> ### Are we better off with or without these machines? ###
>
> This is the question people have been asking you and that you have been
> avoiding. It seems to me you are of the opinion that if a
> machine doesn't meet
> *your* standards of processor power or network connectivity, we
> should just
> tell the guy "hey, thanks, but no thanks, we've got better things
> to do than
> wait around for you."
I haven't avoided the question. In fact, I think I've been quite emphatic
that we need to find the work that is best suited to the computer we have.
Let's face it, some computers just SHOULD NOT be running first time LL
tests, even in the 4M-5M range, and here I'm talking specifically about 486
class machines. Even a P-60 could finish one of those up in less than a
year. But for a 486, I'm thinking "factoring...factoring".
> I am in no way opposed to reclaiming abandoned exponents, but to
> simply start
> working on them without contacting the current "owner" when you
> have contact
> information available is not only irrational but unethical,
> regardless of the
> nobility of your intentions.
But I don't have contact information available. I have their primenet ID
which means nothing to anyone but Scott, and I don't feel like bugging him
in the form of "Scott, could you email this list of 13 people and ask them
"Whassup wit dat?"
> Who gets credit for the work is
> irrelevant; the
> fact is by doing this you are taking away their contribution
> (regardless of
> whether the number tested turns out to be prime or not) because
> *you* didn't
> think their machine was good enough for this project.
Not really, because even if they finish, well hey, they just did a
double-check.
> Again just *ask*. It's the polite thing to do. It's the RIGHT
> thing to do.
> I feel like I have to repeat this because you have not attempted
> to explain
> at all why you went ahead and started working on the exponents
> without asking.
Okay, well I just did explain...I don't know who these people are.
Aaron
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