HamPi - Thumbs Down!

[Moleculo]

I've posted before about my use of a Raspberry PI 4 as a portable, DC powered PC for digital modes. With the release of the new Bullseye OS, I decided to give the new HamPi 2.0 build a try instead of "rolling my own" like I have in the past. While it is super cool that W3DJS has preinstalled a lot of the opensource / freeware software for ham radio operators, it is also super shitty that he includes a fake usage license that also includes a copy of BOINC and expects you to continue to run it if you're using his "distro" (which is really just a saved image of Bullseye with all the software installed). I'm not going into all the details of why BOINC is a bad idea for low, DC power operators, but the fact that he "insists" that you run this crap if you use his image is just plain annoying.

I'm wiping this image and going back to a regular PI install with the apps I want, installed myself. It really is easy to do. I'm not supporting, nor will I condone the HamPI project as long as it comes with garbage.

 

[nomadradio]

Well don't hold back. Tell us you you really feel.

73

 

[Rwb]

why not go back to keying a MIC connected to a RADIO connected to a great ANTENNA and drop the innertube connection?

 

[NZ8N]

Because that doesn't do digital modes like SSTV or Amtor/Pactor etc...

 

[Rwb]

Because that doesn't do digital modes like SSTV or Amtor/Pactor etc...

thats my point.

 

[Riverman]

I've posted before about my use of a Raspberry PI 4 as a portable, DC powered PC for digital modes. With the release of the new Bullseye OS, I decided to give the new HamPi 2.0 build a try instead of "rolling my own" like I have in the past. While it is super cool that W3DJS has preinstalled a lot of the opensource / freeware software for ham radio operators, it is also super shitty that he includes a fake usage license that also includes a copy of BOINC and expects you to continue to run it if you're using his "distro" (which is really just a saved image of Bullseye with all the software installed). I'm not going into all the details of why BOINC is a bad idea for low, DC power operators, but the fact that he "insists" that you run this crap if you use his image is just plain annoying.

I'm wiping this image and going back to a regular PI install with the apps I want, installed myself. It really is easy to do. I'm not supporting, nor will I condone the HamPI project as long as it comes with garbage.

Tim,
I didn't understand a word you said.
Am guessing it has to do with communicating through a series of blips, squeaks and digits rather than a microphone and a cup of coffee.
If I were thirty years younger . . .

 

[Handy Andy]

I'm not going into all the details of why BOINC is a bad idea for low, DC power operators, but the fact that he "insists" that you run this crap if you use his image is just plain annoying.

...Data mining - comes to mind...

It's not wise to use a "Generic Issue License" to help out another Ham operator get Compensation/Recognition for the trouble you're going thru.

Unless you like dead batteries and donating your PC to science - of making money off of others...

If you knew BONIC - like I Knew BONIC...

 

[Moleculo]

...Data mining - comes to mind...

It's not wise to use a "Generic Issue License" to help out another Ham operator get Compensation/Recognition for the trouble you're going thru.

Unless you like dead batteries and donating your PC to science - of making money off of others...

If you knew BONIC - like I Knew BONIC...

Here's the link: https://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php

By itself, I don't have a problem with someone installing this, to knowingly and voluntarily donate idle CPU time to research. But what W3DJS is doing is the equivalent of installing Malware and the unsuspecting ham that doesn't understand what is happening is none the wiser. And then he promotes his image all over QRZ and other places...

 

[Handy Andy]

Thanks @Moleculo - I ran BONIC for quite some time but had to it give up.

Found some of the forums were discussing the "corruption" the BONIC program has from within. The Datamining "Bitcoin" people traded off TONS of bandwidth to GPU's from AMD and INTEL just to get at it.

Some of the sites had issues with the datasets "we the BONIC volunteers" would run, while the rest of the university dug into the Datamining side trying to earn credits and cash for their efforts for something completely different.

Don't and can't justify the free use of my PC's and the electrical costs in bills and lost hard drives from their hammering that went on for the data crunching while their systems crunched for something else.

Hey, didn't mind getting noticed, but didn't like paying a bill for the number crunching for the effort, but the Universities students and faculty were running something else getting credits for it. So I bailed out.

Several of the forums from the sites had made claims that not all the computers on their network were used for the project - so you took your chances.

 

[w9cll]

Here's the link: https://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php

By itself, I don't have a problem with someone installing this, to knowingly and voluntarily donate idle CPU time to research. But what W3DJS is doing is the equivalent of installing Malware and the unsuspecting ham that doesn't understand what is happening is none the wiser. And then he promotes his image all over QRZ and other places...

I ran that for years, at one point I had 68 pc at work running in the background. What they did know didn't hurt them.