Using Git Instead of Your Stupid Blockchain

1.2.1. Walmart^{13 , 14}

1. Example Structure
   

   First, I'll define a structure for the repository in which the products that will be tracked will live in. There are a handful of ways to do this¹⁶, but the most simple way is to define it by SKU. We will then "place an order" for one of those SKUs, using a textual representation based on s-expressions.

   >> mkdir $product_sku
   >> cd $product_sku
   >> git init
   

   Now, we will insert the basic metadata about the item: the SKU number¹⁷, the purchase order¹⁷, and the timestamp for when the order was placed¹⁸.

   >> touch $purchase_order	# Plaintext file to hold sexps
   

   ((sku . my-product-sku)
    (po . my-purchase-order)
    (po-timestamp . my-po-timestamp))
   

   Afterwards, we add the PO to the repository and officially begin its history.

   >> git add $purchase_order
   >> git commit -m "PO $purchase_order placed" # Automatically timestamped and searchable
   

   Now, the next person to touch the PO (e.g., the harvesting company) will have a copy of our Git history, synchronized with our central company server; they can then take a branch of it, update the information in the current PO, commit the change, and then push it upstream to us¹⁹. We sync it²⁰, then the next processor branches and records their changes, then merges, and so on until it is returned to us and placed on the shelf. When the product is finally sold, the final timestamp in its s-expression is placed and committed, and then it sits in the archive in case any review is necessary. The s-expressions themselves can be stored in a primary database, and the Git record is used as the blockchain record is, for verification²¹.

   The key is that this is all automateable with simple and easy-to-understand tools, and can be self-administered without exorbitant payments to IBM, while also being light enough that the processing can be done manually in the event of mass system failure. this also means that you don't need to be Walmart to use it, and any business with a supply chain can gain the benefits that Walmart's blockchain provides at a fraction of the cost. Moreover, the way that the system has been structured means that, at small scales, Git itself can do the heavy lifting and output reports in human-readable format, without any extra programming effort required!

1.3.1. What about fakery? Doesn't the blockchain absolve me from the need to manually audit my suppliers?

1.3.2. How do I administer this?

1.3.3. Does this scale?

1.3.4. But what about transparency? I want everyone to be able to see what I and my suppliers are doing!