[R] Paid support for R?
A.J. Rossini
rossini at blindglobe.net
Wed Dec 12 03:05:14 CET 2001
>>>>> "RR" == Richard Rowe <Richard.Rowe at jcu.edu.au> writes:
>> I was recently looking at the MySQL site and saw that they
>> offer various levels
>> of paid support. The support options range from basic email
>> support (USD200) through to extensive telephone support from
>> the development team (USD10000). These are annual prices.
>>
>> This is something I would be happy to see available with R
>> (maybe it is?).
RR> I think this proposal is at odds with what I understood to be
RR> the fundamental theme behind the development of R - a
RR> community of scientists sharing knowledge without attempts to
RR> shut up 'intellectual property' behind walls, lawyers etc. If
RR> people feel grateful perhaps they could give time, build
RR> something, and contribute it to the community. I expect the
RR> 'consultancy rates' for many of those who freely give advice
RR> on R-help would make anyone on an academic budget wince
RR> ... and that is the rate they should charge if they are
RR> providing service for a fee.
RR> The structure of 'open source' and the use of the academic and
RR> scientific community is a good one, set up with considerable
RR> hindsight over ways in which short-term greed, proprietary
RR> methods and intellectual property law had done a disservice to
RR> the community which generated the ideas and methods. If ever
RR> income is derived from R then I expect the system will
RR> collapse as people will soon come to spend that income, then
RR> they will spend it in anticipation, at which point they will
RR> need to generate the income ... and collegiality will
RR> disappear,
I might expect just the opposite (and still be wrong, thank you!) --
after all, the GNU manifesto explicitly suggests the initial proposal
as a model for free software (but paid consulting).
I'd personally like to see a few of the authors get paid in some form,
since I enjoy the fruits of their labor. Not that I've got the cash
readily available, but I try (to a limited extent) by supporting
software that some of them use, somewhat in reciprocation.
Now, problems might arise with strict commercialization, but that
would be difficult (though not insurmountable) given the license
currently employed.
best,
-tony
--
A.J. Rossini Rsrch. Asst. Prof. of Biostatistics
U. of Washington Biostatistics rossini at u.washington.edu
FHCRC/SCHARP/HIV Vaccine Trials Net rossini at scharp.org
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