“BOINC Add-ons” - A Complaint

Tom Awtry
Tom Awtry
Joined: 18 Jul 05
Posts: 100
Credit: 520,861
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Topic 189698

I’m going to get into to trouble for this!!!

With a full understanding that BOINC software is innovatively “new” and still being developed on-the-fly to meet various applications; I seriously wish the developers of “enhancements” would consider adding the words “Beta Release” after their development’s name title.

After downloading several different “add-ons” and reviewing the installation instructions (sometimes provided), I finding that these enhancements are nowhere near ready for public domain release. I won’t mention these add-ons by name, since, I hopefully feel the developers will know who they are, and subscribe to this thread.

In one downloaded package, the developer stated that he/she developed the product to better understand his/her knowledge of the programming language “C”. That’s good, wonderful and I fully support, encourage and admire this individual’s efforts, but please don’t harm the public’s use of your product in their computer. Furthermore, within the same download, were detailed instructions of how to use various DOS commands that needed to be preformed, by a user, needed to make the product really usable for its intended purpose.

After playing with the aforementioned download, for about four hours, it somewhat operated as intended, I think, but did not perform as the provided illustrations had shown in the accompanying web site examples that came with this package. It is my sincere belief that the average user could not install and be content with this product.

I feel the point I’m attempting to make is; don’t list a product as releasable unless it’s finished and tested on a variety of systems, operating with various OS’s. Should the product be untested, please use the word “beta” in the title of the product and most importantly, render clear step-by-step instructions that a user must follow to enjoy the fruits of your efforts.

Regards,
Tom

Bernd Machenschalk
Bernd Machenschalk
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“BOINC Add-ons” - A Complaint

The link to the "BOINC Download Network" is part of the default BOINC server-side webpage setup and we found no reason to explicitely disable it, clearly staing the following at the top of the page:

"These applications are not endorsed by Einstein@Home and you use them at your own risk."

"We do not provide instructions for installing these applications. However, the author may have provided some help on installing or uninstalling the application. If this is not enough you should contact the author."

So you might well contact the author for corrections or improvements.

"The BOINC Download Network is designed and maintained by BOINC.dk as a service for the BOINC community."

That's just what it is. Comments about the collection of the items should go there.

BM

BM

Tom Awtry
Tom Awtry
Joined: 18 Jul 05
Posts: 100
Credit: 520,861
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Bernd – I have read and

Message 15534 in response to message 15533

Bernd – I have read and comprehend what is stated at the top of the “Add-ons”, link page, contained within this web site:, which is I believe as follows:

Quote:
You can download applications in several categories.

• These applications are not endorsed by Einstein@Home and you use them at your own risk.
• We do not provide instructions for installing these applications. However, the author may have provided some help on installing or uninstalling the application. If this is not enough you should contact the author. Instructions for installing and running BOINC are here.
• The BOINC Download Network is designed and maintained by BOINC.dk as a service for the BOINC community. Visit the BOINC Download Network site to add an entry to this list.

I do humbly request you please re-read my posting, because I feel, I did not imply nor infer that E@H did have any responsibility for the listed applicational programs. My sole objective, in my posting, was to clearly state my dismay at the authors of these programs. If you have taken my posting otherwise, then this is incorrect on your behalf, but I do apologize should additional clarity be needed.

Tom

Bernd Machenschalk
Bernd Machenschalk
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I just think that the E@H

I just think that the E@H forums aren't a very promising address for your complaints, as we won't do anything about the Add-Ons. So I suggested that you write to the authors of the programs or to BOINC.dk, as this might be more helpful.

BM

BM

Paul D. Buck
Paul D. Buck
Joined: 17 Jan 05
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Just as a side note. Many of

Just as a side note. Many of these products are developed by a person with only limited resources. So, for example, before the full GUI was ready for OS-X, I used a GUI-Lite called BOINC Menubar. Which pretty well worked as advertised with a few interesting bugs because the developers had only a single CPU Mac. So, with my dual G5 there were some things that did not seem to work as intended.

So, communicating with the authors I was able to help them isolate many of these issues. I use the "standard" GUI now, but, that was a nice tool.

I guess all I am saying is that they may not be as polished as you would like, but that does not mean that they are really and truly "beta" ... I mean, heck, no one in their right minds installs Windows upgrades on a production machine until SP1 is out. Which means that, for production purposes, the "Beta" test is really "Alpha" and initial release is "Beta" ...

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