I second this. It's no secret that I often find Thomas's writing and tone to be reprehensible. But his comments, then and now, with regard to Aaron are beyond the pale.
The only thing "preposterous"--to use Thomas's word--is that the debate here is a mostly semantic one about how much jail time Aaron "faced," rather than a substantive one about why he was facing any jail time at all. That's the debate that should be taking place, and it's one worth having.
It is absolutely true that Aaron was treated incredibly poorly by this community when he was most in need. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5056279. Though much has since been deleted, I saw it happen, and I've been on the receiving end of similar treatment myself.
I'm planning to revisit this topic later. But for now, shame on those whose cynicism knows no bounds. And shame on Y Combinator for allowing a useful tool for discussion to devolve so clearly into a toxic mess.
The deleted comments on that thread are about 'edw519, not Aaron Swartz. The thread you've linked to to show Aaron's mistreatment happened after his suicide and thus can't illustrate any treatment of Aaron whatsoever. So I have to ask what you believe you "saw happen" there.
The only thing "preposterous"--to use Thomas's word--is that the debate here is a mostly semantic one about how much jail time Aaron "faced," rather than a substantive one about why he was facing any jail time at all. That's the debate that should be taking place, and it's one worth having.
It is absolutely true that Aaron was treated incredibly poorly by this community when he was most in need. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5056279. Though much has since been deleted, I saw it happen, and I've been on the receiving end of similar treatment myself.
I'm planning to revisit this topic later. But for now, shame on those whose cynicism knows no bounds. And shame on Y Combinator for allowing a useful tool for discussion to devolve so clearly into a toxic mess.