Greg Newby, CEO of Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, has died
News of Greg Newby’s death has prompted tributes to his role leading the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and strengthening Project Gutenberg’s technical and organizational backbone. Commenters recall his personal kindness and mentorship, emphasize the cultural importance of freely accessible public‑domain texts, and note that much of the remaining work lies in properly digitizing, classifying, and preserving existing public‑domain material. The thread also corrects a common misconception by distinguishing Newby’s leadership of the foundation from Michael Hart’s earlier founding of Project Gutenberg itself.
Role and Title Clarification
- Several comments clarify that the deceased was CEO of the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, not founder or “CEO of Project Gutenberg” itself.
- The foundation, started decades after Project Gutenberg’s founding, is described as crucial but distinct.
- The initial mislabeling of the thread title prompted corrections and a side discussion about being precise with credit.
Impact of Project Gutenberg and Related Efforts
- Many express deep gratitude for Project Gutenberg as a cultural treasure, often paired with IMSLP, and encourage donations.
- Discussion emphasizes that copyright is not the only barrier: much public-domain material exists as unindexed scans; transcription, cleanup, and metadata are major bottlenecks.
- Others argue that copyright still blocks access to many “high-value” works and that not all texts are fungible; prioritization matters.
Cultural Value and Popular Works
- Debate emerges over what’s worth preserving: obscure instructional ephemera vs. widely influential fiction (e.g., modern fantasy series, classic novels, films).
- One side stresses the enduring narrative and metaphorical influence of popular stories; another questions whether some blockbusters will matter in centuries.
Date Formats and “Long Now” Thinking
- The use of leading zeros in years (e.g., 02000) spawns a tangent on Long Now–style dating and alternative epochs (Holocene/Human Era).
- Some see this as a useful nudge toward long-term thinking; others view it as distracting or “trolling.”
Health, Cancer, and Screening
- A subthread discusses the deceased’s cancer, sharing personal experiences with colon cancer.
- Several strongly advocate colonoscopies over stool tests, citing missed tumors.
- One commenter claims screening hasn’t improved life expectancy; others counter with references arguing study limitations and pointing to demonstrated value.
Standard Ebooks and Identifiers
- One commenter credits the deceased’s support in launching a high-quality ebook project.
- This leads to a technical argument over identifiers: URLs vs. numeric IDs/ISBNs vs. hashes.
- Librarian-style users insist on human-readable, stable numeric identifiers; others argue that URLs or timestamps are sufficient and that the project need not conform to traditional cataloging norms.
Personal Remembrances
- Multiple commenters share memories of the deceased as patient, kind, generous with time, and influential as a mentor, teacher, and organizer in supercomputing, Linux, and hacker/free-software communities.
- Several note that brief encounters at conferences or internships had outsized, long-lasting positive effects on their lives.