

Soulmate lost. RIP Aaron Swartz - mattdeboard
http://alexdong.com/soulmate-lost-rip-aaron-swartz/

======
krmboya
"we have to pick a battle that worth fighting for and be prepared for the
hard, long, lonely journey"

I think that's an important takeaway from this most unfortunate incident.

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prezjordan
I wonder if "making something" as a tribute to Aaron would be appropriate.
This article puts a lot of emphasis on "code as poetry" and that really
resonates with me.

So maybe today I'll make something. For Aaron.

~~~
benatkin
My tribute is to stop using twitter and other walled gardens so much and to
start publishing my content to the open web again. Even for smaller things. I
started by sharing my thoughts about Aaron's passing on my own website:
<http://benatkin.com/2013/01/12/rip-aaron-swartz/>

I noticed that since he does the old style of blog comments, that if you ever
left a comment on his blog, you can type a search like this into google:

"Ben Atkin" site:aaronsw.com

...you'll get a list of the comments you made on his site.

I don't think he ever wrote code just for the sake of code. I think he wrote
it for a larger purpose.

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danso
The OP talks about how Aaron needed to be more pragmatic, like a Steve Jobs. I
don't disagree...and as much as I admire his almost total-lack of self
promotion and the minimalism on his sites, I wonder if Aaron would've felt
more of a force had he more of the weight and attention of the world. Think of
how much even digital media celebrities like David Pogue can make things
happen (Remember how fast police _in another state_ acted when he lost his
iPhone? [http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/03/technology/david-pogue-
iphon...](http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/03/technology/david-pogue-
iphone/index.htm))...

Some tech prodigies have the desire to stay anonymous, but Aaron clearly
wanted to be at the forefront of civic action, if not the "spotlight", so to
speak. It's unfortunate that his accomplishments and virtues did not attract
the celebrity that they deserved.

~~~
pekk
In this startup subculture, we really do despise people who don't inflate
themselves, even if we only do it subtly ("as much as I admire...")

~~~
danso
I most definitely do not despise Aaron. I think it's highly detestable that
someone of his passion and skill gets less followers than an early-cut-
contestant from American Idol.

We can argue that maybe he would've been less productive if he really got into
tweeting or whatever. But he was hardly shy from talking about himself, and he
shouldn't have been. It's a shame that didn't result in the kind of deserved
following that would have gotten more public sentiment on his side.

His SOPA/PIPA campaign is a prime example. The reason why it succeeded when at
first legislators ignored it was not because the merits of its argument became
better over time, but because more people, beyond the choir, had joined the
cause.

~~~
drzaiusapelord
>I think it's highly detestable that someone of his passion and skill gets
less followers than an early-cut-contestant from American Idol.

Every week reddit gives me the latest talking point jerks like Kim Dotcom or
Ron/Rand Paul, yet its own guy was ignored by it until his death. PR is
everything now. Social media is reputation media. Working on your image is
just as important as your work, which sounds like something out of The Prince,
but its truer in the age of instant communication. Christ, what a sorry world
we live in where our actions are meaningless and we are nothing without good
PR.

