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Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago
171–180 of 530 posts
Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago
#172Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago
#173Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago
#174[deleted]
He certainly seemed to support the outrageous, overreaching prosecution that Aaron was facing. "Aaron should man up, take responsibility for his actions, and pay his own bills." This sounds a lot like "screw you, what you did is wrong, and you should quit whining about it." "man up" clearly implies that Ed Weissman feels that going up against the massive US justice system to allow people without university affiliatio…
Aaron did something wrong [/edit: wrong in the eyes of the law: illegal, poor word choice/], something that he knew was wrong and that is an accepted fact, correct? If he did something he knew was wrong then what edw519 said is right, he should "man up" and accept the consequences, as everyone should do when they do something wrong.
The problem is what has come to light since that post was made, it has come to light that Aaron was not being held accountable for his "actions", he was being used. He was being made into an example, he was being turned into a tool to help peoples careers. This is what is important and why we should have supported him.
At the time nobody knew what he was facing, we know now and I'm sure if everyone here could go back they would support him more. Go back to the thread, forget everything you know about the case and situation and read the link (the appeal page on Aaron's website) and then the comments in the thread and form an opinion. It won't match what you're saying here because what you're thinking about now (and holding edw519 to) was not known at the time.
Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago
#175[deleted]
Agreed. Ed should bear none of the responsibility for what happened to Aaron - this was an unexpected and tragic outcome to a desperately sad situation.
But Ed and others around here do need to take responsibilty for the comments they write - they heavily influence the nature and tone of the discussions around this precious corner of the Internet and Ed was misguided to post in such black and white terms. It would be nice to hear Ed say that he called it wrongly.
Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's great to see PG leap immediately to the defense of Swartz in that thread, and that the comment was voted to the top.
The top reply to pg in that thread is dcurtis, and should maybe give everyone concerned a bit of a pause. EDIT- dcurtis says Aaron is egotistical in his blog posts, as a comment on a post that asks what Aaron has ever done. The parallel to recent threads about dcurtis is eerie, to be honest. It's jarring enough that it should make everyone on all sides of that issue take a step back and get some perspective. As pg sa…
It certainly gives me pause.
Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where is the contrast? edw519's past remarks remain consistent with the one you've linked to in your comment. Expressing the idea that Aaron should be expected take responsibility for his actions does not imply any ill will on edw519's part. Why does this issue have to be made into something so polarizing? With many here, it's either you believe Aaron should've been able to walk away scot-free, or you support an oppr…
Does anyone here who has paid any attention to Ed whatsoever believe he would have written that comment had he known that Aaron had already been financially ruined by an overzealous prosecution that had confronted him with a dilemma of pleading guilty to 13 felonies and spending 6 months in prison or taking a crap-shot at 6-7 years in prison? NOBODY KNEW THESE DETAILS AT THE TIME. Aaron was apparently prevented from…
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Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago
#178It does kind of suck to look back and realize that his own people turned their back on him, though. Not very hacker of us, sadly. I remember reading that article originally, and obviously looking back I wish I had taken some kind of action. Didn't have to be money, I'm sure, but something would have been better than basically rejecting his plea for help in a condescending tone.
Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why is that a contrast? I'm honestly baffled by this question. He didn't just not support what Aaron did, he treated him badly when he requested help and discouraged others from helping. ("man up?" it's difficult to be more contemptuous in so few words.) After reading that original post I wouldn't have called this newer post a contrast. I would have just assumed that his "OH NO" post was an expression of sarcasm fr…
You can disagree with something someone does and still feel bad when they die. I don't understand why that is a contrast. Did you feel bad when Steve Jobs died, even if just for his family and friends? Did you ever say anything critical of Steve Jobs? That doesn't make it a contrast...
> You can disagree with something someone does and still feel bad when they die. I don't understand why that is a contrast.
You're not reading carefully enough. The post we're discussing goes beyond disagreeing with what Aaron did. That's not the issue. The expression of contempt - "man up" - and the message that asking one's friends for help is a mistake is troubling.
Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago
#180[deleted]
One cannot not have an opinion if he does not possess the relevant knowledge.