[pfortuny]

Great that his institution lets him run servers for his classrooms from “any” place.

At my school, first thing: disconnect all your servers except for required lavoratory things.

...

[renewiltord]

I think it is no sheer coincidence that the following three things are simultaneously true:

A. MIT is as renowned as it is

B. MIT does this

C. MIT has people like Gerald Sussman as Professors

[woofie11]

... and MIT became famous for work during the AI Lab days.

... MIT is going down the tubes.

... And people like Jerry (correctly) say MIT would never hire someone like them today.

[raxxorrax]

I think he is right and that it is a sad development. We see similar things in the industry, perhaps even more pronounced.

[Nebasuke]

Would you mind giving some context/source for the third remark?

I tried to search for the statement that MIT would not hire someone like Jerry, but I could not find it myself.

[woofie11]

It turns out Google isn't as good as talking to people. If you'd like a confirmation, e-mail a one-line question to him:

"Hi. I'm interested in how elite schools hire people. Would MIT hire someone like you (as you were when you were hired) today?"

(1) Please don't reference this conversation. (2) Please keep it short. Jerry's super-approachable, but MIT professors get a ton of cold-calls. 40 words tops. (3) If you are MIT-affiliated, mention that. You'll be more likely to get a response.

Or if you'd like more background, call him on the phone (yes, those exist) and see if he has time for a chat. He'll always find time to talk to MIT students (current and former), but for others, it depends on how busy he is.

Life skill: Cold-call interesting people. You can learn a lot that way.

[nekopa]

Gotta keep the toilet server up and running...

[lelanthran]

"Lavoratory"? Makes me think of a bathroom with little beakers and vials every within :-)

[bregma]

You are expected maintain your social distance and use the lavoratory to wash your hands often.