> Can someone cheat their way to success? Yes people "cheat" their way to success. I hate it, but they do and we support it. From just a position of basic hu

> Can someone cheat their way to success? Yes people "cheat" their way to success. I hate it, but they do and we support it. From just a position of basic human integrity (forget about the law), Apple "cheated" by implementing the graphical user interface from Xerox Parc without adequate compensation. Then Microsoft "cheated" by implementing Apple's GUI as Windows. Then came the lawsuits. This happens again and again. I have experienced this personally - the USDA RUS broadband program had written rules where an ISP had to work with their regional office and not walk their application through the front door in Washington DC. Yet being the first to apply through the regional office resulted in significant delays over our competitor walking their application into USDA headquarters against procedure. They got the $20 million. We did not. Any attempt to object or litigate would only hurt us further. > If the fraud in your story hadn't been discovered, would that have been success? I do not consider the author talking with Eli to be fraud. There was no obligation of disclosure. For all we know the reason why Microsoft repeated this question with so many applicants may have been deliberate to see how many applicants would actually get the solution by asking around. After all, isn't that how all of us code?