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829 lines
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<title>Spare Cycles Needed for Promoting Linux Issue 21</title>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#003380"
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ALINK="#FF0000">
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<!--endcut ============================================================-->
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<center>
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<H2>Spare Cycles Needed for Promoting Linux</H2>
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<H4>By Bill Duncan,
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<a href="mailto:bduncan@teamlinux.org">bduncan@teamlinux.org</a></H4>
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</center>
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<P><HR><P>
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Ever wish you could do more to promote Linux and yet you never seem to
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have enough time? Now for a few pennies worth of electricity per day you
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can put your Linux machine to work promoting Linux!
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<P>
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There are a number of distributed computing projects in progress or being
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organized, and Linux Advocacy teams are one method available to us which
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can help raise the visibility of Linux.
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What I'd like to describe in this article is one such effort
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<!-- which we are involved in, -->
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called the
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<A HREF="http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/97challenge/">RSA Data Security
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Secret-Key Challenge</A>.
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<P>
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This article will describe
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<A HREF="#WHAT"> what the project is</A>;
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<A HREF="#WHY"> why we are doing this and
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how it might benefit Linux</A> and
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<A HREF="#HOW"> how to get started</A>.
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There is also a section on
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<A HREF="#WHO"> who is involved</A>;
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<A HREF="#LINKS"> other links for further information</A> and
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<A HREF="#WHEN"> when to get involved</A>
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at the end.
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<!-- ------------------------------------- not enuf time to do this...
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There is also an FAQ and Glossary
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in a section at the end.
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-------------------------------------
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-->
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<A NAME="WHAT">
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<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P><!-- ---------------------------------------------- -->
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<H2>What?</H2></A>
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<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P>
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The
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<A HREF="http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/97challenge/">Secret-Key Challenge</A>
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is a contest sponsored by
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<A HREF="http://www.rsa.com/">RSA Data Security</A>
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which is being used primarily to further research into the strength of
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encryption standards. The DES challenge was won back in June. RSA is
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offering a $10,000US prize to the winning team which breaks the
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<B>RC5-32/12/7</B> challenge which uses a 56 bit key. The challenge has
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been running since January 28th, 1997.
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<P>
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The status of the various challenges can be seen
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<A HREF="http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/97challenge/html/status.html">here</A>.
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The method being used for <I>cracking the code</I> by the various groups
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is a <I>brute force</I> check of the entire <B>2^56</B> keyspace.
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<P>
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To give you an idea of the magnitude of the problem, consider that a
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single fast Pentium Pro based system would take in excess of 4000 years
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to run through the entire keyspace. A 200 Mhz Pentium would take about
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9000 years.
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<A NAME="WHY">
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<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P><!-- ---------------------------------------------- -->
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<H2>Why?</H2></A>
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<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P>
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<H3>Promoting Linux</H3>
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<P>
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<B><I>Promoting Linux</I></B> is the main reason we are participating in
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this effort. We would like to raise public awareness of Linux, and this seems
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like one of many good avenues for doing it. It is a relatively easy and fun
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way to get a large number of Linux users involved in a publicity effort.
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<P>
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Linux is in one of those "<I>chicken-and-egg</I>" situations at the
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moment. We need to make more software companies aware that Linux is a
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market force to be recconned with. With more software, it will be easier to
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convince more users, which will convince more companies etc. A snowball
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effect is what we need to break off the plateau we're on.
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<P>
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There are many operating system advocacy groups participating in the effort.
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One of the strongest ones at the moment is Apple. It seems like they've
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been putting all their available systems into the effort and are currently
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ranked number one in the Bovine effort. This is the one to beat!
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The other Linux advocacy group
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<A HREF="http://www.linuxnet.org/">linux@linuxnet.org</A> is in second
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place on Bovine, but they do not seem to have a presence in the Cyberian
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effort.
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The group we are involved with,
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<A HREF="http://www.teamlinux.org/">rc5@teamlinux.org</A>
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is moving up from behind very quickly on Bovine,
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and are consistantly in the Top 20 teams on Cyberian for the key rates.
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<P>
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Naturally we hope that you'll consider the team which we are involved with,
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but both Linux teams have similar goals and reasons for being, and either
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team would be a good choice.
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<P>
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<H3>Helping to Change Encryption Restrictions</H3><!-- ------------------- -->
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<P>
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To prove that 56-bit encryption is insufficient. It is high time for the U.S.
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government to rethink the current encryption export policies and standards.
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<P>
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Stronger encryption is readily available and the belief that
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"<I>bad-guys</I>" might restrict themselves to using
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encryption that could be tapped by the government does not make sense.
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<P>
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<H3>Having Fun!</H3><!-- ------------------------------ -->
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<P>
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It is fun to watch your system work on the project, see the results and get into
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mild competitions with other teams. Your system is probably idle most of the
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time and it is satisfying to know that all of the
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"<I>idle-cycles</I>"
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can now be put to productive use!
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<P>
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Most groups and teams have some methods available for looking at the statistics.
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Check into these sites on a regular basis, and see how well your team is doing!
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The competitive aspect can spur growth as it motivates people to get other
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people involved. This is good!
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<A NAME="HOW">
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<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P><!-- ---------------------------------------------- -->
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<H2>How?</H2></A>
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<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P>
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There are three overall efforts working on the RSA RC5 Challenge that we
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know of.
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Each one has different client programs to run and different procedures
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to follow.
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They also each have their own pros and cons.
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Each overall effort is also divided up into "<I>teams</I>".
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We believe
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that only the first two groups have active Linux Advocacy groups,
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but we may be
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mistaken. (The third group had a team called <B>Linux!</B>, but did not have
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a web address or a way to contact them which we could see.)
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<UL>
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<LI><A HREF="http://rc5.distributed.net/">The Bovine RC5 Cracking
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Effort Headquarters</A>
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<LI><A HREF="http://www.cyberian.org/">The Cyberian
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RC5-56 Project CommCentre</A>
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<LI><A HREF="http://www.rc5.cs.wisc.edu/">Infinite Monkeys RC5
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Coordinated Attack</A>
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</UL>
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You will need to pick a team. Either of the Linux teams will make a good
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choice and both teams have instructions for setting up which you can read
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on their respective Websites. See the
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<A HREF="#WHO">section below</A>
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for more of a description on both teams.
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<P>
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The team we are involved with,
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<A HREF="http://www.teamlinux.org/"><I>Team Linux</I></A>,
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has members involved with both
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<A HREF="http://rc5.distributed.net/">Bovine</A> and
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<A HREF="http://www.cyberian.org/">Cyberian</A>,
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so we will describe both here.
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<P>
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We will also assume that you are using a Linux machine, although
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we (Team Linux)
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don't restrict you to using Linux. Our feeling on the matter is that the
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other machines on our team are "<I>Linux Sympathasizers</I>"
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or "<I>Linux Wannabee</I>" machines! <TT>;-)</TT>
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<P>
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All groups work on the basis of <I>keyservers</I> handing out work for the
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distributed systems, or <I>client systems</I> (that's you and me) to work on.
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There is very little network traffic to do this. Basically the keyservers
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hand out a range of keys to work on. Your system then checks each key by
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brute force and contacts the keyserver again when it needs more work to do.
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The programs work at very low priority <I>(nice-level)</I> so that
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you shouldn't notice any change in interactive sessions,
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effectively only using "<I>idle cycles</I>".
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The client system also tells the server which range it has checked so that
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the numbers can show up in your team's statistics. <I>(This is the fun part.)</I>
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<P>
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The following will not be an exhaustive description of either system but will
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give you a few pointers on setting up. For more information, see your team's
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Web pages. Hopefully, this get you started and show you how easy it is.
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<P><HR NOSHADE><P>
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<H3>Bovine Clients</H3>
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<P>
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The
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<A HREF="http://rc5.distributed.net/">Bovine</A>
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effort has a lot going for it. They are well organized; have fast
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client programs for a number of platforms; have checked a larger portion
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of the key space and will be giving away a larger portion of the winnings
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(should they win). They have stated that they will give $8000US of the
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winnings to
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<A HREF="http://promo.net/pg/">Project Gutenberg</A>
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which is a very worthwhile cause. They are keeping $1000US and will
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give $1000US to the winning team.
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<P>
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Both Linux teams will be giving all the prize money away.
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The <I>linux@linuxnet.org</I> group will be donating the money to
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<A HREF="http://www.li.org/">Linux International</A>,
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while the <I>Team Linux</I> group is leaving it to members to vote on,
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and may well end up doing the same. <I>Team Linux</I> is also in
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discussions with several other companies about additional sponsorship
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for a worthy Linux cause. We will have an announcement about this soon.
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<P>
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Both
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<A HREF="http://www.linuxnet.org/">linux@linuxnet.org</A>
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and the team we are involved with,
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<A HREF="http://www.teamlinux.org/">Team Linux</A>
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(with an email of <A HREF="mailto:crusader@mo.net">crusader@mo.net</A>)
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are represented in this group. You may pick either team if you
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choose to use the Bovine system.
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<P>
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The first thing to do is to get a copy of the
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<A HREF="http://rc5.distributed.net/rc5v2-clients.html">client program</A>
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and unpack the archive into an empty directory. At the time of this
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writing, the latest version was <B>v2 build 4</B> and the Linux archive
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contains:
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<BLOCKQUOTE><PRE><TT>
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-rwxrwxr-x bovine/rc5 292892 Aug 7 05:06 1997 rc5v2b4/rc5v2
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-rw-rw-r-- bovine/rc5 2085 Aug 6 22:11 1997 rc5v2b4/README.TXT
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</TT></PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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You'll notice that the files are containted in a subdirectory relative to
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where you unpack them. So if you unpack in your home directory you will
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create a subdirectory called <B>rc5v2b4</B> containing the files.
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(I also create a symlink [symbolic link]
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here, to make typing easier. Pick a name which is easier
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to type such as <I>bovine</I>. You can then use this as an alias.)
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<BLOCKQUOTE><PRE><TT>
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ln -s rc5v2b4 bovine
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</TT></PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<A HREF="http://rc5.distributed.net/">The Bovine</A> system uses one program
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which both does the key checking and also maintains a <I>cache</I> of keys,
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contacting a keyserver when it needs more work, and checking in the finished blocks.
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<P>
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Configuring the Bovine client involves running the client program with the
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<B>-config</B> option. You will then be presented with a menu, which should
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be similar to the one reproduced here:
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<BLOCKQUOTE><PRE><TT>
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CLIENT CONFIG MENU
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------------------
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1) Email to report as [default:rc5@distributed.net] ==> rc5@distributed.net
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2) Blocks to Buffer [default:5] ==> 5
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3) Blocks to complete in run [default:0] ==> 0
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4) Hours to complete in a run [default:0] ==> 0
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5) Keys per timeslice - for Macs etc [default:65536] ==> 65536
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6) Level of niceness to run at [default:0] ==> 0
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7) File to log to [default:] ==>
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8) Network communication mode [default:1] ==> 1
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14) Optimize performance for CPU type [default:-1] ==> -1
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0) Quit and Save
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</TT></PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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The important one to change is "<B>1</B>". This email address you
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add here determines which team your blocks will be counted for. This is
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case sensitive, and does not tolerate typos, so be careful when typing this
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in and double check.
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<P>
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Press the "<B>1</B>" key, followed by the "<B>Enter</B>" key
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and you will be presented with the following prompt:
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<BLOCKQUOTE><PRE><TT>
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Email to report as (64 characters max) [rc5@distributed.net] -->
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</TT></PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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If you decide to count your blocks for
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<A HREF="http://www.linuxnet.org/"><B>linux@linuxnet.org</B></A> then enter it here.
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<P>
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If you decide to work with
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<A HREF="http://www.teamlinux.org/">Team Linux</A> then you need to enter
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<A HREF="mailto:crusader@mo.net"><B>crusader@mo.net</B></A>.
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(The reason we don't use
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<A HREF="mailto:rc5@teamlinux.org">rc5@teamlinux.org</A> on Bovine is that
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we received our <I>teamlinux.org</I>
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domain after actually starting the effort.
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The Bovine group was unwilling to move our stats to the new email address
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so we had to keep the old one to maintain our block counts.
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The <A HREF="mailto:crusader@mo.net">crusader@mo.net</A> email
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address actually belongs to Eric P. Anderson, who started Team Linux.)
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<P>
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<CENTER>
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<H4>Fine Tuning</H4>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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If you are only connected to the net part time, you should
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consider buffering a larger number of blocks. Assuming that you connect once
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per day, you'll need to get at least a day's worth and maybe a bit more,
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for good measure.
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(The limit is 200 on the latest clients I think.) If you are connected
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to the 'Net full time, then you can leave this at the default setting.
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<P>
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I also suggest that you define a log file, perhaps
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<TT>/var/tmp/bovine.log</TT>
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might be a good choice.
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This is all you really need to define unless you have specific
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needs, such as getting around a firewall.
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(These subjects are beyond the scope of this
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article, and you should consult the
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<A HREF="http://rc5.distributed.net/FAQ/rc5v2-help.html">Bovine Client
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Documentation</A>
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for more help if you run into difficulties. They also maintain several
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<A HREF="http://cwww.llamas.net/~chipper/mail.html">mailing lists</A>
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where you might find additional help.)
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<P>
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At this point, save the setup by pressing the "<B>0</B>" key,
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and you should be ready to test it out.
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The configuration file which is saved is called <B>rc5v2.ini</B>,
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and is placed in the current directory.
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<P>
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Test it out! Type the name of the program and watch it go!
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(We usually leave it running with a spare xterm or on one of the text consoles.
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One nice thing about the Bovine client is that it gives you feedback on how
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far through each block it is.)
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<P><HR NOSHADE><P>
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<H3>Cyberian Clients</H3>
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<P>
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Personally, we find the
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<A HREF="http://www.cyberian.org/">Cyberian Effort</A> more satisfying, although
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it is not without its problems. They have been going through some difficulties
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on their server in the last week while one of the key developers was away in China.
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(This should be cleared up by the time you read this.) They also only have one
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server whereas Bovine have many, so Cyberian are currently more prone to having
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problems.
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Lastly, they have not been working as long as Bovine, so have not checked
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as much of the keyspace.
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<P>
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On the positive side, Cyberian have far better stats which make them much more
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fun to be involved with. Currently, the Bovine stats are only updated once per
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day and do not give you access to your individual numbers. The Cyberian stats
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are updated every 10 minutes or so and gives you a list of all of the team
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members as well as your overall team statistics.
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<P>
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This is a great boon for people getting involved as they can see themselves
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up on the board within minutes! Cyberian also has many more categories of
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numbers and graphs to delight the people involved.
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<P>
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Lastly, the Bovine effort is offering $1000US to the winning team, while
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the Cyberian effort is offering <B>$5000US</B>. This would mean more money for
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a worthwhile Linux effort, should one of the Linux teams win.
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Note that the Bovine group is giving the bulk of the money to a worthwhile
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cause, it's just not a Linux cause.)
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<P>
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At the time of this writing, we believe that the only Linux advocacy group
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here is
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<A HREF="http://www.teamlinux.org/">Team Linux</A>.
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The email address they are using here is:
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<A HREF="mailto:rc5@teamlinux.org"><B>rc5@teamlinux.org</B></A>.
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<P>
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First, you need to
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<A HREF="http://www.cyberian.org/download.html">download
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their client program</A>.
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Pick the appropriate one for your architecture. We assume that most of us will
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be using the "<I>Client v3.04 for Linux [X86]</I>" although others
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are available.
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<P>
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This tar archive will unpack in your current directory so you should make a
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directory for it: <I>$HOME/cyberian</I>, for example, then change to
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that directory.
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<P>
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Unpacking with <TT>tar tvzf Linux-x86.bin304.tgz</TT>
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will give you the following
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files:
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<BLOCKQUOTE><TT><PRE>
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-rwxrwxr-x tic0/tic0 20315 Jul 25 15:08 1997 rc5client
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-rwxrwxr-x tic0/tic0 18093 Jul 25 15:08 1997 sa_simple
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</PRE></TT></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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The Cyberian system uses these two programs:
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one <I>(rc5client)</I> which checks the keys and
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the other <I>(sa_simple)</I> which maintains the
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cache and contacts the server when necessary.
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Both programs will list the available options
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if you run the program with "<B>-\?</B>".
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(The backslash may be necessary to escape
|
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the question mark on some shells.)
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<P>
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You will need to contact the server to load the initial cache of blocks
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at this point. For now, run
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<BLOCKQUOTE><TT><PRE>
|
|
sa_simple -1
|
|
</PRE></TT></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
If everything works OK, you should see a message saying that the server has
|
|
been contacted and that your cache has been loaded.
|
|
If the program has difficulty contacting the server, you will see repeated
|
|
messages to that effect. If this condition lasts more than ten minutes or
|
|
so, then there may be a problem.
|
|
See the <A HREF="http://www.cyberian.org/">Cyberian</A> or
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.teamlinux.org/">Team Linux</A>
|
|
Websites for more details.
|
|
It may be a networking issue, or it may be that their server is still having
|
|
some problems.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The Cyberian system does not use configuration files, nor does it create
|
|
logfiles; so all options must be supplied on the command line.
|
|
(We like to use logfiles to maintain a record of what was done and
|
|
to see what it is doing occasionally.)
|
|
You can automate this by creating a shell script such as the following:
|
|
|
|
<!-- +++++ display +++++ -->
|
|
|
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><TT><PRE>
|
|
|
|
#!/bin/sh
|
|
#
|
|
# Run the Cyberian client programs:
|
|
# (This version is for part-time connections, full-time connections don't
|
|
# use the -1 option on sa_simple, or the -q option on rc5client)
|
|
#
|
|
|
|
MY_EMAIL=yourname@yourdomain # Change This!!!
|
|
TEAM="rc5@teamlinux.org"
|
|
LOW_WATER_MARK=500
|
|
HIGH_WATER_MARK=1000
|
|
|
|
export TEAM HIGH_WATER_MARK LOW_WATER_MARK MY_EMAIL
|
|
|
|
sa_simple -1 -l $LOW_WATER_MARK -h $HIGH_WATER_MARK > /var/tmp/sa_simple.log 2>&1 &
|
|
|
|
rc5client -t $TEAM -e $MY_EMAIL -N -q -n19 > /var/tmp/rc5client.log 2>&1 &
|
|
|
|
</PRE></TT></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|
|
|
<!-- +++++ end of display +++++ -->
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
With a shell script such as this you can find out what is happening at any
|
|
time by doing a<BR>
|
|
"<B>tail -f /var/tmp/rc5client.log</B>" or<BR>
|
|
"<B>tail -f /var/tmp/sa_simple.log</B>".<BR>
|
|
(In fact, we just leave a few xterms running with a tiny font,
|
|
so we can keep an eye on them while doing other things.)
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Assuming that everything is running OK, you can start seeing your own email
|
|
address in your team's statistics in a very short period of time. After a
|
|
few hours of processing, make a connection to the net again (if you are dialing
|
|
in part time), and run <TT>sa_simple -1</TT> by itself. After the server has
|
|
acknowledged your blocks, you should be able to do a search and see your email
|
|
address show up
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.cyberian.org/search.html">here</A> in about 15 minutes!
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Another nice feature which we like about Cyberian is the ability to see what
|
|
is left in the cache. This is very useful for users with part-time connections.
|
|
The following is a script we use to summarize what is in the cache. You can use
|
|
this as is, or even modify it to give you estimates of the number of hours left.
|
|
If you have trouble cutting and pasting from here, you can find it on the
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.teamlinux.org/">Team Linux site</A>.
|
|
|
|
<!-- +++++ display +++++ -->
|
|
|
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><TT><PRE>
|
|
|
|
#!/bin/sh
|
|
#
|
|
# @(#) cache.sh - summarize rc5 cache information dump
|
|
# Author: Bill Duncan, bduncan@teamlinux.org
|
|
#
|
|
# Note: make sure rc5client is in your PATH. I assume current directory.
|
|
|
|
PATH=$PATH:
|
|
|
|
rc5client -d |
|
|
awk '
|
|
BEGIN {
|
|
F = "%-6s %4d %s\n"
|
|
}
|
|
FNR == 1 { next }
|
|
NF > 0 {
|
|
time = $2
|
|
$1 = $2 = ""
|
|
s = sprintf("%6s~%s", time, $0)
|
|
a[ s ]++
|
|
}
|
|
END {
|
|
for (i in a) {
|
|
split(i, b, "~")
|
|
printf F, b[1], a[i], b[2]
|
|
total += a[i]
|
|
if (i ~ /COMPLETED/)
|
|
done += a[i]
|
|
else
|
|
notdone += a[i]
|
|
}
|
|
# sort these lines to the end
|
|
printf "~\n"
|
|
printf F, "~", done, " DONE"
|
|
printf F, "~", notdone, " NOT DONE"
|
|
printf F, "~", total, " TOTAL IN CACHE"
|
|
}' |
|
|
sort | sed 's/^~/ /'
|
|
|
|
|
|
</PRE></TT></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|
|
|
<!-- +++++ end of display +++++ -->
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
This script will give you a display such as the following:
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- +++++ display +++++ -->
|
|
|
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><TT><PRE>
|
|
122:59 27 COMPLETED REPORTING
|
|
125:47 101 COMPLETED REPORTING
|
|
137:15 93 COMPLETED
|
|
137:15 125 COMPLETED REPORTING
|
|
150:26 1 RESERVED
|
|
150:26 4
|
|
|
|
5 NOT DONE
|
|
346 DONE
|
|
351 TOTAL IN CACHE
|
|
|
|
</PRE></TT></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|
|
|
<!-- +++++ end of display +++++ -->
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
This display tells us that we need to connect to the server soon
|
|
as we only have 5 blocks to go before running out! The numbers down
|
|
the left column are the number of hours and minutes left before that
|
|
block expires. The middle column is the number of blocks with that
|
|
specific expiry. The rest of the line is a status, with "RESERVED"
|
|
being the block currently being worked on and no status means that the
|
|
group has not been started yet.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="STATS">
|
|
<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P><!-- ---------------------------------------------- -->
|
|
<H2>Stats, Numbers and Graphs</H2></A>
|
|
<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P>
|
|
|
|
As we have mentioned elsewhere, the Cyberian group pay more attention to the
|
|
statistics and graphs, which we tend to think are more fun for people.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Both groups tend to pay alot of attention to the blocks already completed.
|
|
|
|
This is like saying that someone has bought 10,000 losing lottery tickets
|
|
vs. someone else who has only bought 10.
|
|
The prize is not given to the group with the most losing tickets!
|
|
Both teams have an equal chance of buying the next winning lottery ticket!!
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
More important is <B><I>the current rate</I></B> at which the
|
|
<I>tickets</I> are being bought, or in our case, the rate at which
|
|
<I>key blocks</I> are being checked.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
If you compare teams on that basis, it gives a more realistic relative
|
|
probability on which team will find the secret key and win the prize money.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Having said all that, watching the numbers and the graphs, and comparing
|
|
your team's numbers with other teams is all part of the fun.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
The
|
|
<A HREF="http://rc5stats.distributed.net/emtop100.idc">Bovine stats</A>
|
|
recently had an overhaul but is still only updated once per day.
|
|
For example: only team statistics are shown,
|
|
without mentioning individual efforts.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
The
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.cyberian.org/stats/statistix.html">Cyberian stats</A>
|
|
and their
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.cyberian.org/search.html">search facility</A>
|
|
are a joy to use. They provide almost instant feedback for anyone
|
|
getting involved as you can usually find your entries within minutes
|
|
of contacting the server. You can also see how your contribution has
|
|
helped the overall team effort.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="WHO">
|
|
<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P><!-- ---------------------------------------------- -->
|
|
<H2>Who?</H2></A>
|
|
<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P>
|
|
|
|
<H3>So Where do I Sign Up?</H3>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Why two teams? Why don't we just join up with the other team, and combine our
|
|
numbers? We've been asked this probably the most since Eric Anderson started
|
|
Team Linux.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
The reason is that we feel that "<I>friendly</I>" rivalry will benefit
|
|
both teams and help get people excited about getting involved. The benefit
|
|
to Linux will hopefully be greater participation and better visibility.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Both teams have the same main goals in mind with promoting Linux the highest
|
|
on the list. However, we both have different ways of going about this.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
The <A HREF="http://www.linuxnet.org/">linux@linuxnet.org</A> team has plenty
|
|
going for it. It's been around a lot longer and has accumulated a much larger
|
|
total number of blocks checked. They have openly stated that they will donate
|
|
the entire $1000 to Linux International if they win. They seem to have two
|
|
sets of Web pages and you can access the second set
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.baycis.com/~nickkral/linux/rc5.html">here</A>.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
The <A HREF="http://www.teamlinux.org/">Team Linux</A> group have stated
|
|
that they will donate all of any prize money or other revenue directly to a
|
|
Linux group of the members' choosing. Any administrative costs will be paid for
|
|
out of our own pocket. Since Team Linux is also involved in the Cyberian
|
|
effort, the prize money may very well be $5000US for Team Linux,
|
|
or $1000US if the key is found through the Bovine effort.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Team Linux is also in discussion with several companies about up-ing
|
|
the anti, possibly by having them match the prize money available,
|
|
or perhaps some other method which does not rely on chance nearly as much.
|
|
We should have an announcement on this soon.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
We would like to encourage you to get involved in either team
|
|
and compete in the spirit of Linux, for the benefit of Linux.
|
|
As long as the competition remains friendly, it will be healthy and help out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="LINKS">
|
|
<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P><!-- ---------------------------------------------- -->
|
|
<H2>The Future of Distributed Computing</H2></A>
|
|
<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P>
|
|
|
|
Getting tens of thousands of computers working on a common problem is an
|
|
awesome technical accomplishment.
|
|
|
|
It is made all the more interesting by the fact that
|
|
the computers are spread out world-wide, some of them
|
|
available full-time, some not,
|
|
with different hardware and operating systems.
|
|
|
|
Having them all owned by different people and organizations, each with their
|
|
own agenda and motivations adds yet another dimension to the task.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Some papers and sites on the topic of distributed systems and related
|
|
subjects which we've found:
|
|
|
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI><A HREF="http://www.cs.wisc.edu/condor/">Condor</A> is a project at
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin-Madison</A>
|
|
which has been going on for about 10 years. They have published a number of
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.cs.wisc.edu/condor/publications.html">interesting papers</A>
|
|
on what they call
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.cs.wisc.edu/condor/research.html">High Throughput
|
|
Computing (HTC)</A>.
|
|
They are the movers and shakers for the third group working on
|
|
the RSA Challenge called
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.rc5.cs.wisc.edu/">Infinite Monkeys</A>.<P>
|
|
|
|
<LI><A HREF="http://www.yahoo.com/">Yahoo</A>
|
|
have a whole section devoted to
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.yahoo.com/Science/Computer_Science/Distributed_Computing/">distributed computing</A>.
|
|
There is a good collection of material here, with many universities being
|
|
represented.<P>
|
|
|
|
<LI><A HREF="http://www.mersenne.org/prime.htm">The GREAT Internet
|
|
Mersenne Prime Search</A> is another way to use those spare cycles.<P>
|
|
|
|
<LI><A HREF="http://members.aol.com/golomb20/index.html">In Search Of The
|
|
Optimal 20 & 21 Mark Golomb Rulers</A><P>
|
|
|
|
<LI><A HREF="http://www.bigscience.com/setiathome.html">SETI@home</A> is
|
|
an effort to use spare cycles in the
|
|
Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). It looks like this might
|
|
ramp up to be a <I>very big thing</I> by next Spring. They are looking to
|
|
put hundreds of thousands of machines to work. <I>Let's make sure they do
|
|
a Linux client program!</I>
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<LI>As we all know, lots of cool research has come from the folks at
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.parc.xerox.com/parc-go.html">Xerox PARC</A>
|
|
<I>(Palo Alto Research Center)</I>, including probably the first
|
|
windowing environment. It's not surprising to find that they have
|
|
<A HREF="ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/dynamics/multiagent.html">a
|
|
number of papers</A> on the subject. There is one which looks particularly
|
|
interesting in a section called <B>allocating time on idle computers</B>:
|
|
<I>C. A. Waldspurger et al.,
|
|
Spawn: A Distributed Computational Economy, 1992</I>.
|
|
Unfortunately, it has been taken off-line. I seem to recall something like
|
|
this published some years ago,
|
|
possibly in <A HREF="http://www.byte.com/">Byte</A>,
|
|
although no reference could be found.<P>
|
|
|
|
While researching the Xerox PARC site, we came across a section called the
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.parc.xerox.com/spl/groups/dynamics/">Dynamics of
|
|
Computation Area</A>. <B>You have to see this</B>,
|
|
if for no other reason, to see
|
|
the graphic depicting many <I>small distributed efforts</I> overtaking one
|
|
<I>large effort</I>!!
|
|
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="WHEN">
|
|
<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P><!-- ---------------------------------------------- -->
|
|
<H2>When?</H2></A>
|
|
<P><HR NOSHADE SIZE=2><P>
|
|
|
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|
|
|
<B>Do it</B> <FONT SIZE=+1><I><B>now!!</B></I></FONT>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
It's easy. You'll have plenty of help. And once you are set up,
|
|
you can let your system do the rest!
|
|
|
|
|
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<center><H5>Copyright © 1997, Bill Duncan<BR>
|
|
Published in Issue 21 of the Linux Gazette, September 1997</H5></center>
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<A HREF="./index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/indexnew.gif"
|
|
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|
|
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|
|
ALT="[ FRONT PAGE ]"></A>
|
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<A HREF="./sshmake.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/back2.gif"
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ALT=" Back "></A>
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|
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