>Since when has this project become a competitive event ?
>
>This mailing list has gotten several messages like the one above,
>which I interpret as comparing ANOTHER USER to standards set by
>the writer, rather than acknowledging that *all* users are
>contributors to the project. Will it mean the end of the world
>if that other user had mis-stated the resources available to him ?
No, however it reduces the chances of finding a prime for others and delays
the milestones. I am not in the project solely to find a prime - I have
already committed to spending this entire summer from late June to early
September on a single exponent for QA, reducing my chance of finding a prime
at least eightfold for that time.
>I think it is intrusive to publicly comment about ANOTHER USER when
>the writer spots something that does not meet his own expectations.
>Can't we please let each participant remain responsible for his own
>performance? "Why do you look down on your brother? For we will
>all stand before God's judgment seat." (Romans 14:10)
>
>mikus
I just have a problem with extreme cases like this one. It's one thing to
cache three months of work, and quite another to cache the better part of a
decade. Also, many of the exponents in question were down in the 8.1 M
range, implying that the user had deliberately taken on smaller reissued
exponents and abandoned them. This hurts the progress of GIMPS as a whole.
Not that I have not myself abandoned exponents - my machine dropped several
double-checks when I stopped running 24/7 due to problems sleeping.
Nathan
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