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In order to mine Bitcoins, one needs to start the bitcoind with "-server" flag and later request from it a getwork to solve. Does the Namecoin client operate in the same way, or is there some specific "namecoind" version one needs to use in order to generate coins? Where can one find the communication protocol for it?
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The -gen flag actually started a CPU miner process in older versions of the Bitcoin client, before CPU mining became obsolete.
What you're probably thinking was more like bitcoind -server or `bitcoind -server -RPCALLOWIP=192.168.1.* -RPCPORT=8333 which would start a listening Bitcoin server from which a proper miner could obtain getworks. Since namecoind is a direct port of bitcoind with only the DNS-replacement functionality added, the flags are the same. Nothing special or fancy required, just follow any old "how to solo mine" tutorial and replace bitcoind with namecoind.
Where might we find one of these older "how to solo mine" tutorials? I've searched . . . – Kinnard Hockenhull – 2012-12-07T05:31:38.650
There aren't a lot of the floating around still, but all you need to do is set server=1 as well as an rpcuser, rpcpassword and rpcallowip in your bitcoin.conf file and then you can point any standard miner at the computer running the client exactly like you would point it at a pool. Not that I'm recommending solo mining at current difficulties mind you ;)
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Note that instead of mining Namecoins solo, you can mine both Bitcoins and Namecoins at the same time (and almost certainly receive a much higher return than if you just mined Namecoins) through a mining pool that offers merged mining, such as ozco.in or bitminter.com
– Highly Irregular – 2012-01-10T22:15:13.447Yes, although this question is mostly aimed at people wanting to set up their own pooled mining (be it with just their own rigs, or as a fully fledged mining pool). – ThePiachu – 2012-01-10T22:29:13.163
@DavidSchwartz wasn't aware, changed my question accordingly. – ThePiachu – 2012-01-10T23:13:34.870