At 10:00 PM 3/9/01 +0000, you wrote:
>Isn't the "problem" just that the milestones are rather a long way
>apart at the moment? Does it _really_ matter that there's an
>outstanding exponent around 3.25 million which needs double-checking
>when there are so many more to go before we complete double-checking
>up to 6973593 - which is the next obvious milestone, after completing
>coverage of first tests up to that value, and always assuming that we
>don't find another prime smaller than Hajratwala's Number in the
>meantime?
Actually, the next obvious milestone is checking all below M(6972593) for
the first time. There are 67 exponents unchecked at all below that
exponent, and that number has been VERY VERY slow to reduce, mainly due to
number campers or 386's trying to test that number.
I also massaged today's assignments report, and found that there are over
200 exponents assigned over a year ago (and some as far back as 1998), NOT
including those expected to take that long (i.e. 33 million+). Some
exponents have been run for over a year, and have "days to run" estimates
of 2900 days or more -- yes, nearly EIGHT YEARS.
The point is that we could crank through these laggards if the Primenet
server would have simply ensured they were assigned to a "top 1000"
producer, or to a machine of sufficient calibre and reliability
(historically, per prior test results).
You said you had a good reason not to do that, but didn't want to post it
here (you were going to mail it privately to Henk). Why not discuss it here?
>Somehow the laggards always do get swept up in the end; there seems
>to be an adequate supply of self-appointed "gap fillers" (or pirates,
>according to your point of view). The result is that many of the
>assignments which are the "longest overdue" eventually end up with
>three, four or even more completed LL tests.
Said "overchecking" could be eliminated by ensuring that the oldest
exponents are assigned to the most reliable machines possible.
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