Message boards : Number crunching : Unofficial BOINC Wiki closing 2006-03-31
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Profile Paul D. Buck

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Message 12880 - Posted: 26 Feb 2006, 14:31:17 UTC

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The military has a axiom that you should never reinforce defeats. Looking back at my participation in the BOINC world I can only conclude that I have been doing just that.

So, it is time to cease. I had thought to explain the motivations that have brought me to this point but have decided that for the most part it would just be another wasted effort. Those that need to heed the words will see no need. And those that agree with them have no power. So, not much point in long explanations. But, in short, I find I can no longer be a part of a system such as I see today. Dissent is suppressed, good ideas are ignored or marginalized, valuable work is discarded, participants are abused; all this, and more.

It is said that for evil to triumph, all that is needed is for good people to do nothing. For a long time I have tried to combat the problems I have seen with virtually no success. In that nothing else I have tried has been effective I have but one last option and that is to cease supporting activities run by people I can no long trust.

With this in mind I have run all my computers out of work, removed BOINC and shut down the machines. However, I will be funding the BOINC Wiki site until the end of the quarter, 2006-03-31, at which point the site will vanish and the domain will become available.

For those that contributed, and those that used the Wiki, I am truly grateful.

If anyone wishes to preserve the Unofficial BOINC Wiki, I have a number of files that may be of interest:

http://boinc-doc.net/sites.zip My working files of the old site and the Wiki including the code development for the Google search (263M) {not really necessary, unless you like history}.
http://boinc-doc.net/log-files.zip the log file samples for adding messages along with my GREP tool (33.5M).
http://boinc-doc.net/misc.zip Just what it says... all the other stuff includes samples and snippets of material I had not gotten to yet (13.1M).
http://boinc-doc.net/BoincViewLogs.zip For those that might be interested in a data-set for analysis (5.8M).

http://boinc-doc.net/images.zip The images directory of the Wiki site with the image files needed (37M).
http://boinc-doc.net/db118605226.csv.zip Wiki database in a CSV dump (7.2M).
http://boinc-doc.net/db118605226.sql.zip WIki database in a SQL Insert dump (8M).

The explanation on how I implemented the Google search is here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Google_Search

Paul
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Gaspode the UnDressed

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Message 12881 - Posted: 26 Feb 2006, 14:56:25 UTC

Paul

For such a stalwart to say this is saddening indeed. You will be sorely missed.


Gaspode the UnDressed
http://www.littlevale.co.uk
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Profile Nightbird

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Message 12882 - Posted: 26 Feb 2006, 16:01:09 UTC
Last modified: 26 Feb 2006, 16:49:11 UTC

@ Paul D. Buck
You're wrong to stop.
Remember, the majority is often silent.







Do you want to get banned for 31 years, your account and credits deleted at a Boinc project ? Predictor@home is your best choice.
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uioped1

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Message 12883 - Posted: 26 Feb 2006, 18:53:56 UTC - in response to Message 12880.  

What will you do with your spare processing power now? If you have another idea that you find more appealing, I for one would like to know.
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Profile peterthomas

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Message 12885 - Posted: 26 Feb 2006, 22:13:12 UTC

Paul
Thanks for all of your efforts.

Since I became involved with BOINC, your answers to questions have always been of value and assistance.

Your views on other matters have been thought provoking in interesting. Even if I did not understand them all. ;)

Your presence and efforts will be sorely missed.
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Profile [B^S] Molzahn

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Message 12886 - Posted: 26 Feb 2006, 22:16:05 UTC - in response to Message 12883.  
Last modified: 26 Feb 2006, 22:20:42 UTC

Paul, I have enjoyed the wiki and your posts. It's a shame you are leavening the community. You will be missed.

Since this is what you believe is best, I wish you all my best in your future endeavors.

Thank you for your contributions,

Mike

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alpina

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Message 12888 - Posted: 26 Feb 2006, 22:44:32 UTC

That is, to say the least, a sad message. I allways liked your devotion to BOINC and you more than once helped me(and I'm sure many others) out when I couldn't understand what was going on with the projects. On the other hand, I can understand that it has to be frustrating when you put so much effort in a project while you only get a marginal response.


BOINC.BE: The team for Belgians and their friends who love the smell of glowing red cpu's in the morning
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Profile Magic Quantum Mechanic
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Message 12889 - Posted: 27 Feb 2006, 7:35:08 UTC
Last modified: 27 Feb 2006, 7:36:00 UTC

Now Paul that is the only thing I have ever seen you do or say (or should I say type) that I did not want to see from you.

I guess you have a reason but it was always nice having you with the projects I have been a part of over the years (Seti Classic,LHC and Einstein)

And all the Wiki work you have done.

Hate to see you go........and you are more than welcome to join my Einstein group Paul.

http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/team_display.php?teamid=1998


L'Chayim......Yasher koach




*Samson Ben Yoseph*

Volunteer Mad Scientist For Life
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saseniukk

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Message 12890 - Posted: 27 Feb 2006, 16:22:52 UTC - in response to Message 12880.  


HI there Paul.

Thank God there are people like you out there. You've done a great job. Thank-you!

I wish you well in all you do. Bye for now.

kris
a.k.a. bassy




[quote]Ladies and Gentlemen,

The military has a axiom that you should never reinforce defeats. Looking back at my participation in the BOINC world I can only conclude that I have been doing just that.



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Nuadormrac

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Message 12914 - Posted: 3 Mar 2006, 10:01:31 UTC

Sorry to hear you're leaving... Whether or not it seemed apparent, many of us did notice a tremendous amount of effort you had put into this, and also appreciated it :thumbsup:

Well, good luck with whatever you move onto next... I surely can not say that you won't be missed around these parts ;)
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River~~

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Message 12948 - Posted: 6 Mar 2006, 9:36:34 UTC - in response to Message 12880.  

...
The military has a axiom that you should never reinforce defeats. Looking back at my participation in the BOINC world I can only conclude that I have been doing just that.
...

No Sir you have not.

To continue the military analogy, you have created a bridgehead.

A bridgehead is of course a means to get resources to where they are most needed, and the wiki does this better than any of the other user interfaces of the boinc community.

I am not a military man, as you know, but as I understand it the military will often expend a disproportionate effort to defend a bridgehead simply because of the other possibilitues it opens up.

On the other hand, one thing the military have learned in the time between WW-1 and Iraq-2 is that it is counter productive to try to keep an individual soldier going when he has given all he can, psychologically (see article in recent Scientific American Mind). Clearly from the tone of your postings you have given more to the BOINC project than you can afford, in psychological terms. Clearly also you have been disappointed, and rightly so, by the lack of response to ideas uyou have floated about user's rights within the BOINC community.

In these circumstances it is appropriate that you pass the job on. I admire the way that your resignation post left a full and thorough debriefing, so that others could follow you and carry on the work.

Please don't see your recent work as re-inforcing defeat. Please see it as completing the work of establishing the bridgehead for others to defend and use.

Possibly the most challenging bridgehead in our shared history was arguably the one across the English channel in WW-2, needed to open up a second front against Hitler. When the Normandy landings were successfu, Churchill said in a radio broadcast to the British nation that "this is not the beginning of the end. It is however the end of the beginning". The handover of the wiki to its new custodians is just that - the end of the beginning of work by BOINC users for BOINC users.

So I would encourage you to see your departure not as a loss-cutting tactical withdrawal, but as a retirement with honour having passed the command on to others of something that had not even existed before you arrived.

Or, to switch to a sporting analogy, having run well the first stage in a relay race, and passed on the baton to the next runner, you can retire with honour to the sidelines and take time to regain your breath, knowing that you fully deserve a share of the glory for the future success of the later runners.

May God bless you Paul.


River~~

PS - for anyone who missed the announcement, following Paul's resignation others have taken on the wiki and it has moved to http://boinc-wiki.ath.cx/index.php?title=Main_Page
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Profile Skip Da Shu

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Message 13001 - Posted: 13 Mar 2006, 4:26:02 UTC

Very very sad. Best of luck to you Paul. I'll choose to believe what River wrote as that's my perogative.
- da shu @ HeliOS,
"Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech”, not as in “free beer".
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Message boards : Number crunching : Unofficial BOINC Wiki closing 2006-03-31


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