>
> The fact that Ashim has proprietary code upstream of the section of
> interest is an absolute red herring, in my opinion.... Because Ashim
> works in a for-profit environment are his requests for help somehow
> tainted?.... In each case, however, we are all working with Stata
> for some form of personal gain, we are working for someone, even if
> that someone is effectively ourselves. I can't see how that concept
> is offensive.
The argument that for-profit activity should be treated in the same
manner as non-profit is weak. People who volunteer for their church
would not give away their time to a Wall Street firm. The idea that
the two activites are the same would be offensive to a great many
people.
The product of academia will reach the public domain, eventually.
The failure to do so will get punished (publish or perish!). A
proprietary code will not. It's the otherway around. Yes, the
researchers get paid for their time, but the product of their
labor (research papers) will be distributed at little or no charge.
That's non-profit for you.
The basic notion behind non-profit is to provide product/serives that
cannot be efficiently provided by the market. Hence little or no price.
If the actual cost could be charged, then it would be an efficient
market and wouldn't provided by a non-profit.
The real red-herring here is the claim that Ashim is being blamed for
his "tainted" activity.
The real problem is that Ashim was not unfront about the exact nature
of his question. He likely received more help than otherwise.
Because he was not forthcoming about his "real" question, he led people
on a wild goose chase. He kept rejecting suggestions and wasting people's
time. He continued rephrasing his questions until the truth comes out
to a group of annoyed people.
Had he been upfront from the beginning, he would likely reached the
final answer much quicker. It doesn't help that he questioned other
people's motives. It's how he went about it, rather than his for-profit
questions, that might be raising the collective hackles.
I rarely help other people, but if I do, I am more likely to help someone's
dissertation than someone trying to squeeze money from the stock market.
You have to pay me to do that. But that is to be expected and should not
surprise anyone.
Roy
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