Ramblings of an Apologetic Young Mind

[kugano]

Guys,

(This post used to be a reply to the thread "Friendly Forums"; see <http://www.free-dc.org/forum/showthr...&threadid=4860>. I'm making it a new thread to get a fresh start.)

I'm sure I'm making a terrible mistake reviving old flames, but at the risk of being castrated by Louie I'd like to mention a few things. Someone should save this post in case I change my mind and delete it. :-)

First of all, neither myself nor Louie would dare to dispute that the "organization" hasn't been as active as it could have been, or maybe even should have been. But be careful when you compare this project (or this "organization") to other projects. A lot -- maybe even a majority -- of DC projects are funded, or at least sponsored as a legitimate academic research project by some institution. This project is neither. It is completely unsponsored by any institution and is not funded monetarily in any way. Moreover, the "organization" -- myself and Louie and the many people that have contributed in other ways to the project -- are not professional researchers. We're hobbyists that, in truth, got in over our heads.

The story behind the creation of SB may be informative. Some of you have probably heard it before and I apologize. First, I'll humor a previous poster in talking a bit about Louie and myself.

I'm a 22-year-old software engineering contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense. I graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in computer science. At the time SB was conceived, I was doing miscellaneous computer work for the University and spending too much of my spare time with personal programming projects.

Louie is also 22 and just a couple of weeks ago received his degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan. He's applied to a number of graduate schools and is currently taking some time off to enjoy his (probably temporary) freedom from academia.

Louie and I have been friends since the very young age of roughly 7. We grew up together in a little town in Michigan. We've undertaken a lot of projects together of various kinds, most of which ended in complete failure or personal injury (often both).

Back in early Spring 2002, Louie and I became interested in the Sierpinski problem. We didn't know about the ad-hoc searching that at that time was under way by a group of mathematicians, so we decided to give it a crack ourselves. We wrote some simple code to implement Proth's algorithm and were pleased. When we realized it would take our two computers a very long time to actually get anywhere, one of us had the bright idea that we could write a server to coordinate testing among several computers. The original goal was to get a small group of friends running our test programs on their computers. We put together a client with network support and a simple (ugly) website so that our friends could see how well their computers were doing.

When we realized we could get even more work done by allowing our friends' friends to run the tests too, we adapted the website so that people could create their own accounts. But even at that point we had no grandiose plans for a real, live DC project -- it was just a working solution to a problem we were interested in.

A few months and several hundred users down the road we began to realize what we had gotten ourselves into. A few more months and we started actually producing results, getting publicity with real news sources, and new signups galore. It finally began to sink in at that point that we had started a real DC project. Over the 2002 Christmas holidays the entire system was rewritten to accomodate the huge load that was being placed on the simple infrastructure we'd built -- which was still largely the same code that we'd written expecting only a small group of friends to use.

Since that rewrite and the end of the "Month of the Five Primes" last year, I've largely been out of the loop. As much as I hate to say it, there have been things in my life that are more urgent than SB -- school, work, and so forth. I'm only 22, and to spend all of my spare time on this project, as fun and positive as it is, would probably be a decision I would regret when I later reflect on my youth.

Louie has of course done a far better job of sticking with the project. He's had his own lapses, as should be expected of one trying to make the best of their college experience. But he's done, in my opinion, a commendable job of doing the best he can and helping out as his schedule and lifestyle allowed.

Our sixth prime discovery last month has re-kindled my interest in the project, and now that I myself am finished with college and have stable employment, I can realistically hope to spend a bit of time working on the project. I'll be getting more specific about how I'd like to help out soon, but for now I think it's best to give Louie some time to re-adjust to life outside of school and wait until we can come up with a realistic plan of how much activity we can put into the project and how best to spend our time.

I wish very much that Louie and I were in a position to devote more resources to this project. It's been a real life experience for both of us and we couldn't have done it without everyone's help, from major code contributors right down to the least user. Maybe someday this situation will change, and the "organization" can become more of an active, accredited project, but expecting it is foolish. We have to make the best with what we have, and so do you.

Whatever the outcome, this has been an experience neither of us will ever forget. And though we may not at times show it, we'll never forget that it couldn't have happened without you.

Yours,
--
David Norris
danorris@seventeenorbust.com

[allio]

That's one interesting history

I really had no idea how SoB got its roots, so this is enlightening. Must have been amazing to witness the mutation of the project from a small-scale bit of code to a full-blown DC monster

It's also fantastic news to hear that you and Louie might have a bit more time to spend with the project. Already we have a fantastic new client and a new prime, so things are looking great.

Keep checking in

[Vato]

Thanks for this Dave - I think it gives a clear perspective on running a DC project (or even doing PD/GPL'd code maintenance for that matter). There will always be people who are demanding and rude - some of them do it for sport! Ignore them and do as you see fit with your time. If you make a bad choice, c'est la vie, but most folks will be understanding most of the time.

[kugano]

There will always be people who are demanding and rude - some of them do it for sport! Ignore them and do as you see fit with your time. If you make a bad choice, c'est la vie, but most folks will be understanding most of the time.

I'm sure you're right, especially about the former! I guess, though, I just feel guilty because some of the criticisms levelled at us and the project in general are completely true. But, as with everything in life, there's a reason things are the way they are -- why we, particularly myself, haven't been more active, and why the project hasn't seen as much forward motion as some would hope -- and I hoped to be able to share part of that reason with everyone here.

But enough about the past. It holds nothing for us. Our interest lies in the future!

--
David Norris
danorris@seventeenorbust.com

[MereMortal]

Well, perhaps the situation should be made abundantly clear on the front page or the download page. That would give prospective users the opportunity to make an informed decision about whether or not they can live with intermittent support before they start the project, rather than wondering why noone is fixing their broken client.

[kugano]

Welcome to Life.

--
David Norris
danorris@seventeenorbust.com

[Frodo42]

It's nice to get some of the background on this project. Thanks for posting that little story David
One of the things I like about this projekt is that it has that garage feeling about it, no money and lot's of enthusiasm. A bit like Linux ...
As I have mentioned before I think that SoB has lot's of supporters out there able to do something for the project, people like mklasson, MikeH, ceselb, paul.jobling and others already contributes a great deal and I think that there is more people out there willing to put some time and work into this project.
What I'm trying to say is that perhaps Louie and David should should put a bit more effort into integrating more skillfull people into the project to reduce their own workload.

[kugano]

For the most part I agree. It'd be nice to have other programmers around with direct access to the code base. Another big step forward would be to bring the code up to a level of organization and stability that it could be made open source (or as close to it as possible given security considerations). That enables the user community in general to submit improvements and bug fixes, and with more people out there with the ability to make releases, I'm sure the ball would roll much faster around here.

I can't speak to whether or not this will happen and when, but it's something I would like to see. So don't give up too much hope =)

--
David Norris
danorris@seventeenorbust.com