Choc et tristesse : j'apprends ce matin le suicide de Aaron Swartz, à 26 ans. Figure de l'Internet et militant de l'information libre, Aaron Swartz était sous la menace de 35 ans de prison pour avoir téléchargé des milliers d'articles scientifiques depuis la base JSTOR dans l'intention de les distribuer gratuitement.
He was one of the kindest, sweetest, and most generous people I ever knew. He made a lot of money at a very young age, which would have ruined most people (including me). It didn’t ruin Aaron. He used it to live an itinerant life, jumping from project to project, all intended to work towards creating a better world. His enthusiasm was boundless, as was his generosity. (…)
Aaron’s life was a struggle against the forces of entropy, decay and political corruption. He never saw a good cause, but he wanted to adopt it, and do everything he could for it (if a criticism could be made of him, it was that he moved on too quickly from project to project). I knew he had been in a dark place the last few months, because of what was happening to him, but I didn’t know how dark. I’ve lost a dear friend, but American politics and intellectual life has lost someone who did many good things for many people, often quietly, but always to good effect.
Henry Farrell - Crooked Timber
