Hello all,
I started crunching SETI in July 2003. Started from scratch (as did we all) and slowly and steadily became a substantial contributor to the project. I believe in the science and had no preconceptions about the work being a competition as such for some folks. I've watched the project endure it's share of growing pains as more people flocked to help process the data over the years.
I couldn't possibly begin to fathom all of the hours of work spent to band aid the project through those times when there was no money or resources for necessary hardware and upgrades. For those committed to it's survival...truly a labor of love to which I acknowledge and extend my heartfelt thanks for your efforts.
In that light , the current improvements with hardware, bandwith etc, come as a breath of fresh air to those just interested in doing the work. The credit aspect of the project just made it fun for people to compete and I'm sure raised the dial on the project more than a notch or two! But as always in human nature, nobody likes to have the goal posts moved on them in the middle of the game. I admit to having a competitive side, and it was thinking just the other day maybe 10 years and out for me in July. Then I reminded myself of one of the addages that I use in similar situations...." It will all come out in the wash."
So for now, I am content to let the water seek its own level and applaud the fact that the project is still in business, and.... the people who run it. Most of us remember, that may not have been the case just a few short years ago. My best to all.

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We are here to make our contribution to the science.
We are here to advance the SETI@home project.
And we assign time and money (donations-bill electricity-purchase of hardware) to the project.
As a Founder of team, I'm really attached to the credits.
And as you say it, Cono, the competitive spirit is one of important components of this attachment to the credits.

But there's not only that.

In my opinion, there are two others components in the attachment to the credits :
1. It's what allows to quantify our partcipation to the project. And more the RAC soars, more we analyze WU's and more we analyze WU's, more we have of chances to discover an extraterrestrial signal. It's thus really satisfactory scientifically to say that every day we advance always more the SETI@home project. But also, as I was able to read it on one of the threads, we calculate less but we calculate better. The RAC falls (that of my team passed of 550KC/J to 250 KC/J !!!!) but analyses are better thus. Hoping that we shall go back up a little because it's a sacred period of scarcity.
2. The RAC is in a way our only one volunteer's salary. It's our gratitude for every hour that we cross to calculate for the project and for all the improvements that we bring to our equipment so that he can calculate always better and adapt himself to the new versions always more resource intensive.

We'll see how the situation will evolve.
Anyway, SETI@home for ever !
We will always be here ! :)

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