Interview with Dmitry bitjudge, co-founder of the Free TON Wiki and active participant

In this interview we will talk with one of the founders of the Free TON Wiki. He will share the history of his coming to the Free TON community, what he did before, his role in Wiki SG team, as well as how he rests and what he values in people.

Dmitry bitjudge: Hello!

Svetoslav Bauer: Dima, hello! I'm glad to see you. You are the technical developer of the Free TON Wiki, right? What is your contribution to the setup of Wiki? Please tell us about your role and tasks.

Dmitry bitjudge: Hello, that's right. Designing of the Free TON Wiki site is not really "development" because the Wiki used the existing open source engine. But certain technical skills, of course, are necessary for the site to be fully operational.

As far as setup is concerned, I tried to build up the initial business operations when the Wiki was just launched. But now the Wiki SG processes are being streamlined by our great team and the entire community without my participation - and this is pretty cool! I hope that one of your next questions will be about the team as it is the people and their contributions that shape the Free TON Wiki. Coming back to the question of my area of responsibility. I provide support to the Wiki site, interacting with members and jury, preparing proposals with important innovations for SG and launching WRC contests, paying awards for contests with other Wiki members. And certainly I am involved in community discussions that relentlessly provide new ideas for the development of the Wiki. This is to say briefly. I hope I have not forgotten anything. Each of these tasks can be elaborated in more detail, if needed.

Svetoslav Bauer: We are very interested in the details, what your tasks and responsibilities in Wiki mean to you, as well as your thoughts about the team that really produces excellent results. And we will talk about it but a little later.

Now, could you tell us about yourself, what did you do before Free TON? What are your development competencies? Where did you get them? You also have a skill in organizing the activities of teams. Where is it from? Please tell us.

Dmitry bitjudge: Having physicomathematical education I started my career as a developer. Then I had my own business, then worked as a project manager in a large system integrator, the largest in Europe back then. I managed projects with a total budget of up to $3 million. This part of my career was the best business school in my life when I learned how to be result-oriented and work in a team.

Then there was a long period of passion for Internet technologies when I tried doing a bunch of different things, including SEO, SMM, affiliate programs, traffic arbitrage, custom website creation and web development: programming script languages ​​for websites and the web. I succeeded in some of these activities; the rest remained as a good background which later on helped me out many times.

In 2018 I came to crypto although I was a year late for the bull market. For more than a year I was the team leader in one of the Minter blockchain’s subsidiary projects. There I met Misha Shapkin, my ex-partner. Together we held an online Miss Minter beauty contest with photos of the finalists in swimsuits which made a splash in the local social media. I also wrote a script engine for a blockchain lottery.

In summer of 2020 he and I came to Free TON and created the first Sub-governance - Wiki Sub-governance. I would like to take this opportunity and thank Pavel Prilogovko, Ron Millow and the technical specialists of the Free TON community whose help, advice and support made Wiki possible.

Svetoslav Bauer: I wonder if you could tell us what attracted you to Minter. And why are you here now and not there? There is certain information vacuum in the Free TON community filled with some crazy negativity towards people previously involved in Minter as though they have a special mindset called "how to siphon off the Free TON." What do you think about it?

Dmitry bitjudge: It was an interesting and promising blockchain back then. The main announced feature was the future integration with Durov's TON / Telegram which win me over to participate in the presale. Over time it turned out that the blockchain as a whole and significant part of the emission of the native token is controlled by a founder. This is contrary to decentralization, as you know. Free TON is the opposite and best alternative. I have been here since the moment I realized this difference. I am not interested in negativity and try to ignore any toxicity. And I don’t care about being labeled. But I know for sure that there were many first-ratet people and teams in Minter. And it's great that many of them end up in Free TON - I'm glad to see familiar faces here!

I might misunderstood you but I heard an "I am ashamed to associate myself with Minter" implication in the question. This is complete nonsense. For me it is just part of my experience. I do not regret it at all, rather, I am proud of the gained experience and glad that I met interesting and smart people along the way.

Svetoslav Bauer: Your answer to this question is pretty much in tune with the way I would answer it. I can say with confidence that the best part of the Minter community came to Free TON. It attracted proactive people who did not want to be part of a centralized project, who were waiting for TON and capable doing something useful.

So, you had an eye on TON before? How did it grab your attention? And how did you find about it? Please tell us.

Dmitry bitjudge: When it became clear that there were no opportunities in Minter, I started looking for alternatives. My ex-partner came here in the midsummer of 2020 and shortly afterwards I followed him. Free TON looked exciting although at first it was difficult to adjust. The system of decentralized contests and many formal rules still remain difficult for a beginner. However, whoever wants to dig into this will have many benefits. Of course, Free TON is based on decentralization. We are now beginning to get used to this underlying concept and are trying to build the work of the Wiki SG based on these principles.

Svetoslav Bauer: You mean that you learned about TON when you were in Minter? I want to clarify that I am asking specifically about your knowledge of the original TON.

Dmitry bitjudge: I have known about the original TON for a long time, approximately from the moment when Pavel Durov announced this blockchain and its expected integration with Telegram.

Svetoslav Bauer: I see. You told us what attracted you to Free TON. What attracted you to TON? And how did you first know about it? Could you remember?

Dmitry bitjudge: On May 30, 2019 I was at home and expected nothing to happen ... but suddenly there came news that Telegram presented a simplified version of the TON Network platform. Seriously, now I don't remember exactly when I found out about TON. But it is obvious that a project of this magnitude with plans for deep integration with one of the most popular IM in the world could not be out of the radar screen for everyone who is into crypto.

Perhaps I got interested in the components of the future blockchain. Services TON Storage, Proxy, DHT, DNS outlined the prospect of a free internet of the future without censorship. Of course, reality always turns out to be different from what we imagine it to be. This is neither good nor bad, just the way it is.

Svetoslav Bauer: Great. Let's get back to the questions about Free TON. What difficulties did you face in your work on Wiki SG? And how did you deal with them?

Dmitry bitjudge: For sure, the main difficulty is communication with people and the team. It is not my personal weakness but it is a universal problem for any project where people work together, especially for a decentralized project and governance. As elsewhere, people came to Free TON in general, and to Free TON Wiki in particular, each with their own drivers and goals that change over time. The challenge is to match the goals of each participant with the goals of the Free TON Wiki. However, these goals are not static as the SG Wiki evolves.

I believe that I say nothing new: each manager knows their goals and drivers with the caveat that in Free TON and in any of its SGs, you cannot be a manager because management is decentralized. This concept is not always easy to apply and has to be learned on the job. For example, you can’t give an order and ask for the result - in decentralization, this approach does not work in principle. This is the main difficulty. To cope with it you need to interact with other community members and teams. Listen and hear each active participant to find a compromise. At Wiki SG we can do it mainly due to our great team.

Svetoslav Bauer: Please tell us about your team and the members’ responsibilities? And what skills and qualities do you specifically value them for?

Dmitry bitjudge: I am truly happy with the Wiki SG great team. We are all different but we manage to find a common language and consensus to move the Wiki forward. I will not talk about the first couple of months: we were developing a little chaotically and some people from the previous team already left. From the first days at Free TON Wiki Roman D, Boris Ivanovsky, Rollie Guar. Roman and Boris are initially in jury and members of the Wiki. Roma, in spite of his overload finds time to judge contests, vote and member duties. Boris's expertise is invaluable - without his help and advice many technical articles simply would not have appeared on the Wiki. Rollie helped to shape the basic structure of the Wiki and alone moved all of the content when we upgraded the site software engine.

Anesthesia V, Elsbet (Nina), Yulia, Tim (Timur), Amalfica (Ilona) joined Wiki in the fall of last year. All of them (except for Yulia who is a newsmaker) share editorial and administrative tasks:

• communicating with authors and checking the quality of articles and editing,
• support and assistance to authors and new team members,
• voting in contests as a jury,
• evaluation of scores, voting results and awards.

Membership includes a separate and labor-intensive (often invisible from the outside)

scope of work:

• discussion of Free TON Wiki development opportunities,
• preparation of the remuneration structure,
• acceptance of new proposals,
• signing payment transactions,
• discussion of SG key decisions with other members.

Julia and Gleb (who recently joined the team) put together the news agenda of the Wiki SG. We expect exciting changes to take place here soon that will not go unnoticed in the community. Now Maxim Natyagaev is in the technical team of Wiki. Anton Chekhov significantly moved forward Wiki from the technical perspective but, unfortunately, he left the team. I hope that he’ll be back.

We also have a lot of awesome authors and translators who, in fact, create all the content that keeps the Wiki growing.

As for personal qualities, they are, of course, different for everyone, but I would definitely highlight some common features: positivity, interest, personal involvement, the desire to make this world (okay, I say about the world at large), Free TON and Free TON Wiki a little better.

Svetoslav Bauer: People are the core of any project. And their professional and moral qualities are critical to the success of the business or product they are working on. Without professionalism they will not be able to make a quality product and without moral values they can’t effectively interact and gain trust both within the team and outside. And for me personally, the way Wiki SG works is a role model in many ways. And now I understand why.

I really like in your team:

• efficient organization of processes;
• caring about the colleagues in the form of timely announcements;
• the quality of the content you created;
• the sustainability and consistency of your SG;
• deep involvement of the majority of participants which I often see in your chat.

Dima, I have a couple more questions not about Free TON. Do you have a hobby? What helps you to rest and get refreshed?

Dmitry bitjudge: I am a fan of sports and outdoor activities. I go downhill skiing quite well, I have a paraglider flight license, I did a little diving (PADI OWD), climbed Elbrus (5642 m). I am going to master freestyle, surfing, windsurfing and something else interesting. When this interview comes out I will most likely be skiing down the black track in Sheregesh.

Svetoslav Bauer: Wow! I wish you a pleasant stay and good impressions! Our last question is what qualities do you especially value in people?

Dmitry bitjudge: Thank you for your wishes. You mean business or personal qualities?

Svetoslav Bauer: Both. This question helps to reveal your values, the deeper, the more useful. People should be united by values. Then the work will be more efficient and long-term. If we know each other's true values even a little, we will be able to identify with whom it is worth teaming up to work together on something.

Dmitry bitjudge: Among the business qualities: involvement, willingness to interact, competence, desire to develop, focus on results. In this order if we talk about teamwork. Among personal qualities – trust is paramount. If you trust a person it is easy for you to deal with him/her. And a sense of humor will be useful.

Svetoslav Bauer: Dima, thank you very much for taking the time and covering many issues in such detail. We were glad to get to know you better, hear your views and get your feedback on what you do in the Free TON Wiki.

We wish you persistency and success in your contribution to Free TON!

Dmitry bitjudge: Thank you for the interview and interesting questions!

Interview was prepared by MOVETON and translated by Adrian Chase.

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