Badge Minting Recovers; the Node License Still Matters

Weekend discussion still revolved around the Pioneer badge minting fault. Some people also treated running Sentry software as equivalent to earning rewards. Night Watchman wanted to understand the licensing terms before deciding whether to keep looking into nodes.

An operator explained that once released, anyone would be able to download and run the software, but submitting attestations and receiving network rewards required buying a Sentry license key first. Night Watchman had assumed that, once it was released, he could run it before buying and still test the reward path; he now chose to check the rules first. That evening, the badge minting fault was fixed, allowing those previously stuck to try again.

With minting repaired, the conversation could move from errors back to eligibility and cost. Night Watchman planned to write down the distinction between being able to run the software after release and being able to submit and earn rewards, then decide whether the key's cost suited him. He still needed to understand the routine demands of operating a node before making a decision.