5 ms·

This is so sad. I wonder if Noah has considered moving abroad for a bit - in my experience, very few people in the London tech scene know who Aaron Swartz was,

by zephod 11y ago

This is so sad. I wonder if Noah has considered moving abroad for a bit - in my experience, very few people in the London tech scene know who Aaron Swartz was, or if they've heard the name they will struggle to remember the story behind it. Maybe people will disagree, but I don't think the story had quite the same cultural resonance outside the USA.

mastazi 11y ago
(I am European and moved to Australia 4 years ago) - while I agree with you that the story did not have the same cultural resonance outside of the US, I would say that most tech people would know who Aaron Swartz was (although among the generally public hardly anyone would have a clue).
- zephod 11y ago
  Intuitively I'd agree, but I was surprised at how many people/friends/colleagues didn't know what I was talking about when The Internet's Own Boy was released. If they weren't readers of Hacker News they almost certainly didn't pick up on the story. Again - anecdotal.
  - xixixao 11y ago
    HN = what HN calls tech scene. Then you realize that most programmers don't read HN. They have never heard of Rust (and possibly Aaron). As my friend said, reading HN is the least broad professional development you can do, with minimum amount of effort. But most simply don't.
maxwin 11y ago
I am in Myanmar. But I have been following Aaron's story since 2013. If someone is in tech, it is a good chance that they have heard about Aaron no matter where they live.
AlexB138 11y ago
I'm in a rather large city with a big tech presence in the US, but not the Valley. Not to be crass, but the conversations I heard surround Swartz were only when he killed himself. No one talked about it as if it was a cultural touch stone and I would be fairly surprised if most of my peers remember who he is. I think it's largely a Valley/YCombinator community thing.
- stevewilhelm 11y ago
  I live in the valley and work in the city, but I lived through the first dot com bubble. I read the entire original post without recognizing either brother. Had to google them to recall the story.
- joe563323 11y ago
  It is true most came to know about Aron after his death, but is not possible to forget some one who has sacrificed their life in the same period we live in.
petke 11y ago
I cant help but think it quite easy to stay anonymous as a programmer. That its the default. I never really understood what people mean by the "tech scene". Its like you guys meet up or something. I have rarely meet other programmers apart from the few ones at work, and usually we don't socialise outside of work. I think this is the norm. I haven't noticed any kind of scene. The average programmer is quite anonymous. You code, and then you go home. Maybe you go drinking with your flatmates, one of who might be a plumber and the other a teacher. They don't talk to you about about plumbing, and you don't talk to them about programming. You talk about football or whatever. I think it might help Noah to just live the life of the average programmer, and not go to all these political or tech conventions where your brother image has a life of its own. Not to socialise exclusively with people who are in the same line of work as you are.
- cortesoft 11y ago
  Do you live in the Bay Area or Silicon Valley? I think it is a lot different there. Also, some people participate in the "scene" while others don't. I used to go to more meet-ups and hacks-a-thons, but not so much anymore. I am not sure which is the norm.
  - petke 11y ago
    Yeah, it seems like a "Silicon Valley" thing. The whole thing seems quite mysterious to me. I worked in (4) random cities in the UK. But even in London, I didn't notice a scene. Maybe its also a thing more with web development and start ups. Where the whole company can be mostly tech people, and where most people are young (so socialize outside of work more).
    - reledi 11y ago
      It's not a Silicon Valley thing. There are tech scenes in the smallest of places, you just need to pay attention. The UK is brimming with tech scenes, especially London.
      - 11y ago
mirimir 11y ago
That might be his best option, for a few years at least. I doubt that enough people outside the US tech scene know Aaron's face well enough to out him. And if questioned, he could just deflect. But it would be hard to leave friends behind. And he would need to do that. Also, if he has a middle name, he could start using a nickname based on that. Swartz is a common patronymic.
krmmalik 11y ago
Yes this is true. Amongst most of my peers im about the only person who knows who he was

by zephod 11y ago

mastazi 11y ago

(I am European and moved to Australia 4 years ago) - while I agree with you that the story did not have the same cultural resonance outside of the US, I would say that most tech people would know who Aaron Swartz was (although among the generally public hardly anyone would have a clue).

zephod 11y ago
Intuitively I'd agree, but I was surprised at how many people/friends/colleagues didn't know what I was talking about when The Internet's Own Boy was released. If they weren't readers of Hacker News they almost certainly didn't pick up on the story. Again - anecdotal.
- xixixao 11y ago
  HN = what HN calls tech scene. Then you realize that most programmers don't read HN. They have never heard of Rust (and possibly Aaron). As my friend said, reading HN is the least broad professional development you can do, with minimum amount of effort. But most simply don't.

maxwin 11y ago

I am in Myanmar. But I have been following Aaron's story since 2013. If someone is in tech, it is a good chance that they have heard about Aaron no matter where they live.

AlexB138 11y ago

I'm in a rather large city with a big tech presence in the US, but not the Valley. Not to be crass, but the conversations I heard surround Swartz were only when he killed himself. No one talked about it as if it was a cultural touch stone and I would be fairly surprised if most of my peers remember who he is. I think it's largely a Valley/YCombinator community thing.

stevewilhelm 11y ago
I live in the valley and work in the city, but I lived through the first dot com bubble. I read the entire original post without recognizing either brother. Had to google them to recall the story.
joe563323 11y ago
It is true most came to know about Aron after his death, but is not possible to forget some one who has sacrificed their life in the same period we live in.

petke 11y ago

I cant help but think it quite easy to stay anonymous as a programmer. That its the default. I never really understood what people mean by the "tech scene". Its like you guys meet up or something. I have rarely meet other programmers apart from the few ones at work, and usually we don't socialise outside of work. I think this is the norm. I haven't noticed any kind of scene. The average programmer is quite anonymous. You code, and then you go home. Maybe you go drinking with your flatmates, one of who might be a plumber and the other a teacher. They don't talk to you about about plumbing, and you don't talk to them about programming. You talk about football or whatever. I think it might help Noah to just live the life of the average programmer, and not go to all these political or tech conventions where your brother image has a life of its own. Not to socialise exclusively with people who are in the same line of work as you are.

cortesoft 11y ago
Do you live in the Bay Area or Silicon Valley? I think it is a lot different there. Also, some people participate in the "scene" while others don't. I used to go to more meet-ups and hacks-a-thons, but not so much anymore. I am not sure which is the norm.
- petke 11y ago
  Yeah, it seems like a "Silicon Valley" thing. The whole thing seems quite mysterious to me. I worked in (4) random cities in the UK. But even in London, I didn't notice a scene. Maybe its also a thing more with web development and start ups. Where the whole company can be mostly tech people, and where most people are young (so socialize outside of work more).
  - reledi 11y ago
    It's not a Silicon Valley thing. There are tech scenes in the smallest of places, you just need to pay attention. The UK is brimming with tech scenes, especially London.
    - 11y ago

mirimir 11y ago

That might be his best option, for a few years at least. I doubt that enough people outside the US tech scene know Aaron's face well enough to out him. And if questioned, he could just deflect. But it would be hard to leave friends behind. And he would need to do that. Also, if he has a middle name, he could start using a nickname based on that. Swartz is a common patronymic.

krmmalik 11y ago

Yes this is true. Amongst most of my peers im about the only person who knows who he was