> ** I think the best solution is a simple one. EFF should add the very
> simple
> requirement that the prize will be awarded to anyone finding the first 10M
> digit prime ***using their own code***. They must provide the source code
> in
> claiming the prize.
But that just begs the question of "okay, who *does* get the rest of the
money?"
The author of the source code? Who is that? George and Scott both borrowed
from other sources with their stuff. Couldn't I just make one minor change
to George's code and then call it my own (by those standards)?
Obviously, that's an extreme, but don't underestimate what people will do
for $100K
> ** I don't think it fair that some dork gets awarded $100K for
> being lucky
> while using *someone else's code* This takes 0 intelligence.
I look at the prize as an added incentive (for those who could care less
about the "purity" of a prime) for someone to "donate" their computer time
for days/weeks/months on end. Sure it's luck, but even using your own code,
it's *still* luck. Having your own code or not has nothing really to do
with it.
I'm glad George lets us all use his program because there is hardly a
handful of others who could've coded something like that and without
George's contribution, does anyone really think we'd be testing exponents in
the 8M range?
My vote, if anyone was keeping count, is still to trust in the honor
system - that any winner will gladly give some of the money to George and
Scott, in recognition of their efforts. But for goodness sake, trying to
"require" that goes well beyond the scope of what GIMPS was setup to do.
Aaron
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