Martin 53N 1W wrote:

Odysseus wrote:
[...]

I also find it insulting that the Mac OS 9 clients put up a message
saying we should switch to BOINC when there's no version of the
software for that platform.

Try this comment:

"With the tool XPostFacto is it posible to install MacOS X on older
Mac's which are not be supported by Apple. I don't know, if it works
very well. But sounds very interesting.

In my case XPostFacto is still incompatible with about half of the
machines in question. Of the remaining systems, most would need at
least 256 MB more RAM to support the upgrade, and of course a copy of
OS X would be required for every one regardless. I very much doubt my
employers would be open to the idea of investing two or three hundred
dollars per system with only a hobby of mine as justification -- it's
hard enough getting them to keep the 'tools of our trade' current,
let alone such frivolities as maintenance & repair utilities -- and
it's certainly not worth that much to me. If it were, for the same
money I could buy a new bare-bones Intel or AMD box that would
probably outproduce all the old Macs put together, not to mention the
questionable sanity of sinking that much into machines whose current
market value has depreciated to perhaps a third of that, or half at best.

The original premise of public distributed-computing projects was to
make use of *processing power that would otherwise be wasted*; only a
small fraction of the potential client base comprises enthusiasts who
are willing to buy (or build) and maintain systems for the principal
purpose of contributing to the various scientific projects, or of
collecting statistical trophies. For every disaffected user heard
from here, there must be dozens who may not have even heard of
Usenet, who regard their computers as tools for completely unrelated
purposes, having joined S@h because it was easy and amusing (at least
for a while), and who will just drop it as soon as it becomes
bothersome. Moreover, I think that people who choose a Macintosh for
a given purpose will be somewhat less inclined, on average (I don't
mean to overgeneralize), to customize and tweak the system, as the
principal attractions of the platform have to do with its ease of use
'out of the box' and the transparency of its user-interface.

At any rate, I think you're missing the point that at least some of
those you call "whingers" are not just venting their own frustration,
but are motivated by concern that these DC projects will fail to meet
their potential if they alienate (no pun intended) the millions of
accountants, artists, secretaries, students, &c., &c., for whom
computers are only a means to an end, not a hobby, and who may have
only a casual or passing interest in the science.

-- 
Odysseus 26563 @ 51.9Y