[QUOTE=tServo;568181]Linking two different web sites via links describes the very essence of the WWW. If you go back to the early 90s and read some of Tim Berners-Lee's ( and others ) documentation and descriptions this stands out loud and clear.[/QUOTE]

“I don't like linking to two separate websites for the same project.”
I should've been more clear. What I meant with that was that I prefer to send people only one official URL answering the why question. If they like the project they're immediately at the right address to create an account and download the files.

However, at the moment there is no why page on mersenne.org, so one has to use two different URLs separate from the main website ([URL="https://primes.utm.edu/notes/faq/why.html"]1[/URL], [URL="https://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=15152&postcount=13"]2[/URL]).
That's why I merged the content of these two pages above and use that [URL="https://www.quitfacebook.org/file/prime.html"]URL[/URL] on my own website, but I'd prefer if mersenne.org has a distinct why page for the reasons already mentioned.

[QUOTE=Blackadder;533217]Particularly containing the following information: [url]https://www.rieselprime.de/ziki/Why_participate_in_GIMPS%3F[/url]
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Blackadder;568037]Bump.
[url]https://www.quitfacebook.org/file/prime.html[/url][/QUOTE]
The "To test the hardware" section should be updated to include the Intel Skylake bug:
[url]https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/01/intel-skylake-bug-causes-pcs-to-freeze-during-complex-workloads/[/url]

[QUOTE=Prime95;568151]Sorry, I missed this post a year ago. I was about to go on a cruise.

Your page looks excellent. I'm running the idea past James and Madpoo for their thoughts.[/QUOTE]

What were their thoughts? Or are you on a cruise again ;)

[QUOTE=Blackadder;570044]What were their thoughts? Or are you on a cruise again ;)[/QUOTE]

It is still on my to-do list. Prime95 version 30.4 is near complete, so I'll get to it before too long.

[QUOTE=Prime95;570046]It is still on my to-do list. Prime95 version 30.4 is near complete, so I'll get to it before too long.[/QUOTE]

Fantastic twice!

A "why join" page has been added. Thanks for suggesting it!

[QUOTE=Prime95;570524]A "why join" page has been added. Thanks for suggesting it![/QUOTE]

Aw yes! Excellent! Thank [I]you[/I].
[URL="https://www.mersenne.org/why_join/"]https://www.mersenne.org/why_join/[/URL]

[quote]Why are prime programs used this way? They are intensely CPU and bus bound. They are relatively short, give an easily checked answer (when run on a known prime they should output true after their billions of calculations). [/quote]
Running on known primes isn't exactly the normal use case. Maybe a better thing to mention would be the error checking contained in tests which has a very high probability of finding errors.