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Ask Slashdot: Would You Accept 'Bitcoin-Ware' Apps?

Posted by timothy on from the better-than-nagware dept.

After the E-Sports Entertainment Association admitted to sneaking Bitcoin-mining code into its client software, an anonymous reader writes "I thought that could have been a pretty clever idea, if it was made clear to the users that they could get the app and run it for free as long as, let's say, they accept that it would be run for Bitcoin mining for five hours a week, when their computer is idle. That could make a lot of profit for the developers if their app is truly successful, and without the users having to pay much (only a limited number of hours per week, and if the user is no longer running the app then it won't try to mine anymore). What do you think about this?"

10 of 232 comments (clear)

  1. Only if the source code is included by kthreadd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So that I can remove the Bitcoin bits.

  2. So It's An Indirect Intangible Gamble? by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So basically you're proposing a move from just give me a little cash upfront to let me leech off your electricity bill in a ridiculously circuitous way to gamble for BTC (keeping in mind that the more people that adopt your model of "BitCoin-Ware" the more people will be vying for BTC the less your expected value will return)?

    An interesting idea and definitely one for the mathematicians but simply unsustainable and risky and ... I guess deceptive if you don't point out the small cost to their electrical bill ...

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:So It's An Indirect Intangible Gamble? by rastilin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And yet, I much prefer this method to having to watch ads, so long as the thread's priority isn't so high that it interferes with the running of the machine.

      --
      How do you kill that which has no life?
    2. Re:So It's An Indirect Intangible Gamble? by Benaiah · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What if this came along with an airtight guarantee? Like: no tracking, snooping, all Facebook/Twitter/G+ buttons turned OFF until you click to activate them, never selling your info, forever, amen. Just mine us Bitcoins... and only while you're on the site.

      I'll be honest, I would take that deal over the implicit "pay via getting spied on" internet we have today.

      +5.

      As the family IT guy, most of what I do is fix the damage done by free games. My cousins teenage kids seem to ruin their laptops by installing hundreds of adware programs on their computers which eventually destroy it. Perhaps this would end this trend of destruction.

      However this would create another problem in turn. How would bitware apps fight for your idle processor? If left to their own devices they would get greedy and attach higher and higher priorities to their threads in order to muscle out the competitors app. I guess that you would need like a steam deployment platform running that shared your bitcoins based on the amount of time you spent playing each game?

  3. Terrible idea. by SharpFang · · Score: 5, Informative

    Most users would be mining on CPU power, and that means very poor chance to get any results while wasting enormous amounts of electricity.

    You should look at the Mining hardware comparison. Summarizing: Best Xeon setups get 66Mhash/s and most common desktop setups go 1-10Mhash/s

    Meanwhile, FPGA mining devices reach 1000-10,000Mhash/s and ASIC ones get order of 10,000-60,000 at powers like 600W.

    Now to get power comparable to a single ASIC rig you'd need roughly 1000 customers running 24/7 or 33,000 customers running 5h a week.

    33,000 CPUs running at full power, zero energy saving, to produce results comparable with a 600W appliance. This is to stay moderately competetive and get *some* ROI.

    While the cost is distributed between the customers, the real cost - the amount of energy wasted - is staggering.

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    45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    1. Re:Terrible idea. by MMC+Monster · · Score: 5, Funny

      You're probably right.

      Better to make it a phone app.

      --
      Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
  4. Re:Sorry, no. by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are you sure I can't change your mind? Malaria kills far more people per year than cancer, and the grid computing project has far fewer participants. It's also a technically simpler problem they're trying to tackle, meaning your compute time will have significantly higher value in the long run.

    (Incoming whooshes in five, four, three...)

    --
    Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
  5. Why play games? by default+luser · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And yet, I much prefer this method to having to watch ads, so long as the thread's priority isn't so high that it interferes with the running of the machine.

    If you're going to drop cash, why do it indirectly through your electric bill? Just drop the app a buck or two!

    --

    Man is the animal that laughs.
    And occasionally whores for Karma.

    1. Re:Why play games? by schizz69 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because this way kids can get paid for apps with out having to steal their parents credit cards, they just make them pay indirectly through their power bills. Genius!.

  6. Re:Oh for Christ's sake by SuricouRaven · · Score: 4, Informative

    Get your schemes right. This is no Ponzi scheme.

    At most it's a pump-and-dump.
    1. Invest in something (goods, shares, bitcoins)
    2. Spread hype or outright lies to cause the price to rise (eg, claim the company you just bought stock in got a massive contract)
    3. Sell at the inflated price, and do so quickly before people realise the misinformation.