if I am right you will not have any problems with the author of BoincView, because you (hopefully) do not use or modify HIS code. You want to write your own piece of program.

After finishing YOUR program you might consider to say its open source or not.

... some suggestions...
In the past (seti classic times) there were some add-on programs (SetiHide, SetiQueue e.t.c.). Some of their functions I miss in the Boinc Manager. Distribution of WUs to other computers. I think this is possible, because the Boinc Manager uses this possibility if there is a multi processor and/or multi core system.
Even the simpliest sort mechanisms are missing in the standart Boinc Manager. Also you could not modify more then one WU in its status (from stopped to ready to calculate or something like this, I do not know the correct english terminology. )

Another more cosmetic point is the static width of the buttons on the left side.
I think in words or phrases in german are often longer than in english. But even in german up to 40% (a guess) of space is not used. And no way to give it to the right part, where more space is needed. (For me I have to uses 1280x1024 resolution to view all relevant data...)

BoincView's author makes his opinion on open source fairly explicit in the FAQ.

Hello evarybody,

I'm not sure this is the right place to post this kind of messages... In case, I'm sorry :)

With maximum respect to BoincView (at the moment I'm using it) I'm trying to develop an open source alternative. I'm coding it in C#.Net (so Windows only at the moment).
I think I will release an "alpha version" in a couple of weeks.

Suggestions are welcome. :)

And now for some Linux related issues :)

Phew! Quite some "10 questions"!

In brief for initial answers to get you going...

At long last i've installed Kubuntu on a dedicated machine (not a trace of windoze)

Have a giggle at Stupid guy installs linux to HD for first time. There's also Kubuntu Linux Boinc Install.

[...]
01. I'm having network connectivity issues.
The network card appears to be recognised and installed properly, and all local IP traffic works as expected, the problem comes when trying to access the internet. ...

Best connection is via ethernet if at all possible. Only use USB if you have to. There's a pretty wizard to guide you through setting up the connection. It might auto-detect ok. Otherwise, you need to know such as the internet modem/router (gateway) address, or how the ADSL modem should be set up.

Sounds like you just need to specify what gateway address or what interface the internet is connected to.

Disabling "hotplug" can help to reduce confusion.

02. ...which filesystem do i want, and the dialogue box asks for a "mount point", which at present is beyond me lol
what is a mount point to start with, and what should i enter for the partition on the secondary disk?

... how do i make linux behave so that i can control what goes on what disk? (backup data on the secondary disk, and system related data on the primary disk)

All very easy although too much choice!

My preference is to use ReiserFS (but NOT Reiser4). Otherwise, just use the default that is offered (ext3?). Unless you know to look, you won't notice any difference.

If you were to want to share with windows, then you can use "VFAT" but you lose a lot of the unix security.

In unix (and hence Linux), EVERYTHING is viewed as a file. A mount point specifies where in the filesystem a device 'appears'. Hence, you could format some partitions that have device numbers /dev/hdd1 /dev/hdd5 /dev/hdd6 and mount them so that they appear in the filesystem at /mnt/win_c /mnt/win_d /mnt/win_e, or you could have /mnt/backup01 /mnt/backup02 /mnt/backup03 or any name you like. Mounting under /mnt is a good convention. However, you have the freedom to mount anywhere such as /home/lee/backup01 or whereever.

Partitions are counted as 1-4 for the four primary partitions, and then 5 onwards for the logical partitions. Much more flexible than Windows and consistent. They don't change if you add/remove other devices/disks.

03. now that i've got a proper installation of kubuntu on the hard disk, i want to keep it in good working order
so, if i accidently exit the GUI (as i managed to do when using the liveCD), how do i re-enable the GUI so i can re-start in a user-friendly (read: idiot-proof) way?

It should always boot to a GUI login unless you've done something clever!

04. I downloaded and installed Kubuntu v6.06, but now v6.10 has been released, how do i go about "upgrading" my existing installation without effectively "reinstalling" the latest version
is there some form of "auto-update" feature available?

Yes. Take a look.

It will very cleverly only update whatever is already installed as needed.

06. the "desktop sharing" feature ... keeps crashing (at odd times, it runs for a while then dies) ... how would i go about having either VNC server run as a system service so it starts at boot time, allowing me to login remotely etc.

Using ssh is almost bomb-proof but that is a command-line.

Easier might be to use the Boinc remote control tools.

Otherwise, go onto the Kubuntu forums to see what is happening. They take bugs very seriously.

A quick fix might be to try without any graphics acceleration in case you are using propriatary drivers that are flaky.

07. how do i install software using the "adept installer" ?
i'd like to install firefox, i've found it in the list of software, but it's unavailable (greyed-out), why and how do i go about being able to select it for installation?

Select the universe and multiverse repositories for the full list of software. Keep off the experimental/development stuff. (Until you get more familiar.)

08. I don't use the QWERTY keyboard layout, i use Dvorak, how can i apply my layout preferences to the login prompt screen, which insists on using qwerty...?

It's an option in the system menues.

10. i've selected my correct graphics card and monitor from the list of supported devices, but when i try to increase the desktop resolution (above 1024x768), even after Linux appears to have applied my changes, the desktop res is the same as before (still 1024x768)

am i missing something?

Depending on what tool you are using, you may well have to log out and log back in to restart the display system to pick up the new settings. You migh also need to find the system menu to enable what settings are accepted.

those are all my issues so far, and i've yet to actually do anything productive with it yet lol

many thanks to any help/advice/pointers offered :)

oh yes, remember, i'm still very new to linux so will need the "idiot's guide" version of any explanations

Have fun,

Let us know how you find it. Take a look on the Kubuntu forums also.

The HD in it is about 9 years old, which is way beyond what I have read as the average life span of a HD. I remember reading that 5 to 7 years was the average retirement age of hard drives. They usually start crapping out before then. I guess I got lucky with this one. And this one has always been running virtually 24/7. It had "Classic" SETI on it from day one.

I always buy the same brand, Western Digital. I've tried other brands, but WD has been the best for me. Before this one, I had one that I installed in a Pentium II box and that one is still churning away. But, it doesn't run 24/7, I sold it to a company I used to work for.

i've found another extension that i recommend, it improves your level of privacy while browsing, by not telling other sites where you've browsed/navigated from (to get to their site)

it's called RefControl

instructions are available on the authors site
but for average users i'd recommend setting the default (for sites not listed) to be "block (3rd party only)"
you may need to allow (or forge) the referer for some sites to work, just add them to the list so they're handled as an exception to the default

if anyone needs help/advice with this then i'd be happy to help :)

Worth mentioning again!

I know that two people asked about debt load, but I have no idea where to check for that. I downloaded BOINC view and ran it, but I don't see where it is any different than BOINC manager. This may be because I am not that computer literate. Not interested in a screensaver or the like, my only goal is to help with the projects. Thanks again.

In BOINC View, right clodk on the header of the project tab. It will allow you to turn columns on and off.

Thanks, also to Lee for the Firefox plugin, it doesn't like the cross platform number, but the individual numbers work great. This all started with me trying to get BOINCstats to work. I have abandoned that...I am not exactly a computer wiz when it comes to software issues. I am grateful and very happy with all the suggestions, and that I can continue to help out in some small way with my computer time.

Thanks for the information, that is what I would assumed would happen. But, I have been crunching Rosetta for 15 days now and I haven't seen any new Seti work since then on all three machines. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I used to run Einstein on these three machines also. When I joined Rosetta I selected 'No New Work'. I have double checked that Seti is not set to 'No New Work' also.

OK, this is new information.

Check your long_term_debt values. This can be done with BOINC View, BOINC Debt Viewer, or by inspection of client_state.xml. Let us know what the values are. Any project that has an LTD less than the negative of your cache size (Connect every X days) is not eligable for new work - except for extraordinary situations. The LTD values are in seconds in client_state.xml.

maybe version 5.5.x solve that problem

I am using BOINC 5.4.9 with crunch3rs latest seti client.

Is there any way i can get it to update and download new WUs before it has finished its final unit?

You need the Boinc client 5.5.0, the windows 5.12 app, and also the app_info.xml file, all from Crunch3r's site.

(if I understand your meaning of "minorities"), the real minority is the folks that post on the project forums. The majority doesn't bother. I was with Seti Classic since almost day one, until the end. Maybe 10 forums posts in all that time....

(If "minorities" means "people who complain"), then the percentage should be the same, reguardless of the size of the user base, unless the project really has problems.

Are you saying that there is a greater precentage of people complaining/asking "off thread" questions on Seti/Boinc than on other projects?

In reality, you won't know if it's the "minority" complaining - they might actually be a "majority", but that's up to what the the project allows to be retained in a thread

I can see why you may say that, but is the real answer the "red X"? That seems to be a way for the "folks in charge" to elimate things they don't like in the forums.

(if Minorites means something else) see rule #5!
I'm sure I'll get a "red X" on this one!

you're asking for an advanced feature that not many people would use, and it's already available in BoincView

Actually it's hardly advanced

if you want to use BV on one of your linux boxes, just get WINE and run BV in there

Rather defeats the purpose of forswearing windows though, doesn't it?

or if you really want a native client, ask seb (the BV admin) if you can port the source over to linux

That really would be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Actually I like boincview, but found it unreliable when I did use it. The ssh tunnels idea is cool, though, and it would save me lots of VPN hassles. Pity I can't do it using BoincMgr.

Memory transfers, even though necessary, maybe shouldn't be counted as work.

There is a red-x at the bottom of all posts. Press it and you can report such an "irrelevant question" to the moderators. Then we can decide if it's relevant or not.

Why does it seem that Seti is the only Boinc project that has these kinds of problems with posters?

Supressing this with a "red x", just demonstrates that for some reason, Seti/Boinc only wants discussions that fit into a limited bounds. That's why I see the "list of 9 rules" as I post this!

does the server issue things to similiar systems so the data issued to a 333 celeron could have the other 3 computers a 450 xeon, 300 PII, and a 366 celeron?

No, it’s first come, first served AFAICT.

Thread highjacked by the third post. Hee Hee.