Building a Witness
I've been trying to build a witness. I got a server setup, then started following some step by step instructions I found on Steemit. It was going well until I realized my instructions were super old and out of date... Then I found a newer Steemit post that looked more up to date including mentioning the current HF and tried that one, but ran into problems. Now there is a high likelihood that problem is between the keyboard and the seat and I certainly intend to work on it more, but I wanted to put a call out if there was a more up to date and useful reference to how to build a witness. As a bit of background, I am a programmer by trade and have dealt with Linux systems for a long time, but I am by no means a server/sysadmin expert.
As for why I'm trying to set up a witness, I am under no illusion that it will generate me a ton of Steem. I am more interested in the learning experience and giving back to the Steem community. If Steem gets as big as we all think it will, then we will need more witnesses or it will bog down just like Bitcoin.
You should probably ask for the actual witnesses on https://steemit.chat/ … If they actually are there.
I only heard legends of this place called steemit.chat, but never went there myself.
There probably is some Discord-Server for this out there in the world wide webwork, too – but don't ask me which one.
If you actually do get hold of someone knowing their stuff, I'm certain they're willing to help. You may even write an up-to-date guide on creating a witness (though I think requests aren't high – you seem to need a somewhat powerful server, which cost $$$).
Be aware: There are only 21 witnesses.
The first 20 witnesses are voted here – the spot of the 21st witness is randomly selected between all others.
So the difference between 30 and 200 witnesses is relatively minor.
Thanks, I've been on there more than once, but it has been a while. I will certainly check it again.