Q&A With Tulip Tools Founder Johann Tanzer
This week, we caught up with Tulip Tools Founder Johann Tanzer to discuss updates to Tplus, what the Tulip Tools team is working on, and what to expect from them moving forward. Check out the Q&A below. You can find the latest documentation for Tplus here.
What is Tplus? How does it help Tezos developers?
Tplus is a tool that automates common tasks for Tezos developers, like setup and backup of Tezos nodes / sandboxes, but also related software that is helpful during the development process, like indexers, APIs, and blockchain explorers. Instead of reinventing the wheel, Tplus tries to leverage the open-source Tezos ecosystem and makes it easy to run the same software and tools Tezos-users commonly interact with, in both development and production environments.
What drew you to create tools on Tezos? Why not somewhere else?
Tplus started when the open-source ecosystem of Tezos was less mature than it is today, many great developers from many great teams saw this as an opportunity rather than a shortcoming, and put a lot of thought and hard work into a vision of what this ecosystem could be. I am familiar with other smart contract platforms, but I am more interested in what a great smart contract platform could be, in Tezos I get to explore this and innovate.
What new features and/or products are you currently working on?
Right now I am working on more example projects and documentation to lower the barrier of entry for new developers. I am also looking at how to make smart contract interactions more accessible for non-technical users.
What three things are you most excited to see built on Tezos?
I think a Tezos Name Service would be great to have, as well as a decentralized exchange and of course, cryptotacos.
Additional Ecosystem Updates:
- AirGap released the Beacon extension and SDK, which allow users to seamlessly connect a Tezos wallet with an application.
- Atomex announced the web version of Atomex and Linux app, and that MacOS and iOS versions are being prepared for release.
- BUIDL Labs released its interactive SmartPy training course to help new developers get started with Tezos smart contract development.
- SmartPy shared some first experiments with Chainlink oracles on Tezos.
- Tezos Commons published a June community update.
- Tezos India Foundation joined the T-block accelerator to help more startups in India build on Tezos.
- The TezosNotifierBot team released an update to its popular Telegram bot.
- Tezos Ukraine published a recap blog post on Tezos programming languages.
FAQs
Can you provide update on the status with these grants that were given out in 2018:
– Cornell University (Emin Gün Sirer): “to build protocols that can be added on Tezos”
– Clause.io to develop smart legal contract layer on Tezos
– Decet Consulting: “to build online developer certification resource for the Tezos network”
Why have all mentions of these above grants been removed from the TF website? For the sake of transparency, this information needs to be available on the website even if these grants were not successful.
As stated on page 11 of our latest Bi-Annual Report, “The Tezos Foundation may not distribute follow-on payments for projects that do not hit their deliverables.” When deliverables are not met and the value-add to the Tezos ecosystem is not proportional to the size of a grant, the Foundation may not continue to support a project. This was the case for both the Clause and Decet projects and they were removed from the Foundation’s website as they are no longer active. In the case of Clause, the grant was returned to the Foundation. We should have an update to share regarding the Cornell University grant in the coming weeks.
I’ve been emailed a notice for a class-action lawsuit for the address I provided for in the AML/KYC process for the ICO. Who has received a copy of the information used for the ICO process? Has the TF given or sold any KYC information to ANY 3rd party? If so, who?
We will answer this question for the Tezos community and include it in the FAQ section of a TF weekly update in the coming weeks.
Are Tezos Foundation Council members still receiving compensation for board membership (similar to non-employee board members of a corporation) or other activities?
Yes, TF Council members are compensated for their respective mandates, similar to non-executive board members in corporations or comparable organisations. Going forward, the Council has a supervisory role, overseeing the executive management team of the Foundation, but is no longer involved itself in day-to-day operations and executive functions, and hence will no longer be compensated for the latter.