Hello chriskrazz,
BOINC keeps track of how long your CPU spent processing a work unit. Every 5 days or so it runs a benchmark on your computer, measuring your Whetstone and Dhrystone benchmark speeds (floating point and integer arithmetic). It adds these 2 benchmarks together, divides by (I think) 480, then multiplies the number of hours spent processing the work unit to produce the number of BOINC points requested for that result. Then there is a complicated algorithm that compares that value with what other computers request for the same work unit to decide what is finally awarded.

So it is a measure of the effort you have made to compute the result.

Lawrence

Liking neither explanation too well Points are the "weighted representation of contribution". Tasks need widely varying numbers of operations to complete and computational power of computer differentiates tremendously. It thus equates that points reflect the relative work completed in comparison to other contributors and members should be proud of having many, but every point is equally valuable.

With a few minor variations, that just about sums it up

We would like to measure the total effort required to achieve a result. However, this will change according to the particular instructions selected by a compiler for that particular OS and CPU type, so it will only be an approximation. Realizing this, we use the computer clock and award points for time spent according to the standard Dhrystone and Whetstone benchmarks. It is only a rough approximation, but it gets the job done.

And we can stay warm on cold winter nights by arguing over better (different) ways to award points.

Lawrence