Saw this in my event log today (fresh build of 8.3.0 on Xubuntu 26.10)

Thu 16 Apr 2026 11:05:17 AM BST |  | Currently BOINC uses legacy idle detection methods that might not work properly on all systems. Please consider installing a modern idle detection utility that works on Wayland and X11: https://github.com/jamescowens/idle_detect

This is running in a VM and is my messing about installation. I presume the message means there is not an idle detect system up to the job available via apt? I saw that BOINC no longer uses its own idle detection but relies on the system one, at least on Linux builds. Just interested to know. I never use it on my main client in the host machine.

Regarding the installation options of this utility, please refer to its maintainer's repo.

I saw that BOINC no longer uses its own idle detection but relies on the system one, at least on Linux builds.

Old method is still there, but for a long time it was broken and was never reliable.
We recommend using the new utility as it works fine on both X11- and Wayland-based OSs.
And yes, this applies to the Linux only.

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BOINC maintainer.
For any insight, check my BOINC Development Blog.

Thanks. I will build and try it out.