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Didn't this idea start with SETI@home in the 90's ?

The idea of sharing computation cycles certainly did, however, converting those computation cycles into currency so it can fuel other "real" work is most definitely a by-product of bitcoin.

The economics make no sense. It costs more in electricity to run the program than to just pay for it directly. It's a trivially small amount.

Or just mention it in the description and make it low priority using nice (in addition to doing it when plugged in).