[billybob128]

just wonderin bout the size of peoples farms and what they are used for therefore how do you justify buying the parts for them

i am asking as i wish to build one but need to be able to justify having them
and yes i do know that as ill be using it for F@H that ill probably help better mankind

[Shaktai]

Well in practical terms, I can only really justify one of my 6 computers, but then who wants to be practical.

It is a hobby. Something I do for the fun and entertainment of it that also benefits human kind. As such it comes out of my entertainment budget. Just like cable tv, going to the movies, or even buying books. It may not be practical in the strict sense of the word, but you do it because you enjoy it, and learn from it. If nothing else, I do it because it makes me feel good about life.

[jbcool]

Can justify three machines but not the other seven.
Do not need to justify them anyway. I do the crunching like everything else I do in life. Because I want to. Never heard anyone complain when I roll the stock over and bring in new crunches and the get the old ones. I would not listen to them if the did complain anyway.

[Scotttheking]

They are toys to me. I also use them as my linux test machines for playing around with new things, like netboot, among others.

[billybob128]

hmm i see so if i bought really old broken machines and fixed them up which ilike doing then it would justify the idea with a good side effect

this goes here

[jbcool]

You hit the nail on the head.
If it something that you enjoy doing and can afford and justify the time and money to do Distributed Computing then by all means do so.

Like Scott a lot of us just use some of these computers to try different operating systems and setting up different software. Computing is a great teacher, you learn by doing.

Just try not to put a hole in the wall while you are beating your head against it. I think I have a flat spot from all the walls that I have run into over the years. But when you finally get something working you step back and look at what you have accomplished and say "I took me all that time to do that little?"

Enjoy

[OneMacGuy]

Originally posted by billybob128:
hmm i see so if i bought really old broken machines and fixed them up which ilike doing then it would justify the idea with a good side effect

this goes here

I use a little different approach than most of these guys, I build them as whole computers that are "for sale". Of course they have to generally burn in for several weeks before I can let them go! This way I get a continual turnover of newer hardware and I often times get to leave the DC client (usually screensaver version) on their new computer running!

I ran SETI for so long that I have customers I don't even remember that are still running it out there. I have quit running it everywhere that I touch regularly but I am still credited with over 20 WU a day!