This was the tweet that shuddered me to my core almost 8 years ago.

This was Aaron Swartz - a computer programming extraordinaire, if there ever was one.

Today is his birthday. He would have been 34 years.

He hung himself, awaiting trial. https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/290116831916732418">https://twitter.com/wikileaks...

Read this - this is what the young mind stood for.

The above is a line from his extremely popular

Guerilla Open Access Manifesto.

You can read it here https://openipub.com/?pub=GuerrillaOpenAccessManifesto.html

It& #39;s">https://openipub.com/... a short read. And talks about how information, especially in academics, is locked up.

Have you ever used an RSS Feed? Used a free software using a @creativecommons license? Markdown? He either wrote most of the underpinnings or was heavily involved in the development.

Ever been on Reddit? The legendary @paulg from Ycombinator named Aaron as a Cofounder.

This quote by him changed me as a person a decade ago.

All he wanted was freedom open access academia!

If his memory is to be preserved, the hierarchical gate keeping of academia has to be abolished.

This thread is a tribute to the greatness of this man.