Slashdot Mirror
SETI@home Project Responds To School Firing
SETIGuy writes "SETI@home Project Scientist Eric Korpela has responded to many of the allegations made by Higley Unified School District administrator Denise Birdwell regarding the difficulties caused by the installation of SETI@home, which led to the recent firing of the school's technology supervisor. One of the project's founders, David Gedye, takes issue with Dr. Birdwell's claim that 'an educational institution ... cannot support the search for E.T.' Meanwhile, the fired supervisor denies misusing school computers."
Wouldn't that be the definition of somebody who either isn't that bright or who is bad in math? Spare me the "she does it because she loves it" crap. If that were truly the case then just STFU and enjoy that which you say you enjoy.
Micromanage? Please.
In what way does SETI@Home advance the school district's IT infrastructure? In what way is the software reasonably related to any job function performed by the IT administrators?
They aren't his computers. His discretion to install software is still bound by the legitimate scope of his employment. Being in control of the system and selecting software still has that missing ingredient of the software having a legitimate purpose in the first place. It's no more proper than installing gaming software on the computers to throw LAN parties for him and his buddies at night.
It takes a deluded malcontent to think that he had unilateral authority to use thousands of computers for a personal project. Slashdot being the motherlode of deluded malcontents, though, perhaps I should not be surprised.