IRC, that lovely simple chat network that's been around since forever is still going despite other much more popular solutions appearing (hi Discord) and recently the huge Freenode network had a hostile takeover.
The situation and history of what's going on isn't exactly easy to explain. To keep it somewhat simple: Andrew Lee (rasengan) who is an entrepreneur, a crown prince of Korea, the founder of Private Internet Access, Shells and more now owns and controls Freenode. You can see a pretty reasonable summary over on Ars Technica.
Sadly, the newer owners of Freenode have since decided to make many missteps and have become outright hostile to us and a great many other channels. We've seen over 700 projects (including us!) have their Freenode channels be taken over, removed and redirected elsewhere while the remaining Freenode staff attempt to take control. Why? Us and all the others had the sheer audacity to mention Libera.Chat and so Freenode swooped in to take control of any channel that does.
Imagine if Twitter, Facebook, Discord, Matrix, Mastodon and so on took over if you dared to mention another network? To be blunt, the way Freenode (Andrew Lee) has been acting has been more like a hostile dictatorship than anything we wish to be associated with and so we're cutting all ties.
Like multiple hundreds of other websites, FOSS projects and more, we've migrated over to Libera.Chat and we suggest you do the same.
If you wish to continue being part of our community on IRC, please point your clients to #gamingonlinux on Libera.Chat. We have updated our IRC webchat to this.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
17 comments
Perkeleen_Vittupää May 26, 2021
Thank you, Mr. Jarkko Oikarinen, the father of IRC, for this marvel that carries even today! 
6 Likes, Who?
Mohandevir May 26, 2021
Just read Ars Technica's article... Gosh! That's ugly! Let's wish the best to Libera.chat!
0 Likes
linuxjacques May 26, 2021
Sad to see freenode ending. I've been on it since 2000. 
3 Likes, Who?
ElectricPrism May 26, 2021
QuoteWe've seen over 700 projects (including us!) have their Freenode channels be taken over ... [because we] had the sheer audacity to mention Libera.Chat
Owch. I would like to thank Andrew Lee for confirmation that (Ex & Decorated Freenode Staff) Libera.Chat criticisms must be valid. I remained partially skeptical up until this moment.
What a mess, may Freenode.net be buried quickly so the legacy behind the name is not further tarnished by this skidmark known as Andrew Lee.
Last edited by ElectricPrism on 26 May 2021 at 7:28 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Thankfully, IRC (and Matrix and Mastodon listed in the article) are open enough that you can just cut ties and say 'screw it, we're doing our own!', like the Libera.Chat team is doing.
Any mention of them on Freenode gets you booted, and yeah:
It's happening (Matrix)
to lots
of people
Also, for anyone using the 'main' matrix.org homeserver, they're working on proper IRC bridging:
Bridge libera.chat #1324
Any mention of them on Freenode gets you booted, and yeah:
It's happening (Matrix)
to lots
of people
Also, for anyone using the 'main' matrix.org homeserver, they're working on proper IRC bridging:
Bridge libera.chat #1324
5 Likes, Who?
So, something that's been nagging at me since people started mentioning it... is he a Prince of the Republic of Korea, or the Democratic Republic of Korea?
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: DuncSo, something that's been nagging at me since people started mentioning it... is he a Prince of the Republic of Korea, or the Democratic Republic of Korea?
He's a prince of Korea as a whole, as the Korean split is post-dynastic. To be clear, his family has essentially no power at all. They are entirely symbolic or ceremonial, unlike some other existing royal families. Lee has however seemingly rebranded his company London Trust Media into Imperial Family Companies using his family's royal symbols:
https://imperialfamily.com/
Last edited by win8linux on 27 May 2021 at 12:54 am UTC
7 Likes, Who?
Quoting: win8linuxDoes the government of North Korea accept that concept? I mean, the Kim family are basically kings so I'm not sure they'd be enthused about rival claimant monarchs.Quoting: DuncSo, something that's been nagging at me since people started mentioning it... is he a Prince of the Republic of Korea, or the Democratic Republic of Korea?
He's a prince of Korea as a whole, as the Korean split is post-dynastic.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Purple Library GuyQuoting: win8linuxDoes the government of North Korea accept that concept? I mean, the Kim family are basically kings so I'm not sure they'd be enthused about rival claimant monarchs.Quoting: DuncSo, something that's been nagging at me since people started mentioning it... is he a Prince of the Republic of Korea, or the Democratic Republic of Korea?
He's a prince of Korea as a whole, as the Korean split is post-dynastic.
No, it does not. The Korean royal family considers the Republic of Korea (SK) as the legitimate government of Korea and in turn, South Korea recognizes them as the historical and symbolic imperial family.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: KithopThankfully, IRC (and Matrix and Mastodon listed in the article) are open enough that you can just cut ties and say 'screw it, we're doing our own!', like the Libera.Chat team is doing.
While frustrating as a heavy freenode user, I'm looking on the bright side and using whole incident as an example of why open, federated communication protocols are important. What do you do if the owners of discord et al do something the community doesn't like?
The community can simply pack up and move elsewhere with the same clients and carry on.
10 Likes, Who?
dziadulewicz May 27, 2021
Quoting: Perkeleen_VittupääThank you, Mr. Jarkko Oikarinen, the father of IRC, for this marvel that carries even today!
indeed! even all the current messengers (telegram, whatsapp, etc) are based on it.
0 Likes
Quoting: win8linuxQuoting: DuncSo, something that's been nagging at me since people started mentioning it... is he a Prince of the Republic of Korea, or the Democratic Republic of Korea?
He's a prince of Korea as a whole, as the Korean split is post-dynastic. To be clear, his family has essentially no power at all. They are entirely symbolic or ceremonial, unlike some other existing royal families. Lee has however seemingly rebranded his company London Trust Media into Imperial Family Companies using his family's royal symbols:
https://imperialfamily.com/
Two clicks on this website and I get the long term plan for IRC link . Frigthening
0 Likes
+1 for using matrix, excellent irc like experience and federated, so recommended it hurts.
0 Likes
inlinuxdude May 27, 2021
Quoting: Perkeleen_VittupääThank you, Mr. Jarkko Oikarinen, the father of IRC, for this marvel that carries even today!
IRC will always have a special place in my heart... I met my wife over IRC (Undernet) back in the late 90's.. So, I also thank Mr. Oikarinen..
3 Likes, Who?
ElectricPrism May 27, 2021
Quoting: KithopThankfully, IRC (and Matrix and Mastodon listed in the article) are open enough that you can just cut ties and say 'screw it, we're doing our own!', like the Libera.Chat team is doing.
Any mention of them on Freenode gets you booted, and yeah:
It's happening (Matrix)
to lots
of people
Also, for anyone using the 'main' matrix.org homeserver, they're working on proper IRC bridging:
Bridge libera.chat #1324
After reading those and the comments in this thread I'm so done with private networks. You get 10 years into something, and then all of a sudden something changes and the next thing you know you have people breathing down your neck with unreasonable requirements.
To me Federated seems like the only sane way forward. I hope this leads to the rise in Matrix, Mastodon, PixelFed and other Federated networks like Email.
2 Likes, Who?
Not an IRC user, but it does look like I'll be looking for a new VPN service.
0 Likes
Just a little BTW: they've tried taking the channel over twice now and twice I've gone and reclaimed it. The new Freenode staff don't seem to have the technical expertise to figure out their own services, so they couldn't even set the +s mode to hide then channel without their own ChanServ preventing them.
I'd say I feel like a hacker for retaking #gamingonlinux twice now, but that wouldn't really be accurate because both times it's been enough to just ask ChanServ to invite me and then reset the modes.
I'd say I feel like a hacker for retaking #gamingonlinux twice now, but that wouldn't really be accurate because both times it's been enough to just ask ChanServ to invite me and then reset the modes.
4 Likes, Who?
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