I knew that there would be complaints when WCG shifted to Krembil Research Institute. There were a few wrinkles, but the shift has been smoother than I expected. The complaints that bother me the most are ones about the statistics. Many complainers had simply been too lazy to click-around and see where to find information.
My complaint is broader and I have not expressed it at WCG. Why didn't they take the opportunity to make their statistics conform to the BOINC framework? That would make it simple for people who are familiar with Rosetta@home, Milkyway@home, etc. to shift projects without having to learn the WCG stats reports and website layout. WCG stats evolved from United Devices and the opportunity to standardize was missed when WCG was established and added to BOINC to appeal to a broader population. WCG wanted it two ways: Ours and ours. They seemed to reluctantly become a BOINC project at all. On the forums, members were chastised for even mentioning other projects. Sometime back in the early stages (2002), I left and ran 42 months with Find-a-Drug. Find-a-Drug had distributed servers (gasp! Keith Davies learned something about distributed computing and applied it. The stats were always available without downtime every day.)
When Find-a-Drug (FAD) abruptly ended after 42 months, FAD members were at a loss for a new project. Keith Davies suggested that Folding@home was the best project. We went in several directions, and many went back to WCG. I am reflecting my resentment and prejudice against WCG, but they really do have a "go it alone" attitude that has made me feel that "outsiders" from SETI and other projects are unwelcome. I wish they would fully join BOINC...starting with the statistics and website layout.
My complaint is broader and I have not expressed it at WCG. Why didn't they take the opportunity to make their statistics conform to the BOINC framework? That would make it simple for people who are familiar with Rosetta@home, Milkyway@home, etc. to shift projects without having to learn the WCG stats reports and website layout. WCG stats evolved from United Devices and the opportunity to standardize was missed when WCG was established and added to BOINC to appeal to a broader population. WCG wanted it two ways: Ours and ours. They seemed to reluctantly become a BOINC project at all. On the forums, members were chastised for even mentioning other projects. Sometime back in the early stages (2002), I left and ran 42 months with Find-a-Drug. Find-a-Drug had distributed servers (gasp! Keith Davies learned something about distributed computing and applied it. The stats were always available without downtime every day.)
When Find-a-Drug (FAD) abruptly ended after 42 months, FAD members were at a loss for a new project. Keith Davies suggested that Folding@home was the best project. We went in several directions, and many went back to WCG. I am reflecting my resentment and prejudice against WCG, but they really do have a "go it alone" attitude that has made me feel that "outsiders" from SETI and other projects are unwelcome. I wish they would fully join BOINC...starting with the statistics and website layout.