Are there any examples of projects running a program that will take many years to finish its job? There are algorithms that are said to be unfeasible to be applied in practice due to their time complexity. In textbooks, it's common to see remarks like &quot;it would take hundreds of years&quot; about using them. Unfortunately, it's often the case an inefficient algorithm is the only proven solution for an interesting problem.
Is there an example of a project running one of those algorithms where the participants know they won't be around to see the results hoping to solve a problem for the next generations?
There have been several programs running for very long times, like the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, which has been going for some 25 years now.