"Where I'm going" is that bitcoin keeps coming up in the news in various forms like this thread, yet I don't think most people really understand what it is.

You understand the bitcoin software and how the system is built and functions, end to end? Cool, I'm jealous.

You think most other developers share that understanding? Given that in my experience most developers have only a so-so understanding of basic cryptography to begin with, I find that very, very dubious.

I just read the original whitepaper and it isn't exactly trivial. Statements of the form "Because we do X in the implementation, bitcoin has property Y" are where it takes a fairly strong knowledge to truly follow along with the logic. The implications of the methodologies are not obvious, or else this whitepaper (and by extension the identity of Nakamoto) wouldn't be quite so important.

If you want to understand Bitcoin right down to the data structure, network packets and encyption algorithms, check out these articles, including Bitcoin mining with pencil and paper. (I'm hesitant to tout my own articles, but I think they are what you're looking for.)

http://www.righto.com/2014/02/bitcoins-hard-way-using-raw-bi... http://www.righto.com/2014/09/mining-bitcoin-with-pencil-and... http://www.righto.com/2014/02/bitcoin-mining-hard-way-algori...

'end to end' is probably an unattainable goal. I'd go for understanding it at some level given some axioms, and gradually dig in to the axioms.

I think it's difficult to create an all encompassing post for that reason. It's a bit like trying to describe how any application protocol works - can you assume knowledge of TCP/IP? Do you just black-box it? etc.

My contact details are in my profile and I'm happy to lend a hand if you think that might be useful.