the core of the issue is that sharing resources isn't a purely material concern

I am a bit confused by this. "Sharing" can mean multiple people using the same resource, so I think "distributing" might be a better term. There is a lot of fluorescent dye at the Janelia Research Campus, because they make the stuff. There are laboratories scattered around the world that can use dye to perform research. Moving dye from Janelia to the laboratories is useful because it enables the research to continue. I compare two methods of distribution: selling dye and giving it away.

If you want to look at that lab like it's a business that needs to grow, it's missing the point of what labs and researchers do.

Labs and researchers are the consumers. Dye distribution is not their concern, they are focused on doing science, not business.

Janelia is not doing scientific research when they set up an e-commerce website for dyes and set all the prices to zero plus shipping. The dyes already exist and are available for sale elsewhere; this program is a kind of economic or social experiment to see what happens "if we just give everything away." They don't "need to grow" but if they don't grow one consequence is that the reach of the program will be limited. That's fine with me; the goal can be to "provide dye to some laboratories with limited budgets that can't afford expensive dyes" rather than "satisfy the entire world's demand for dye" or "maximize the quantity of dye shipped."