append-only, no deletes

an edit button is a time machine, and time machines corrupt their operators. witness is a log without one.

the rule

every record hashes the record before it. amend by appending a correction that cites what it corrects. the mistake stays visible, chained to its fix:

pub struct Entry {
    prev: Hash,          // the whole past, compressed
    body: Vec<u8>,
    amends: Option<Hash> // "i was wrong about that one"
}

what it does to your writing

knowing you cannot unpublish changes what you publish. you slow down. you say less, and mean more of it. the BBS taught this for free — your posts propagated to nodes you would never see, and there was no recall.

this site runs on the same discipline. the log is append-only. if a post is wrong, the correction goes on top, dated, signed.

paper does not have an edit button. paper did fine.