[dboreham]

> I'll also admit to having difficulty understanding how is all this distinct from non-CRDT replication mechanisms.

This is because "CRDT" is not about a new or different approach to replication, although for some reason this has become a widely held perception. CRDT is about a new approach to the _analysis_ of replication mechanisms, using order theory. If you read the original CRDT paper(s) you'll find old-school mechanisms like Lamport Clocks.

So when someone says "we're using a CRDT" this can be translated as: "we're using an eventually consistent replication mechanism proven to converge using techniques from the CRDT paper".