[zatara]

If anyone is still in doubt about how the DOJ impacted Aaron's life, it may be interesting to have a look at his last published blog post (http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/tdk, discussion on http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5047421).

Aaron makes a parallel between the Batman movie and his own struggles, highlighting the corruption of the system and how the Joker was actually the only "sane" person in an insane world. Sadly, he decided to pursue the same path as Heath Ledger.

[doktrin]

> "Thus Master Wayne is left without solutions. Out of options, it’s no wonder the series ends with his staged suicide."

Haunting.

edit : It's an insightful piece of writing purely in its own right, as are the rest of his works that I have come across.

[DennisP]

I'm going to just imagine that he staged it and is now sitting at a cafe in the south of France.

[toyg]

In the movie, it was actually Florence.

The EuroPython conference took place in Florence in 2011 and 2012, and again will be there in 2013.

Aaron was a Python über-hacker.

I know it's incredibly unlikely, but it would be the stuff of legend.

[dscrd]

Also, his second to last blog post was an analysis of Looper, which also ends in a sacrificial suicide.

[arielserafini]

thanks for that.

[negamax]

I read the full post and came back to post this exact sentence as a reply.

[CodeMage]

The conclusion about the Joker reminded me of this: http://thisorth.at/24yt

[zatara]

Thanks for posting, amazing read.

[at-fates-hands]

This whole case really makes me wonder. A lot of people are blaming the DOJ for leveling so many charges against him. Yet when you read the case, it would seem the only entity who wanted to punish him was the government.

Maybe I'm just being optimistic, but with the sum total of evidence, I would have thought he had a better than 70-80% chance of winning outright. The other possibility is he would get a lighter sentence, or simply cop a plea for lesser time. The fact he may or may not felt compelled to take his own life based on what he perceived was going to happen to him is shocking. Instead of playing the hand he was dealt, he simply folded and ended the game.

It makes me wonder what advice people were giving him where he truly believed he was going to jail for the rest of his life. His case could've been a huge landmark case against this sort of unlawful litigation. Sad, really sad.

[zem]

this bit from greenspun's blog is relevant:

I asked the lawyers “Suppose that the government’s case is completely frivolous and Swartz is guaranteed to be acquitted. What would he expect to spend in legal fees to defend the case?” They didn’t want to reveal anything particular to Aaron’s case but said “Generally the minimum cost to defend a federal criminal lawsuit is $1.5 million.”

A daunting prospect for anyone. Apparently too daunting for a 26-year-old.

[nikster]

Wow I liked that decription of the movie better than the movie! Its a huge loss to society that he is gone; if the subject matter was not so grave I'd point to the staged suicide reference.... But it is, sadly.

I just want to say the desire to kill oneself does not have to do with outside circumstances. Its the faulure to realize who you really are, it requires a complete living inside the mind, and into believing that your thoughts actually are reality.

Some emerge from wanting to kill themselves enlightened - they realize the true nature of reality before they go through with it. Some of the most potent spiritual leaders today went throught this - Byron Katie, eckhart tolle both wanted to kill themselves.

Others, dont. There is no blame, it does not make it any less sad for those left behind, especially family members; Aaron lives on in all of us who were touched by him. I looked up to him as a hacker, brave hacktivist, and generally kick-ass guy. RIP Aaron.