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World Community Grid Forums
Category: Support
Forum: BOINC Agent Support
Thread: Installation and user experience is so bad |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 6
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Hi,
So I wanted to join the grid and tried to install the software on my computer (MacOS). This was a (short) nightmare. 0) I went to the download page, create an account, select all project and so.. Then download started. 1) First the software is BOINC... but as a user you told me I was downloading "The World Community Grid software". First fail. 2) Then I install things. It's 2017, I just want to click next no question, restart or so on... Second Fail. 3) Then my computer restart and... nothing appends. (fail 3) 4) So I'm looking up for new software installed on my computer, find this BOINC things.. OK let's give a try. BOINC launch... it looks like QT made by monkeys... but OK perhaps IBM didn't have the time to hire someone to fix the QT UI for MacOS. 5) BOINC propose me to add some account, or add a project. So now I understand BOINC is used for a lot of other projects that worldcommunitygrid. But seriously, I just selected the project I wanted to help (see 0). 6) Click around... didn't find anything about worldcommunitygrid. 7) I give up and look for the uninstaller. I'm a developer, I know how to install stuff on my computer. |
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Coleslaw
Veteran Cruncher USA Joined: Mar 29, 2007 Post Count: 1343 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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You are correct in that it is a painful process for new users to set it up. It has been pointed out many of times in this forum.
----------------------------------------Since BOINC is open source and is maintained now by the community, perhaps you could use your software developer skills to help with the process of improving things. You can visit BOINC's forums here: https://boinc.berkeley.edu/dev/forum_index.php and they can direct you to where you need to go for assisting on any part of it you think you can help. As far as the WCG side of things, that is in their ballpark.....     |
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KLiK
Master Cruncher Croatia Joined: Nov 13, 2006 Post Count: 3108 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Hi, So I wanted to join the grid and tried to install the software on my computer (MacOS). This was a (short) nightmare. 0) I went to the download page, create an account, select all project and so.. Then download started. 1) First the software is BOINC... but as a user you told me I was downloading "The World Community Grid software". First fail. 2) Then I install things. It's 2017, I just want to click next no question, restart or so on... Second Fail. 3) Then my computer restart and... nothing appends. (fail 3) 4) So I'm looking up for new software installed on my computer, find this BOINC things.. OK let's give a try. BOINC launch... it looks like QT made by monkeys... but OK perhaps IBM didn't have the time to hire someone to fix the QT UI for MacOS. 5) BOINC propose me to add some account, or add a project. So now I understand BOINC is used for a lot of other projects that worldcommunitygrid. But seriously, I just selected the project I wanted to help (see 0). 6) Click around... didn't find anything about worldcommunitygrid. 7) I give up and look for the uninstaller. I'm a developer, I know how to install stuff on my computer. Techs, admins Are getting this? We have talked before about this problem. Why does Download page have listed: Install BOINC for use with World Community Grid?  |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Sadly, I don't have time to contribute to one more project. And QT app is not my domain of expertise.
----------------------------------------Like @KLiK say, simply changing the text on the download page will help. Now, IBM has definitely the resources to fix BOINC's interface and make configuration easier. Also, it's 2017 nobody wants to restart is computer anymore to install a soft. Certainly, a lot of people don't even know how to restart their computer lol. The "fun" things is they send me an email: "We're glad you signed up to participate in World Community Grid. However, in order to improve our service, we'd like to know why you haven't downloaded the software yet. Please take a minute or two to share your opinions and experiences with us. " But don't check their forum. What a shame. So I reply to their survey with the links to this discussion. I think I did my part, now IBM is time to get back to work! EDIT: I wanted to motivate my University to participate in World Community Grid, installing it on every computer of the university (thousands)... But I can't do that if their are such basic issues. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Sep 1, 2017 4:03:00 PM] |
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KerSamson
Master Cruncher Switzerland Joined: Jan 29, 2007 Post Count: 1684 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Hi gagarine,
----------------------------------------I'm sorry for you that you feel the way as painful as a newcomer. Probably this user experience needs to be improved. Regarding the "reboot" issues, you should be aware about following: - usually, to be independent of the connected users, boinc is operated as a service. In many systems, rebooting after installing a new service is a good practice to ensure that everything is running clean. I agree that mentioning "WCG software" and providing boinc to download could confuse new users. I did never notice this mistake because I knew already that WCG relies on boinc. Furthermore, for Linux, it is easier to install the available boinc version from the corresponding distribution repository than to download from WCG web site. Since I don't have a Mac, I cannot clarify for this particular case. On my side, I planned (since several years  ) to prepare a "Quick start" notice; as usual, time is missing.Nevertheless, you can motivate your university for participating. In all cases, the installation procedure is different if you plan to make a large scale deployment. You should anyway contact WCG tech team for more advices, and maybe Marist for practical experience and feedback. Cheers, Yves |
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jhindo
Former World Community Grid Admin Joined: Aug 25, 2009 Post Count: 250 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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gagarine, thanks for your useful feedback - I agree that the installation process could be simplified. As mentioned by others, World Community Grid runs on the BOINC open source platform and though we do implement enhancements for the platform, our team is too small to address this particular issue at this time. However, the suggestion to at least tweak the instructions to clarify the use of the BOINC software is well taken and something we could implement in the meantime.
Despite your experience, I would encourage you to discuss the possibility of your university joining World Community Grid. We have a Partner Program under which we recognize contributions made by over 440 organizations including universities, banks, non profits and corporations of all sizes: https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/about_us/viewOurPartners.do. As mentioned by KerSamson, there are different participation and installation options that we'd be happy to discuss. Thanks, Juan |
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