We should bundle a snapshot of the block chain with each release of the Bitcoin software to save the user from having to download the entire chain upon a new install.
In terms of trust: The user is already trusting bitcoin.org’s download to be valid. Combining the zip/exe installer with a snapshot of the block chain is not a big deal in my opinion. They can publish hashes and signatures to ensure file integrity, etc.
Even in a worst case scenario where the block chain snapshot was compromised nothing bad will happen. The longest block chain always wins. The client would download a new copy from the P2P network. (Besides, if the block chain was compromised we have bigger problems such as the software itself being trojaned, but this is another topic).
It’s ++good!
[Deleted] Quote from: davidonpda on May 03, 2010, 02:40:35 PM
34 MB… on a fast DSL plan, that should take a couple of minutes. Not 3 hours…