Hacker News Reader

Just because that's true for you doesn't mean it is for everyone. If an institution I'm associated with or deal with regularly is doing/has done something unethical, I have no problem with people inconveniencing me to raise awareness of that. I would rather support justice rather than convenience.

It's not like MIT has apologized for this, either.

View on HN

If you already support the protest, then you're likely to be more forgiving of being inconvenienced by it. But if you don't, what happens then?

As for MIT's response, see http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/letter-on-death-of-aaron-... for something that suggests that something much more useful than a formal apology is coming. If you're inclined to be cynical about the inquiry that we've been promised, I highly recommend researching Abelson first.

Of course this is too little, too late for Aaron Swartz. But I couldn't have asked for an MIT president who presumably does not have the full picture to have made a more meaningful gesture.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com