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> Notably this project was conceived by a backroom decision to dump the original Freenet development team's work, This is a false narrative, from the Freenet F
by sanity 5mo ago
> Notably this project was conceived by a backroom decision to dump the original Freenet development team's work,
This is a false narrative, from the Freenet FAQ[1]:
Why was Freenet rearchitected and rebranded?
In 2019, Ian began developing a successor to the original Freenet, internally named “Locutus.” This redesign was a ground-up reimagining, incorporating lessons learned from the original Freenet and addressing modern challenges. The original Freenet, although groundbreaking, was built for an earlier era.
This isn’t the first time Freenet has undergone significant changes. Around 2005, we transitioned from version 0.5 to 0.7, which was a complete rewrite introducing “friend-to-friend” networking.
In March 2023, the original Freenet (developed from 2005 onwards) was spun off into an independent project called “Hyphanet” under its existing maintainers. Concurrently, “Locutus” was rebranded as “Freenet,” also known as “Freenet 2023,” to signal this new direction and focus. The rearchitected Freenet is faster, more flexible, and better equipped to offer a robust, decentralized alternative to the increasingly centralized web.
To ease the transition the old freenetproject.org domain was redirected to hyphanet’s website, while the recently acquired freenet.org domain was used for the new architecture.
It is important to note that the maintainers of the original Freenet did not agree with the decision to rearchitect and rebrand. However, as the architect of the Freenet Project, and after over a year of debate, Ian felt this was the necessary path forward to ensure the project’s continued relevance and success in a world far different than when he designed the previous architecture.
> The new "Freenet" does not have anonymity as a design goal anymore,
Because the new Freenet will have a menu of anonymity options rather than committing to a one-size-fits-all approach, while also addressing the issue of illegal content[2].
[1] https://freenet.org/about/faq/#why-was-freenet-rearchitected-and-rebranded https://freenet.org/about/faq/#why-was-freenet-rearchitected...
[2] https://freenet.org/about/faq/#how-does-freenet-handle-harmful-content https://freenet.org/about/faq/#how-does-freenet-handle-harmf...
- qcl820DV34 5mo ago> and after over a year of debate There was no "year of debate". You came to the mailing list and announced it for the first time as a finalized decision already, without any prior debate with the original team. The "board" you cited as the body which allegedly discussed it did neither join the mailing list discussion, nor were you willing to hand out their contact info. It's all public for anyone to see on the mailing list archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg55262.html https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526... https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/ https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/
- sanity 5mo ago> There was no "year of debate". Incorrect, I raised the issue with the lead maintainer over a year prior to that announcement. > You came to the mailing list and declared it as a finalized decision. As the project's architect I'm entitled to make decisions about the project's future direction. > It's all public for anyone to see on the mailing list archive: > https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526 https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526... I stand by every word I said in that mailing list thread.
- abno525 5mo agoFor anyone confused, link is cited badly and mail did not get deleted. https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg55262.html https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...
- itsthecourier 5mo agoseems freenet is not free after all, maybe a rebrand to ianet would be more appropriate
- qcl820DV34 5mo ago> Incorrect, I raised the issue with the lead maintainer over a year prior to that announcement. The previous lead maintainer, Steve, voiced their frustration with your decision here: https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg55263.html https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526... To which you sent a brash reply, which sounds like you don't know Steve's position in the community: https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg55264.html https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526... To which the current lead maintainer, Arne, said he agrees with the sentiment of Steve: https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg55265.html https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526... So if you discussed this with Arne for a year, then why does he agree with the frustration of Steve? And even if the discussion with Arne happened, it still was a backroom decision: Two people are not representative on a project with plenty of developers and an active community. > As the project's architect I'm entitled to make decisions about the project's future direction. A sense of entitlement is not a leadership quality. A leadership quality would be to admit a mistake: That repurposing the name was not only bad for the original project, but also for the new one (because these discussions will haunt it forever), and to then rename the new project to a fresh name which no other software used before.
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- dminik 5mo ago> This is a false narrative, from the Freenet FAQ[1]: I'm sorry, but nothing following that even comes close to proving that it's a false narrative. Quite the opposite actually.
- thih9 5mo agoTo be fair, I see some goodwill, e.g.: > To ease the transition the old freenetproject.org domain was redirected to hyphanet’s website, while the recently acquired freenet.org domain was used for the new architecture. So in that aspect it seems more user friendly than a hard fork.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]