. These scripts are evaluated by a stack-based language called Script. This article will mainly focus on ScriptPubKeys.

Here’s the reference https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki

There are 5 271 537 971 301 488 476 000 309 317 528 177 868 800 possible permutations of the bip39 wordlist found here: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt when using 12 word seeds. You probably have better change to win the lottery every week for the rest of your life than cracking a 12 word seed in correct order

No one controls Bitcoin, because it's a protocol. Bitcoin Core is the reference implementation, but there are others, and anyone can create new implementations if they wish. Also, the Bitcoin Core maintainers can't just change something on a whim, because users would then switch to another fork. Maintainers (or miners or other groups) can't force their changes on users, because everyone can decide on their own which version they want to use.

The protocol development happens through BIPs (Bitcoin improvement proposals): https://github.com/bitcoin/bips

BIPs are discussed for years, before (and if) they are implemented, and basically everyone needs to agree on them, because no one wants to fork the blockchain, which could be devastating.

All the seeds generated from the CoolWallet (Number / Word) adhere to the BIP-39 protocol.

> users would be required to hand over control of their wallet to actually manage the massive proliferation of addresses needed

BIP32 solved this in 2012, and is used by basically all self-custodial wallets these days. https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0032.mediawi...

> Which policy are we referring to?

* BIP 141 version bits and BIP 148 as a voting mechanism: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0141.mediawi... and https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0148.mediawi...

* core developer votes: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Segwit_support

* posturing and maneuvering: https://cointelegraph.com/news/samourai-wallet-intends-to-ru...

> It evolves in a decentralized and organic manner, devoid of any formal political process or voting.

Just because its voting mechanisms are informal, that doesn't make them not voting mechanisms.

libbitcoin isn't a company. It's an alternative C++ implementation (https://github.com/libbitcoin) to the Bitcoin Core (https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin) implementation. Bitcoin Core is the one originally from Satoshi. Libbitcoin came in like 2011 or so iirc and was led by Amir Taaki. Libbitcoin is a lot less popular than Bitcoin Core, as you can see on the github stats.

The code is open-source: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/

That would make Eve online, Second Life, and other games illegal since people trade their digital assets all the time

>Comparing Bitcoin to free software seems similarly disingenuous.

Bitcoin is free software. https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin

Yes a government can. Bitcoin specifically is open source: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin. The ledger is public so as you pointed out there wouldn't be more details.

Bitcoin Core integration/staging tree - 66.3k stars

Different implementations(core, knots,btcd,bcoin,libbitcoin, ....) have different ways of coming to consensus. The most popular implementation called core https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin follows these guidelines https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md

You can read every line of code right here on GitHub.

Also, read the source code It's on-line, for free https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin

Why is the source code a single file? No real code project that I've ever seen is built on 1 file. Take a look at BTC for example, that's what a real code project looks like.