<<I'm one of many who got fed up with distributed.net and cracking rc5des.>>
If I ever did those, I think get fed up too. It almost seems pointless,
breaking codes that someone knows the solution to, just to prove you can do
it. At least with GIMPS you get to make real mathematical discoveries for the
first time.
<<I had trouble finding the gimps, and the gimps client, and instructions on
how to join. I found www.mersenne.org and entropia.com. I still don't
understand the relationship between the two, and I would like to.>>
I thought that the instructions on mersenne.org and entropia.com made sense.
Mersenne.org used to be the only site. It ran the entire project, and Mr.
Woltman distributed work and collected results thru E-mail. Entropia.com
hosts PrimeNet, which automates that stuff and makes everyone's lives easier.
<<The GIMPS clients does a lot of self-testing...is that really needed?>>
Oh yeah. We've got to be sure that the program isn't running on a flakey
computer.
<<Also, I can get the client to segfault at least two different ways.>>
"Get"? Hrm. "Doctor, it hurts when I wiggle my ring finger." "So don't wiggle
it!"
If it doesn't affect your normal operation, don't worry. Prime95 is actually
a darn stable program.
<<The 'packet' sizes are very large...>>
Save-files. Of course. "Packet" has network connotations. Stuff sent over the
Internet is very, very small.
<<I have lost weeks of work due to power failures and friends.>>
This should not happen. Are you messing with the settings?
<<I also accidentally ran two or three instances of the client, and it compla=
ined
about it's work file or something, and delete it. 89% complete doing whate=
ver
it was doing, and it restarted at 0.>>
Hrm - are you running v17? That could explain this. Otherwise, multiple
instances of Prime95 can't be launched unless you fiddle with the settings.
<<So anyways, my comments can be summed up in that it isn't easy for the newb=
ie
(even the very nerdy types like myself) to find their way around the gimps
project and become efficient contributers.>>
T'was for me. And I know precious little 'bout networking. Maybe your
computer setup is just... funky.
<<Now, distributed.net (yes, I hear some moans) has a very slick interface>>
GIMPS does too.
<<and helpful documentation>>
GIMPS does too. And a helpful, handydandy mailing list!
<<and navigable websites>>
GIMPS and PrimeNet have VERY navigable websites!
<< and easy to understand overall
structure.>>
So does GIMPS.
<<Hopefully this explains to some of you why the gimps is not growing very
fast.>>
Hrm. Look at charts of GIMPS' growth. You call that slow? *grin* I have to
update my banners for Entropia.com pretty often. The participants, computers,
and GFLOPS just keep climbing up!
<<George Woltman - runs mersenne.org, wrote the GIMPS/PrimeNet x86 client
Scott Kurowski [STL's correction] - founder of entropia.com, responsible for
the GIMPS/PrimeNet
server>>
Yes.
<<From this, I'm assuming you're using the Linux or FreeBSD client - I'm sure
the people who work on those ports would be interested in your input.
(ie actually tell them how you get it to segfault, maybe they can fix it :)>>
Linux is weird. Use Win95 OSR2. :-P In fact, if you're running some weird OS
like Linux or Unix, that probably explains all your problems.
<<Not a problem with the Win9x/NT client - it just brings the running client
to the front. I haven't experienced this problem when I've accidentally
run a couple (haven't run three) clients off the same directory, but I'm not
saying it couldn't happen. Again, perhaps something for the *NIX porters
to look at - perhaps drop a lockfile with a pid and check it on startup?>>
Prime95 IS well behaved - sure seems like you running a different OS.
<<In d.net, I think the smallest 'packet' is 2^28 numbers to test, whereas
in gimps, the 'packet' size is 1(one) number, it's difficult to get much
smaller. >>
Being a GIMPSter for a very long time, I know I'm biased toward GIMPS and
against all the other programs out there. Tom just sounds dnet biased, even
if he got fed up with it. :-P
<<Just as a side note, these comments are precious because they come from
the viewpoint of someone who is very new to GIMPS. New people are just
the ones we are trying to attract and I can't help but wonder how many
participants we lost becuase they did not have the tenacity of Tom. Just
my 2c worth...>>
Well, speaking for myself, there are people like me who have had no trouble
with GIMPS at all and love the whole arrangement we have set up.
S. "Property of Bill Gates and Andy Grove" L.
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