Well, I think that most people on the list know of my past... it's when someone does a Google search on me that I think borders on stalking. One can only wonder what you might find if you did Google searches on everyone on this list. :)
Anyway... the gardening analogy doesn't pass muster. First, may I point out that neither GIMPS nor PrimeNet *owns* the Mersenne exponents being tested. I would posit that *anyone* is free to test *any* exponent they choose. Clearly, the purpose of GIMPS/PrimeNet is to optimize this search by assigning exponents in an orderly fashion. I'm not advocating poaching since I feel that Scott/George's system works fine. But I am saying that if someone wants to poach exponents, while I might disagree, there's nothing really wrong with it. Stealing someone's plants is illegal. Nobody owns these exponents so there's nothing to steal. That's my only point. Rude, yes. Morally/ethically/legally there's really no problem with doing it. _________________________________________________________________________ Unsubscribe & list info -- http://www.ndatech.com/mersenne/signup.htm Mersenne Prime FAQ -- http://www.tasam.com/~lrwiman/FAQ-mers
