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[clea45]

I'm hoping I dont stir up a tremeandous amount of fussing about my question, but I have to ask. I currently use Folding@home, I just really learned about Distributed computing, and the benifits it may produce in medical fields, and so on. I currently have 4 systems to run all of which are AMD's 2200+ 1600+ 1300, and a 950, I'll soon be purchasing two dual 2400+ Machines. I will be able to donate the power of the machines almost 24 hours a day. My question is, I am more concerned with being the most helpful to a cause that is most helpful to the people. I currently have a very very serious medical condition. Although my condition will be in no way affected by research on protien folding short or long term, as my condition is injury related. To quit rambling, and get to my point, I have learned what it is like to have to live daily with a dehabilitating condition, and want to be part of a solution in anyway I can to cure those conditions that folding research will help to cure. In other words, since I now know what it feels like to be told I must live my life as it is, as there is no current technology that can help me I will do whatever is within my means of helping to cure other peoples conditions.
So, to get to my ultimate point, why should I consider running the client that is often discussed here, and if it is more beneficial to the medical field than Folding@home, in what ways is it more beneficial?, And why should I consider running this client over Folding @home, or any other protien folding model?

[GHOST]

Welcome clea45.

This is what i came up with in a quick forum search.
http://www.free-dc.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2932&highlight=folding%40home

and this
http://www.free-dc.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=520&highlight=predictions

Other reasons to join?

It is fun here.

We have a great stats page
http://stats.zerothelement.com/cgi-bin/distributed-folding/render-teams.pl

Cool custom avatars.

We could use the help.

[Fozzie]

The way I see it the people here are instantly helpful and friendly. the research is going to go towards helping people with some of the most harrowing diseases you could ever see people suffering.

Whilst there are many to chose from with similar aims as Ghost says it IS fun here and that helps everyone stay focused.

The stats ARE awesome and brings in some friendly rivalry and a push to get the most out of your systems.

There is a David and Goliath battle at the top of the table at the moment and YOU could help David (FreeDC) do the business once again.

Folding is where your CPU cycles could help the most, the rest is up to you. If you are looking to do some good and have fun whilst doing it. Look no further.

[Dyyryath]

I used to run Folding@Home (and Genome@Home before that). I'd do distributed computing just for the comradre, even without the potential benefits to humanity, but since there are projects out there that can be helpful, I tend to choose those over the others. That's precisely why I'm doing Distributed Folding.

The goals of both Distributed Folding and Folding@Home are extremely similar. They just use a slightly different approach. With this in mind, I'd generally recommend Distributed Folding due to the amount of feedback we tend to get from the project leaders. They're very active in the community and have always been open to suggestions.

As with any project of this size, there are problems on occasion. Generally, though, Howard (a member of the project team) is very available and things tend to get fixed quickly.

All in all, I've been quite happy with Distributed Folding. Give it a try, I think you will be, too.

Beyond that, we'd love having you around Free-DC, no matter which project you run. We've got teams for both (though DF is by far the more active). As Ghost as pointed out, this is a fun place to be. :D