And sometimes, nonprofit organizations have to enlist for-profit companies to set up their systems. For a project to identify drugs that may disable mutant forms of the AIDS virus, The Scripps Research Institute tapped Entropia, whose network had identified the world's longest known prime number. By finding a commercial partner, he said, the project is able to get 1,000 times the computing power that Scripps has available in-house. The AIDS project, begun last fall, now links nearly 14,000 machines. Some SETI users, drawn by its noncommercial nature, say they want to be careful about the projects to which they donate their spare processing time.
Some companies try to offer incentives like cash or sweepstakes entries.
Others, like Entropia, hope potential volunteers will be drawn to the philanthropic side. Once upon a time, a browser was a novel word. This is harnessing the innate power of this large network.