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I write programs, run a few websites (I have admin accounts and passwords), write some web services, I have some encrypted data on my computer - and I sometimes ask myself: what will happen to all those projects and data if I accidentally die? Did you prepare yourself for death? Did you make a will (or some kind of e-will)? How to protect innocent people for whom I did some work? Did you write a letter with passwords and put it in envelope in your desk? | |||||
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I don't care. Seriously, I really don't. This may sound kinda weird, evil even ... but I don't. As far as I'm concerned, yes, you can: I dont care. Seriously, I really don't. I'm dead ... but until that happens,
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nothing, my work dies with me. Seriously though, you should treat your technological property as assets (just like a house or a car) and should be dealt with accordingly. If you have projects that you worked on for a client, leave them to the client or one of your business associates. If you have passwords to online accounts be sure to keep a good record of them and leave them to a family member etc... Sounds kind of morbid, but it's definitely something that you should take care of. Doing anything is better than doing nothing. | |||||||||||||
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Make sure all your work is under version control. Extract your work from version control to a clean machine to build, verifying that there are no hidden dependencies on your work environment. Make this a part of your deployment procedure. Script what you can. Scripts are a great form of explicit, machine-testable documentation. Put your passwords in an envelope and give the envelope to a trusted person who knows nothing about tech. Tell people they can contact this person in case of emergency. Everything here applies to emergencies while you're on vacation, not just in case of your untimely demise. | ||||
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When that time comes you won't worry about your passwords (or anything else) | |||||||||
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As with all my intellectual property, I have a line item in my will for each such item. Most of the data I encrypt is personal and ought to "die" with me; but anything that my inheritors need sits in a vault's safe-deposit box, which can be unsealed by your next of kin through the usual probate court process. | ||||
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The Dutch Mediamatic.net organized a few events on this topic, like this year's: Ik R.I.P. — About death and self-representation on the internet. Their website IkRIP ("I Rest in Peace") allows one to define what to do with ones profile on their websites (including PICNIC Network). I think this should be standard functionality on sites like Facebook et al. | ||||
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There are a couple of websites (search the web for "dead man switch") that are dedicated to this (such as Dead Man's Switch). You send them several emails pre-addressed and then they need you to ping their site periodically. If they don't hear from you, they send several emails. If they don't get a response, they send the mails. | |||||||||||||||
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I was honestly thinking of this last night. Weird somebody else posted this haha. As a developer and an advocate of open-source software, I would love for any source code that I have written to be publicly available somehow that I have kept close source for the time being. If I knew I was about to die ahead of time, I would surely do this. But if I never had the chance, I would still like to make it available. A few months ago I did start making a note (basically a will), because I kept having this feeling that something was going to happen to me. The note basically said what to do with certain stuff that anybody finds. Who to e-mail. I would have somebody (most likely a family member) email my source code to a good friend of mine so they can take care of it. It seems a little silly to me considering I am only 19 years old haha. As for passwords, I'm not so sure. I use different passwords for different things. No two are the same. All random numbers and letters. I would have to leave a list for certain things. Obviously there are things that I don't wish people to see when I die that are on my computer (No not necessarily pornographic material or anything haha). Just conversations with people and stuff like that. Then again, if your die, that's it. Your not going to know what happened. I guess it's just a way to leave an impression. To leave a mark of something that is yours. A way to be remembered. I'm a geek and that's how I want to be remembered. | ||||
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An IT admin where I go to school is required to document his passwords & recovery procedures and other system documents and put them in a sealed envelope when he goes on vacation. Personally, I do not have a well-defined plan(I have no wife or children). I will probably write up some 'password' files and give it to some trusted person at some point, along with details on my electronic accounts and requests for bringing them down in a sane fashion. My work files are on the company computer network. | ||||
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I have considered this question many times, and arrived at the answer again and again that I just make the recovery avenue difficult enough that someone has to know or be interested in programming to some extent and has to think to do the recovery. Then, I look around me as see who/what it is I am programming for. If they deserve that level of protection, I continue. If they do not, I get my burger-flippin resume and a copy of the help-wanted ads. I'm not tryin to be funny, I have some 100,000 hours working in real world situations - that's just how it is. | ||||
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