From e988524cf882aecececeb3e52f3abd6758c05f36 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Sebastiano Tronto Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2023 08:33:36 +0100 Subject: Added blog post --- src/blog/2023-01-11-aaron-swartz/aaron-swartz.md | 88 ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 88 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/blog/2023-01-11-aaron-swartz/aaron-swartz.md (limited to 'src/blog/2023-01-11-aaron-swartz/aaron-swartz.md') diff --git a/src/blog/2023-01-11-aaron-swartz/aaron-swartz.md b/src/blog/2023-01-11-aaron-swartz/aaron-swartz.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..051b738 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/blog/2023-01-11-aaron-swartz/aaron-swartz.md @@ -0,0 +1,88 @@ +# Aaron Swartz + +[Aaron Swartz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz) passed away +ten years ago, at the age of 26. During his short life he contributed +to multiple projects, including +[Creative Commons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons), +[RSS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS), +[Markdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown) and +[reddit](https://www.reddit.com). + +If you are interested in learning more about Aaron's life, +you can watch the biographical documentary +[*The Internet's Own Boy*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Internet%27s_Own_Boy), +which is freely available online. You can also still access +[Aaron's website](http://www.aaronsw.com) and read +[his old blog posts](http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog). + +I don't want to write a long post about Aaron's life. +Instead, I'll take this chance to talk about +[Open Access](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access), which was +one of Aaron's main battles as an activist. I'll try to be concise +and go straight to the point. + +A word of warning: even though I pledged not to write "political" posts +in this blog, I do have a strong opinion on this subject, and I won't +try to hide it. + +## Open access + +Most academic journals make scientific articles available at very high +prices, making them practically unaccessible for people who are not +affiliated with a university in a wealthy country. To make things worse, +the people involved in producing these articles - the scientists who +write them and those who review them - do not get any revenue from this. + +This system made sense before the Internet, when distributing journals +actually required some effort. The only reasons academics rely on it +nowadays are prestige and having their work reviewed. The latter is a +necessary step for science, and not many peer-reviewed journals offer +open access. + +I believe the existence of academic journals that do not offer open access +is unacceptable in the present day. As Aaron Swartz wrote in his 2008 +[*Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto*](./goam.txt), sharing knowledge is +a moral imperative. I do stand by this principle. + +The *Manifesto* may have had little practical +consequnces, but it has probably inspired +[Alexandra Elbakyan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Elbakyan) +to create [Sci-Hub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-Hub) in 2011. +Sci-Hub is an online repository that gives free access to millions +of research papers. This is of course illegal in most countries, but +for many people it is the only way to access this material. For legal +reasons the website is forced to change domain from time to time, but +it is currently accessible at [sci-hub.ru](https://sci-hub.ru). + +Thanks to the Internet we could all have easy access to an incredible +amount of knowledge, but some of it is still locked behind a paywall. +I am hopeful this will change, and the people who fought against this +system will be remembered as heroes, not criminals. But the path to get +there is still long. + +## Eulogy + + +*Aaron is dead.* + + +*Wanderers in this crazy world,* + +*we have lost a mentor, a wise elder.* + + +*Hackers for right, we are one down,* + +*we have lost one of our own.* + + +*Nurtures, careers, listeners, feeders,* + +*parents all,* + +*we have lost a child.* + + +*Let us all weep.* + + -- [Tim Berners-Lee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee) -- cgit v1.3