Michael Hart, Project Gutenberg's e-book loving founder, passes away (Ars technica)

I have had so much pleasure from the work of Project Gutenberg and its volunteers over the last n years. I never knew Michael, but I can say that I would be ecstatic if I could leave a legacy like his. I will be making a - long overdue - donation to the project and for what little it is worth from a random stranger, my sympathy is with his friends and family.

This is my favorite quote about Project Gutenberg (from http://dir.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/10/09/bookmobile/i...):

Michael Hart is one of those people who straddle the line between visionary genius and obsessive nutcase. "You know that episode of "Star Trek," when they look in the computer to find some 20th century book that tells them what to expect when they go back in time," Hart says. "How do you think those books got in the computer? That's me."

Project Gutenberg has been instrumental in preserving human knowledge for *everyone*... not just those who can afford it in some "market".

Applause for the man who started that effort, and for the thousands of people who saw the value in his vision.

I'd also like to point out that an easy and fun way to contribute your spare brain cycles and keystrokes to PG is Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreading:

http://www.pgdp.net/

Instead of taking on an entire work, you can check out a *single page* at a time. It has a super-configurable HTML interface, peer feedback mechanisms, multiple rounds of proofing and formatting, a custom font designed for proofreading, helpful forums, and a searchable interface for finding works on a subject (or in a language) that interests you. And if you get really addicted, there are teams that focus on certain kinds of projects and rounds.

If you can't tell, I was really into it at one point. ;o)

Anyway, if you are so moved, that would be my recommendation of one way to contribute to the community for the value that you think it provides to the world... by helping make it even better. :o)

That's sad news alright.

PG is one of the biggest projects that's busy with making advances in technology work for humanity. As well as being something you can use directly, it's also a source of texts for other projects like librivox.org, wiktionary.org, and countless linguistic research projects.

I will always remember Michael as a sort-of Internet era luddite. He was cautious to an excess. Some books lose nothing in being converted to a single ASCII text file. But (as the modern project accepts, by using other technologies in places) many books could be better preserved by also including relevant images (maps, sketches, and latterly photographs) and by handling characters outside ASCII.

I think somewhere there's a thread where I passionately defend QoS standardisation while Michael decries any attempt to do video over the Internet as inherently leading to illiteracy.

But if the above seems very critical, it is only because we remember conflicts more easily. As a teenager I read several of Michael's early uploads to Project Gutenberg, and volunteered as a proof reader on occasion back when a proof reader actually needed to go into the library stacks and find some ancient pre-copyright version of the target text for themselves. Michael made it happen, and that's a legacy that won't be forgotten in a hurry.