slash dev slash null

The Paxos Consensus Algorithm gets a bad rap. I think there is something quite beautiful, simple and intuitive hiding within Paxos; collaboration. Raft which was designed as a replacement restores the master-slave concept to supremacy. That may be a pragmatic thing to do yet I do not consider the master-slave model elegant (note: this is a subjective statement of my aesthetic taste not a statement of utility). Given all the bad press Paxos gets I worry that people will skip over it and miss out on enjoying its elegance before moving onto alternatives. They may then fail to use Paxos for the wrong reasons else avoid it in scenarios where it may be better suited than alternatives.

I am probably going to regret this but I am going to make the case for the defence of Paxos. I will do this in three parts. First I will have a go at explaining why I think Paxos is cute, elegant and exactly the sort of algorithm you want to truly get your head around. I will be its character witness in the court of public opinion. Second I will say that the accused, Paxos Algorithm, was framed and put on trial for a crime it did not commit. Then we will cross examine some star witnesses for the prosecution and bring in our own celebrity expert witness. Finally I will say that although Paxos should be acquitted of all charges that doesn’t imply you should be using it for every problem you have at hand.