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MIT President on Aaron Swartz

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Re: MIT President on Aaron Swartz

#151

Post by jacquesm »

rhizome wrote: post #130
rdl wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MIT is a lot more similar to NASA than to the banking sector or the federal government.

I'm speaking to the assumption that promoting an agreeable person will necessarily have a favorable outcome. There's a huge presumption that Abelson's role in this precludes unfairness.

Please, let's give Abelson the time to do his work. If he botches it you can call him out fairly afterwards, and I'm pretty sure you won't be alone. To do this beforehand is not fair to the man.

Re: MIT President on Aaron Swartz

#152

Post by jacquesm »

asswartz wrote: post #139

Sorry but as far as i can tell from reading about this guy his main area of expertise seemed to be throwing away the opportunities that kept chasing him and i find it hard to see why he's held up as such a hero/martyr. First, he didn't create the RSS single-handledly for us. He was part of a committee of about a dozen people that took over RSS from Netscape when they didn't support it anymore. Admittedly that's impre…

I really can't believe what I'm reading here. You are either clueless or downright mean and I can't decide which. Please stop.

Re: MIT President on Aaron Swartz

#153

Post by rhizome »

asswartz wrote: post #139

Sorry but as far as i can tell from reading about this guy his main area of expertise seemed to be throwing away the opportunities that kept chasing him and i find it hard to see why he's held up as such a hero/martyr. First, he didn't create the RSS single-handledly for us. He was part of a committee of about a dozen people that took over RSS from Netscape when they didn't support it anymore. Admittedly that's impre…

Thank you for your input, Ms. Ortiz.

Re: MIT President on Aaron Swartz

#154

Post by nikster »

kristenlee wrote: post #7

Aaron Swartz was mentally ill and committed suicide as a direct result of his mental illness. He comtemplated suicide in 2007 long before any of this DOJ stuff happened. http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/dying Furthermore the "glorification" of his suicide is doing nothing more but encouraging other suicidal "hackers" to go over the edge so they have their "story" and inconsequential blog posts plastered all of Hacker Ne…

I agree with you in spirit even though I would not call it mental illness. I would call it a deep unconsciousness, a complete entrapment in ones mind, a belief that one is in fact ones thoughts. He was liberated only at the time of his death. Many are stuck in this belief - I certainly was, and certainly at his age. I think therefore I am - nothing could be further from the truth.

That said there are many things being confused and mixed up here - I and probably most on HN feel a sense of incredible loss; I did not know him personally but I wish I had, I admired Aarons hacking skills, his guts, his convictions, and his sheer brilliant intellect. He made the world a better place. I was looking forward to his next big thing. - The loss to his actual friends and family; all we can do is express out heartfelt condolences. - His work and your opinion of it - its unrelated to the above and seems insignificant in comparison. - The governments actions; surely, the man has struck back, those actions were unreasonable, and despicable. But insignificant in comparison with our sense of loss. The government did not kill him - don't give them that victory. We can continue to push back and support open leaks, hacktivists, bradley manning, and so on. This is a fight about power, and its fought between the people and the corporations - even if not everybody is aware of it.

Re: MIT President on Aaron Swartz

#155

Post by tptacek »

jacquesm wrote: post #134
rprasad wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a great injustice really was being committed, the EFF and the ACLU would have fallen over themselves to represent Aaron pro bnono (for free). The fact they did not suggests otherwise.

So, EFF and ACLU defend you if you're not guilty and if they don't defend you you're guilty? Do you realize that Aarons case had yet to go to trial? And that there is a good chance the EFF would have stepped in if it had? And that even if they didn't that would have said nothing about Aarons guilt or lack thereof? https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/01/farewell-aaron-swartz

Swartz's trial was scheduled, approaching rapidly, and he had already apparently spent an enormous amount of money on at least two different firms. The trial was not something hovering nebulously in the future; Swartz's need for assistance was immediate.

I don't believe EFF's involvement or lack thereof speaks in any way to Swartz's guilt. I would say that this is the kind of thing you'd hope EFF would be right in the middle of. Were they?

Re: MIT President on Aaron Swartz

#156

Post by asswartz »

todayiamme wrote: post #149
asswartz wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dying does not give you immunity from criticism.

To quote you; >>> It was only because this guy had academic and tech industry protectors who backed their precious manbaby that JSTOR and MIT were reluctant to pursue the issue themselves. I would argue that you are not a critic as the above statement is not a reasoned stance or observation; it is vitriol. Giving respect to someone's life irrespective of the differences you may have had is not about right or wrong. N…

Do you actually have anything that actually addresses my points?

Re: MIT President on Aaron Swartz

#157

Post by asswartz »

jacquesm wrote: post #152
asswartz wrote: post #139

Sorry but as far as i can tell from reading about this guy his main area of expertise seemed to be throwing away the opportunities that kept chasing him and i find it hard to see why he's held up as such a hero/martyr. First, he didn't create the RSS single-handledly for us. He was part of a committee of about a dozen people that took over RSS from Netscape when they didn't support it anymore. Admittedly that's impre…

I really can't believe what I'm reading here. You are either clueless or downright mean and I can't decide which. Please stop.

If I'm clueless, feel free to clue me in.

Re: MIT President on Aaron Swartz

#158

Post by jacquesm »

tptacek wrote: post #155
jacquesm wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, EFF and ACLU defend you if you're not guilty and if they don't defend you you're guilty? Do you realize that Aarons case had yet to go to trial? And that there is a good chance the EFF would have stepped in if it had? And that even if they didn't that would have said nothing about Aarons guilt or lack thereof? https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/01/farewell-aaron-swartz

Swartz's trial was scheduled, approaching rapidly, and he had already apparently spent an enormous amount of money on at least two different firms. The trial was not something hovering nebulously in the future; Swartz's need for assistance was immediate. I don't believe EFF's involvement or lack thereof speaks in any way to Swartz's guilt. I would say that this is the kind of thing you'd hope EFF would be right in th…

Not openly afaik, which probably translates into not at all. Maybe someone should go and ask them if they were and if not why not.

I offered to contribute to Aarons defense a while ago but he declined. That may have been because he knew that any help he needed was outside of my ability to render.

Be careful, you're associating yourself with a 'known troll'.

Re: MIT President on Aaron Swartz

#159

Post by doktrin »

asswartz wrote: post #145
seeingfurther wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might want to take a look at what the expert witness says. http://io9.com/5975592/aaron-swartz-died-innocent-++-here-is...

I did. He's obviously biased. He claims that Aaron "did nothing to cover his tracks or hide his activity." He tried to disguise himself when he went to retrieve the laptop. I think not clearing .bash_history or his browser history was just due to stupidity on Aaron's part, as he (again stupidly) didn't foresee that he would get caught retrieving the laptop.

>> He's obviously biased

Judging by your throwaway account and incendiary comments, it seems you would know a thing or two about bias.

The expert witness cited established his credentials while presenting his viewpoint. I'm sure his assertions could be disputed, but he was upfront about his background and professional opinion.

You, on the other hand, are currently an anonymous Internet troll.

Re: MIT President on Aaron Swartz

#160

Post by nitrogen »

rprasad wrote: post #103
kristenlee wrote: post #7

Aaron Swartz was mentally ill and committed suicide as a direct result of his mental illness. He comtemplated suicide in 2007 long before any of this DOJ stuff happened. http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/dying Furthermore the "glorification" of his suicide is doing nothing more but encouraging other suicidal "hackers" to go over the edge so they have their "story" and inconsequential blog posts plastered all of Hacker Ne…

Kristen, please ignore jacquesm, he is a known troll. Public interest lawyers are far more valuable contributors to HN, and especially to this discussion, then the histrionics and hyperbole of him and his ilk.

jacquesm is a long-standing member of the community and one of HN's greatest contributors (#4 by karma on http://news.ycombinator.com/leaders). Not a troll.
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