@awemany : I don't think there is a policy here that fits all.
As a miner, any persistent failure to follow the majority of the network's consensus will result in "unbounded loss". Throwing an assert() accomplishes that just as well as endlessly trailing the tip, the only difference is someone might notice, i.e. avoidance of undetected failure.
@theZerg: Assuming a miner or significant economic node operator would endlessly trail the tip implies they never reached awareness of the situation, i.e. the "failure to remain within the green zone of consensus" remains undetected for a long time. That seems pretty far-fetched to me, given that they have real money at stake.
I think this is where BU can and should focus its initial efforts, rather than developing algorithmic solutions which turn out to be band aids because they don't allow users to express what could essentially be diverse and conflicting strategies.
Some suggestions:
- modal dialog window displaying warning message in GUI, plus some sort of warning icon in status bar when there is a "more-work" chain that is being suppressed by your EB/AD settings ("trailing the tip")
- log messages when trailing the tip - e.g. IN CAPITAL LETTERS, on reception of every block
- user option to automatically shutdown the software when EB is cracked (imo this is not a very user-friendly way to handle policy updates, but it may be ok for a start while better ways are developed)
I think the biggest problem is that miners and node operators don't have a clear idea right now of "
what must I do now?" when their EB setting is exceeded, and a chief concern seems to be that they might not even realize they have to act.