Just wanted to give a shout-out to all you at the forum who are helping to get new stake pools up and running. I have some coding experience, but my network protocol skills were sub-par at the beginning of this. Without this forum, I likely would have given up quickly.
To outsiders, it might seem that we stake pools are all in competition with one another for delegators. And though there may be some truth to that, most here understand that we are incredibly early in adoption of Cardano. When millions more users are added and saturation levels drop, we will all be needed for the health and decentralization of the network.
It is important that stake pool operators have a intimate understanding of how to create, run, and securely lock down their nodes so that problems can be diagnosed and fixed when they arise. It is equally important to know when to ask for help. A non-judgmental space like this will be essential to ensure the future health of the Cardano network.
I found much of what I needed to know by simply reading the questions of those before me. But I would like to give a special thanks to @laplasz and @Alexd1985 who responded to many of my specific questions throughout the process. I’m sure I’m not alone in my appreciation. Their enthusiasm and availability on this forum have selflessly helped me and many others cross the finish line.
The first block is such a big step. Hard to justify trust in a pool with an ROI of 0%. For RADAR, that finally changed in epoch 263. But it’s only a first step. Looking forward to building on what we have here and helping others through the process when I can.
We’re here for the long haul.
Thanks again!