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First a pandemic and now my online home of the last 20 years being torn apart. This is really upsetting. The people of freenode are something special. I really

First a pandemic and now my online home of the last 20 years being torn apart. This is really upsetting. The people of freenode are something special. I really hope the community can manage the switch without loosing too much of everything. Already the channel registration on libera is throwing established communities into chaos. I really hate that corporate shell game bullshit and attempts at monetization are being made by a dude that professes to love IRC. I wish andrew could acknowledge the hurt he is causing but it seems like saving face matters more to him at this point.

drenvuk 5y ago
it will settle. Just keep trying, we'll get back together.
ilaksh 5y ago
If he has caused that much of a problem, then just move on. Block him, stop mentioning him by name, and forget about it. For the open source community, he no longer exists. I mean I feel like changing the domain name is less of a problem than the one all of the 4000 people named Andrew Lee who are not that guy now have. It's a lot harder to change a legal name. So they will have to live with his bad reputation potentially rubbing off on them. But luckily online most people use aliases so that should mitigate it somewhat. Libera.chat is a more modern name anyway.
- unixhero 5y ago
  Hosting an irc Network is more work than you might think. Just a new domain name and a VPS with a service running on it might not be enough.
  - a1369209993 5y ago
    Supposedly[0] all the servers and other network infrastructure are intact, and it's solely the domain names (freenode.{org,net,com}) that were compromised. Grain of salt, obviously, but they have at least claimed there isn't a problem there. 0: https://gist.github.com/joepie91/df80d8d36cd9d1bde46ba018af497409 https://gist.github.com/joepie91/df80d8d36cd9d1bde46ba018af4...
    - tinus_hn 5y ago
      So what happened to the original service running on freenode.net? Is it down now?
      - Arnavion 5y ago
        Nothing. It's still up.
      - a1369209993 5y ago
        (Again, supposedly) it's now running at libera.chat with superficial cosmetic changes. I haven't investigated this in any real depth though, so don't quote me on that.
        jhugo 5y ago
        Freenode is still up, at freenode.net, and libera is a new network, at libera.chat, operated by the former staff of Freenode.
  - superkuh 5y ago
    >The server hardware is sponsored free of cost; we will occasionally receive an invoice for $0, but that's only because of how the accounting systems at some of our sponsors operate. I can't possibly imagine that the few freenode live conferences cost more than 50k; and all of the other miscellaneous expenses (like the renewal costs for the domain names) are well under a few hundred pounds per year. Anything he would have donated before Freenode Ltd's acquisition is unknown to me, but that would have been from the position of a benefactor, not a supposed owner. https://gist.github.com/aaronmdjones/1a9a93ded5b7d162c3f58bdd66b8f491 https://gist.github.com/aaronmdjones/1a9a93ded5b7d162c3f58bd...
- na85 5y ago
  Libera.chat is actually an awful name, but I still embrace the change and have already bid Freenode a permanent farewell.
  - estaseuropano 5y ago
    That is a subjective opinion, not objective fact. I think it rolls nicely.
    - fairity 5y ago
      It is both harder to spell and pronounce than freenode, and objectively worse, by those measures.
      - outworlder 5y ago
        Is it hard to pronounce by whom? English speakers? I promise you any speaker of a latin-derived language will have no problems whatsoever.
        macintux 5y ago
        “Freenode” has only 1 possible pronunciation (and corresponding spelling) in English. “Libera” has 3 or 4 conceivable pronunciations and is harder to guarantee correctness when spoken. Fortunately I doubt IRC servers need to be communicated vocally all that often.
        GekkePrutser 5y ago
        It's really tough to find an unencumbered name these days. Even made-up names like 'eelo' (Android distro) got in trouble because a tiny human resources company in the Netherlands was using the name 'eelloo'. Not even the same name, totally different business type but still they lost. Trademarks are applied ridiculously wide now and because of that all the good names are gone.
hashkb 5y ago
> seems like saving face matters more This is sadly always the case. For everything. We'd rather let people die (e.g. Challenger) than admit any fault or delay to fix a problem.
deelowe 5y ago
If you’ve been on for 20 years, you’ll remember they last time this happened. It’ll sort itself out.
- jordigh 5y ago
  I remember EFnet and Undernet. IRC will live on.
  - VonGuard 5y ago
    Eris has actually remerged with EFnet... They need to change the name...
    - Macha 5y ago
      One day april fool's joke: > On April 1, 2018, as an April Fools' joke, the 1990s IRC server eris.Berkeley.EDU server was resurrected. Some EFnet admins worked with the Open Computing Facility student group at UC Berkeley for months to resurrect the server for April Fools. Only a very few EFnet staff were aware of the efforts and the server was linked in via a defunct H:line for the (normally) leaf (client-only) server irc.efnet.nl, bypassing the normal linking procedure. As of 12:30 UTC on April 01 2018, eris.Berkeley.EDU was once again a valid IRC server on the "Eris Free" IRC network and accepted clients.[11] At the same time, efnet.org begin redirecting to erisnet.org.[12] eris.Berkeley.EDU delinked on April 02 2018 at 19:50 UTC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFnet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFnet
    - efreak 5y ago
      Knowing only the name Eris Free Net, and none of the history, this doesn't mean anything to me. I have no idea if this is a network that's free of Eris, or a free network named after Eris. While I have a vague memory of a server named Eris having existed in the past, I don't know if said server is the same Eris in the name, or a different Eris that may have a direct (ownership)/indirect (named in honor of)/no link with the server. Eris is the Greek goddess of discord and strife, not something you'd want in your community.
tamrix 5y ago
Freenode has been dead for years lol. No where near the same level of activity it used to have.
- tdeck 5y ago
  A small community can still have a lot of value to it's members.

drenvuk 5y ago

it will settle. Just keep trying, we'll get back together.

ilaksh 5y ago

If he has caused that much of a problem, then just move on. Block him, stop mentioning him by name, and forget about it. For the open source community, he no longer exists. I mean I feel like changing the domain name is less of a problem than the one all of the 4000 people named Andrew Lee who are not that guy now have. It's a lot harder to change a legal name. So they will have to live with his bad reputation potentially rubbing off on them. But luckily online most people use aliases so that should mitigate it somewhat. Libera.chat is a more modern name anyway.

unixhero 5y ago
Hosting an irc Network is more work than you might think. Just a new domain name and a VPS with a service running on it might not be enough.
- a1369209993 5y ago
  Supposedly[0] all the servers and other network infrastructure are intact, and it's solely the domain names (freenode.{org,net,com}) that were compromised. Grain of salt, obviously, but they have at least claimed there isn't a problem there. 0: https://gist.github.com/joepie91/df80d8d36cd9d1bde46ba018af497409 https://gist.github.com/joepie91/df80d8d36cd9d1bde46ba018af4...
  - tinus_hn 5y ago
    So what happened to the original service running on freenode.net? Is it down now?
    - Arnavion 5y ago
      Nothing. It's still up.
    - a1369209993 5y ago
      (Again, supposedly) it's now running at libera.chat with superficial cosmetic changes. I haven't investigated this in any real depth though, so don't quote me on that.
      - jhugo 5y ago
        Freenode is still up, at freenode.net, and libera is a new network, at libera.chat, operated by the former staff of Freenode.
- superkuh 5y ago
  >The server hardware is sponsored free of cost; we will occasionally receive an invoice for $0, but that's only because of how the accounting systems at some of our sponsors operate. I can't possibly imagine that the few freenode live conferences cost more than 50k; and all of the other miscellaneous expenses (like the renewal costs for the domain names) are well under a few hundred pounds per year. Anything he would have donated before Freenode Ltd's acquisition is unknown to me, but that would have been from the position of a benefactor, not a supposed owner. https://gist.github.com/aaronmdjones/1a9a93ded5b7d162c3f58bdd66b8f491 https://gist.github.com/aaronmdjones/1a9a93ded5b7d162c3f58bd...
na85 5y ago
Libera.chat is actually an awful name, but I still embrace the change and have already bid Freenode a permanent farewell.
- estaseuropano 5y ago
  That is a subjective opinion, not objective fact. I think it rolls nicely.
  - fairity 5y ago
    It is both harder to spell and pronounce than freenode, and objectively worse, by those measures.
    - outworlder 5y ago
      Is it hard to pronounce by whom? English speakers? I promise you any speaker of a latin-derived language will have no problems whatsoever.
      - macintux 5y ago
        “Freenode” has only 1 possible pronunciation (and corresponding spelling) in English. “Libera” has 3 or 4 conceivable pronunciations and is harder to guarantee correctness when spoken. Fortunately I doubt IRC servers need to be communicated vocally all that often.
        GekkePrutser 5y ago
        It's really tough to find an unencumbered name these days. Even made-up names like 'eelo' (Android distro) got in trouble because a tiny human resources company in the Netherlands was using the name 'eelloo'. Not even the same name, totally different business type but still they lost. Trademarks are applied ridiculously wide now and because of that all the good names are gone.

hashkb 5y ago

> seems like saving face matters more This is sadly always the case. For everything. We'd rather let people die (e.g. Challenger) than admit any fault or delay to fix a problem.

deelowe 5y ago

If you’ve been on for 20 years, you’ll remember they last time this happened. It’ll sort itself out.

jordigh 5y ago
I remember EFnet and Undernet. IRC will live on.
- VonGuard 5y ago
  Eris has actually remerged with EFnet... They need to change the name...
  - Macha 5y ago
    One day april fool's joke: > On April 1, 2018, as an April Fools' joke, the 1990s IRC server eris.Berkeley.EDU server was resurrected. Some EFnet admins worked with the Open Computing Facility student group at UC Berkeley for months to resurrect the server for April Fools. Only a very few EFnet staff were aware of the efforts and the server was linked in via a defunct H:line for the (normally) leaf (client-only) server irc.efnet.nl, bypassing the normal linking procedure. As of 12:30 UTC on April 01 2018, eris.Berkeley.EDU was once again a valid IRC server on the "Eris Free" IRC network and accepted clients.[11] At the same time, efnet.org begin redirecting to erisnet.org.[12] eris.Berkeley.EDU delinked on April 02 2018 at 19:50 UTC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFnet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFnet
  - efreak 5y ago
    Knowing only the name Eris Free Net, and none of the history, this doesn't mean anything to me. I have no idea if this is a network that's free of Eris, or a free network named after Eris. While I have a vague memory of a server named Eris having existed in the past, I don't know if said server is the same Eris in the name, or a different Eris that may have a direct (ownership)/indirect (named in honor of)/no link with the server. Eris is the Greek goddess of discord and strife, not something you'd want in your community.

tamrix 5y ago

Freenode has been dead for years lol. No where near the same level of activity it used to have.

tdeck 5y ago
A small community can still have a lot of value to it's members.