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I find some dark humor in the fact that someone, somewhere, decided to pay a big chunk of cash for Freenode... and now that same person must be aware there is a

I find some dark humor in the fact that someone, somewhere, decided to pay a big chunk of cash for Freenode... and now that same person must be aware there is a website called isfreenodedeadyet.com tracking its inevitable demise, as a direct result of their purchase (and subsequent bad acting).

obedm 5y ago
Truly magnificent isn't it? It's also a testament to the beauty of IRC. "we don't like the change. So here's a viable alternative". We could say something similar happened with WhatsApp, but the difficulty of moving everyone to another platform is so much harder.
- echelon 5y ago
  The difference is that * IRC users have the technical acumen to move. * IRC users aren't strangers to setting things up and configuring them, so the switching cost isn't as big * There's a shared ethos about IRC, but not so much for an app that reaches everybody on the planet. You can convince one demographic much easier than all of them.
  - geofft 5y ago
    Not just "technical acumen" - the clients are designed to connect to multiple networks and treat them equally. Literally nothing about my user experience is different now that I'm no longer logged into Freenode. Non-technical users have the same sort of experience e.g. switching cell phone providers (provided your area has number portability), switching between subreddits, etc., and those moves definitely happen.
  - luke2m 5y ago
    The difference is that * IRC is interoperable and easy to change servers, unlike apps with proprietary protocols. If Yahoo started doing horrible things with their email, then people who notice would switch to GMail or another host.
    - codetrotter 5y ago
      On a related note I wonder if many people ended up migrating to Discord instead of to another IRC network. For example the SerenityOS project used to advertise on their site that they had a channel on freenode but now they link a Discord instead. http://serenityos.org/ http://serenityos.org/
      - luke2m 5y ago
        That’s a good point. Honestly, if I had a popular open source project right now, I would have matrix bridged to discord and maybe irc if people asked for it.
  - whynotkeithberg 5y ago
    Don't try to suck off IRC users too hard... The protocol and clients have been designed with this in mind. it's not like IRC users are so much more intelligent than others... I feel IRC is better, but it's not because of the average intelligence of users & opers
    - whynotkeithberg 5y ago
      Awww. Fellow IRC users feeling attacked... What?? We're not the smartest users of all chat protocols because we're using the oldest & most open??? Some people use others because its easier & has the most users regardless of its safety & privacy & our digital choices don't 100% correspond to intelligence?? OMG.
      - wizzwizz4 5y ago
        Downvotes on HN are unpredictable at the best of times. This, however? Sure-fire way to get them.
        whynotkeithberg 5y ago
        I welcome them in this regard lol. Bunch of hackernews people sucking themselves off? Love it. There is no way to assure a bunch of down votes than to show ycombinator folks that the flavor they insist is that of pure umami is actually that of their own penis. now you have the conundrum... Do I downvote this guy and prove his own point? Or do I upvote him and admit I was sucking myself off with what I believe is the potency of my own mind?
        dang 5y ago
        Please don't do this here.
- pmontra 5y ago
  As a friend of mine wrote in a WhatsApp group that we are trying to migrate to Telegram, "which data about me can they [WA] steal that I care about." So she's not installing Telegram.
- jonas21 5y ago
  People did leave WhatsApp. If you believe Telegram's numbers, at least 25M WhatsApp users migrated after the privacy policy change. That's more than 1000x as many people as have left freenode. But still a drop in the bucket for WhatsApp's user base. It's more of a testament to how niche IRC is that a 20K user migration is significant.
  - donkeyd 5y ago
    > If you believe Telegram's numbers I have a hard time believing anything from Telegram because of the owner. But that number does seem feasible. > People did leave WhatsApp I don't think people joining Telegram directly leads to people actually leaving WhatsApp. I joined Signal, but am still in WhatsApp because most people are still on there.
ddingus 5y ago
It is delicious! Painful too, and unnecessary, but since it has happened, why not gawk away?
fastball 5y ago
It's not really someone, somewhere: it's rasengan, who is here on HN!
rasengan 5y ago
pocket change
- enriquto 5y ago
  you caused quite a stir and made a lot of people upset, was it worth then?
  - rasengan 5y ago
    heh
    - tovej 5y ago
      The clown prince of Korea, everyone.
    - whynotkeithberg 5y ago
      hackernews folk.. When they're down voting its the most righteous. When they get downvoted it's never because they're wrong.
  - Libcat99 5y ago
    Not just a stir, he pissed on a working, useful, helpful thing and destroyed it. It's shameful.
    - type0 5y ago
      At this point I'm not sure one could take any of his words seriously. That he continues trolling HN users is just a sign of worsened derangement.
- ohyeshedid 5y ago
  Pointing out that it's cheap for you, while you couldn't get it right, isn't a good look.
- behringer 5y ago
  Youre so pathetic. You steal a network when nobodys watching, steal channels that have no allegience to you or your service, and then act salty when your users leave. Your reputation before all this is why i never signed up for PIA in the first place, and after this just confirms what a true dunce you are.

obedm 5y ago

Truly magnificent isn't it? It's also a testament to the beauty of IRC. "we don't like the change. So here's a viable alternative". We could say something similar happened with WhatsApp, but the difficulty of moving everyone to another platform is so much harder.

echelon 5y ago
The difference is that * IRC users have the technical acumen to move. * IRC users aren't strangers to setting things up and configuring them, so the switching cost isn't as big * There's a shared ethos about IRC, but not so much for an app that reaches everybody on the planet. You can convince one demographic much easier than all of them.
- geofft 5y ago
  Not just "technical acumen" - the clients are designed to connect to multiple networks and treat them equally. Literally nothing about my user experience is different now that I'm no longer logged into Freenode. Non-technical users have the same sort of experience e.g. switching cell phone providers (provided your area has number portability), switching between subreddits, etc., and those moves definitely happen.
- luke2m 5y ago
  The difference is that * IRC is interoperable and easy to change servers, unlike apps with proprietary protocols. If Yahoo started doing horrible things with their email, then people who notice would switch to GMail or another host.
  - codetrotter 5y ago
    On a related note I wonder if many people ended up migrating to Discord instead of to another IRC network. For example the SerenityOS project used to advertise on their site that they had a channel on freenode but now they link a Discord instead. http://serenityos.org/ http://serenityos.org/
    - luke2m 5y ago
      That’s a good point. Honestly, if I had a popular open source project right now, I would have matrix bridged to discord and maybe irc if people asked for it.
- whynotkeithberg 5y ago
  Don't try to suck off IRC users too hard... The protocol and clients have been designed with this in mind. it's not like IRC users are so much more intelligent than others... I feel IRC is better, but it's not because of the average intelligence of users & opers
  - whynotkeithberg 5y ago
    Awww. Fellow IRC users feeling attacked... What?? We're not the smartest users of all chat protocols because we're using the oldest & most open??? Some people use others because its easier & has the most users regardless of its safety & privacy & our digital choices don't 100% correspond to intelligence?? OMG.
    - wizzwizz4 5y ago
      Downvotes on HN are unpredictable at the best of times. This, however? Sure-fire way to get them.
      - whynotkeithberg 5y ago
        I welcome them in this regard lol. Bunch of hackernews people sucking themselves off? Love it. There is no way to assure a bunch of down votes than to show ycombinator folks that the flavor they insist is that of pure umami is actually that of their own penis. now you have the conundrum... Do I downvote this guy and prove his own point? Or do I upvote him and admit I was sucking myself off with what I believe is the potency of my own mind?
        dang 5y ago
        Please don't do this here.
pmontra 5y ago
As a friend of mine wrote in a WhatsApp group that we are trying to migrate to Telegram, "which data about me can they [WA] steal that I care about." So she's not installing Telegram.
jonas21 5y ago
People did leave WhatsApp. If you believe Telegram's numbers, at least 25M WhatsApp users migrated after the privacy policy change. That's more than 1000x as many people as have left freenode. But still a drop in the bucket for WhatsApp's user base. It's more of a testament to how niche IRC is that a 20K user migration is significant.
- donkeyd 5y ago
  > If you believe Telegram's numbers I have a hard time believing anything from Telegram because of the owner. But that number does seem feasible. > People did leave WhatsApp I don't think people joining Telegram directly leads to people actually leaving WhatsApp. I joined Signal, but am still in WhatsApp because most people are still on there.

ddingus 5y ago

It is delicious! Painful too, and unnecessary, but since it has happened, why not gawk away?

fastball 5y ago

It's not really someone, somewhere: it's rasengan, who is here on HN!

rasengan 5y ago

pocket change

enriquto 5y ago
you caused quite a stir and made a lot of people upset, was it worth then?
- rasengan 5y ago
  heh
  - tovej 5y ago
    The clown prince of Korea, everyone.
  - whynotkeithberg 5y ago
    hackernews folk.. When they're down voting its the most righteous. When they get downvoted it's never because they're wrong.
- Libcat99 5y ago
  Not just a stir, he pissed on a working, useful, helpful thing and destroyed it. It's shameful.
  - type0 5y ago
    At this point I'm not sure one could take any of his words seriously. That he continues trolling HN users is just a sign of worsened derangement.
ohyeshedid 5y ago
Pointing out that it's cheap for you, while you couldn't get it right, isn't a good look.
behringer 5y ago
Youre so pathetic. You steal a network when nobodys watching, steal channels that have no allegience to you or your service, and then act salty when your users leave. Your reputation before all this is why i never signed up for PIA in the first place, and after this just confirms what a true dunce you are.