MaidSafe 101 - The SAFE Network, MaidSafeCoin, MAID, SafeCoin and Project SAFE
Part 2 of 4. Hello fellow Steemians. Dr. Bryan here. We should all be excited about MaidSafe and the SAFE Network. Why? Because it "completes" SteemIt in a critical way by allowing you to store photos and videos forever.[1]
This is part 2: MaidSafe 101 - The SAFE Network, MaidSafeCoin, MAID, SafeCoin and Project SAFE. Scroll to the end of this article for links to parts 1, 3 and 4.
What are MaidSafe, TheSAFE Network, SafeCoin, MAID, MaidSafeCoin, and Project SAFE?
The Short Version: MaidSafe is a company. Project SAFE is name for the effort to build the open source project and decentralized network. The SAFE Network is the decentralized network based on the software they're building. MaidSafeCoin is a 'fundraising' coin which will become irrelevant after the network launches. SafeCoin will be the coin of the SAFE Network.
The longer version:
MaidSafe
Is a company which is developing the software (similar to how SteemIt is a company which has developed the software that powers SteemIt).
Author's side note about MaidSafe: these guys and gals at MaidSafe ( especially David Irvine, for sure :) ) are not joking around. They have been working on this general idea since before Bitcoin. Yes, you heard that right. Things have changed, and they have written and re-written but the basic idea has been around for nearly a decade, and they've been actively developing and testing code for years. MaidSafe/The SAFE Network might be the most carefully developed project ever in the crypto space. This is part of why, in my opinion, the release of the alpha client is so exciting. People who know what's going on know MaidSafe is serious about succeeding at this.
The SAFE Network
Is the magical combination of the network, the users and the open source software once its deployed (this is a little similar to the Steem blockchain in the sense that it's the underlying data store everything related to SAFE will use).
Project SAFE
I couldn't find a clear definition of this, but my understanding is that this is a "catchall" term that describes the efforts of MaidSafe and the community at large to make the SAFE Network a reality.
MaidSafeCoin
Is a "metacoin". It's data stored in a metacoin protocol on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. MaidSafeCoin is based on the Omni (formerly Mastercoin) protocol which is basically a way to do bookkeeping on the blockchain to keep track of who is investing in the network before SafeCoin is released.
SafeCoin
SafeCoin will be the underlying cryptocurrencyof the SAFE Network. It's similar to STEEM in that sense but that's the end of the similarity. The SAFE Network's underlying technology for keeping track of transactions is different from that of any other cryptocurrency.
For more information, check out the wiki.
video credit - the owner of that video on YouTube
Blockchain, What Blockchain?
Believe it or not, MaidSafe does not use a blockchain. In my opinion, this is one of the reasons why it is so complimentary to blockchain-based systems like SteemIt and Steem. How is this possible, and why? I'll let the man himself, David Irvine, explain.
Consensus Without a Blockchain - blog.maidsafe.net
Almost all consensus based systems with the crypto currency community, Bitcoin included, use a blockchain. ... While the benefits this ledger provides are advantageous for many different types of operation, it also comes with its own set of challenges. ... One of the most commonly cited issues is the problem of scalability. What we need is a decentralised consensus mechanism that is both fast and secure. But, how do you reach consensus rapidly on an increasingly large group of decentralised nodes without compromising security? The answer lies within close groups. Close group consensus comprises utilising a small group, a fraction of the network size, to state a position for the whole network. This removes the need for the network to communicate with all nodes. Within the SAFE Network the close group size is 32 with a quorum of 28 required to enable a specific action to be taken. An example may help explain this point. ...
https://blog.maidsafe.net/2015/01/29/consensus-without-a-blockchain/
About MaidSafe's CEO: David Irvine
David Irvine is not your typical crypto-project leader. He is blazingly brilliant, but when you hear him speak he sounds very down to Earth. Don't let that fool you though, David has been thinking about decentralized solutions since some of us were in grade school. Respect.
image credit - David Irvine's profile on LinkedIn
The Internet Made Safe: Interview with David Irvine, CEO, Maidsafe
David Irvine's Twitter Profile
MaidSafe CEO David Irvine Talks Nature, Ants and Decentralization
David has done an amazing job of bringing people together to tackle an amazingly hard decentralized techonlogy project. There are many other extraordinary people helping to make MaidSafe happen. Hopefully some of them will join SteemIt :)
Continue to Part 3
About the Author
Dr. Bryan holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Arizona and has been using cryptocurrencies since 2013. He's won prizes at three Bitcoin/Blockchain hackathons and has been Co-Organizing the Blockchain Meetup in Phoenix, AZ for over a year. His life story is outlined in his introduceyourself post if you'd like to know more. Thanks for reading :)
poweruppledge: I pledge to power up 
every STEEM DOLLAR 
earned from this post to STEEM POWER 
! Join the poweruppledge movement!!
Links to Parts 1, 3 and 4
Footnotes and references can be found in part 4.
Part 1: How SteemIt Can Benefit From MaidSafe and the SAFE Network
Part 4: Conclusions on SteemIt + MaidSafe, Featured Articles, and Footnotes
An Invitation to the MaidSafe/SAFE Network Crew
It would be great if you all would join us here on SteemIt. Our goals are very much aligned and it would be great to have you.
Please show your support for SteemIt and our friends at MaidSafe and the SAFE Network by hitting that up button. All proceeds will be powered up into STEEM POWER :)
By the way all, I linked to this and the other three articles on the SAFE Network form. Cross-MOJINATION at its best :)
https://safenetforum.org/t/i-just-featured-the-safe-network-in-a-series-of-articles-on-steemit/10758
@nonlinearone