6 ms·

I know the "official" reason, but I'm curious if there's any correlation between the blocking of mibbit and axod's post about how much revenue mibbit was making

• Tichy 17y ago
  What is the official reason?
  • froo 17y ago
    People abusing mibbit webchat to cause strife http://blog.freenode.net/2009/06/new-freenode-webchat-and-why-to-use-it/ http://blog.freenode.net/2009/06/new-freenode-webchat-and-wh... Honestly, freenode is loaded up with tech savvy users. This will solve nothing. If users want to cause strife on channels, the tool they use is inconsequential. Below are two scenario's off the top of my head. Scenario #1 - people will be using proxies and using freenode's webchat client = banning mibbit was pointless Scenario #2 - people will be using their own irc clients and using open proxies = banning mibbit was pointless So banning of mibbit hasn't actually solved the problem, but like I theorised above, has the potential to funnel revenue to freenode and given the timing of axod's post about revenue, with the banning of mibbit only a day or so after followed by the awfully convenient default webchat installation that freenode put up, it smells a little fishy (even if it's tin foil hat territory, you still have to admit it's bad timing on freenodes part). EDIT - Scenario #3 - lowtech, just reconnecting off your router to refresh your IP and connect from home = banning mibbit was pointless
    • ken 17y ago
      I think the tool required to access a service is pretty darned important in determining your audience. Case 1: September 1993 (AOL on USENET). Case 2: Hacker News (intentionally plain design compared to, e.g., Reddit or Digg). Scenario #0: people will keep using mibbit, because it's convenient and what they used before, and harass IRC channels on other networks instead. (Sure enough, freenode's web client looks like basically a teletype in a web browser, while Mibbit's is big and flashy and web 2.0-ish. It's the HN to Mibbit's Digg.)
      • froo 17y ago
        Ok, so you're suggesting that there is a correlation between how attractive a user interface is and the number of users/trolls? Well then let's break it down to its most simplistic form, the Operating System, seeing as that affects every service. How do you account for Windows and OSX, seeing as most of your trolls would come from Windows based machines and yet most people would agree that OSX has the superior/most attractive GUI? Just curious.
        • ken 17y ago
          I think you're over-generalizing. I'm only claiming that interface has a big effect on behavior you see in a particular place, not how the behavior got there. I certainly don't believe (and didn't mean to imply) that seeing an "attractive" interface causes a behavior change in an individual. I also disagree that comparing operating systems is "simplistic". What operating system a person is using today is based on a huge number of factors, of which "attractive" is but one tiny piece -- a far more complex issue than what web chat you use. What you're observing is what I'd call the same effect. People are lazy about sticking with an interface they know. AOL opening up USENET meant a bunch of jerks could screw things up, using the same interface they'd had. Digg/Reddit predate HN, and the jerks there aren't going to learn a new interface to be jerks to a smaller crowd here. Similarly, you're not going to change OS (and with it, interface) easily, so other effects dominate, and I'd expect most jerks, overall, to be using the most popular OS, overall. I don't know if that's true, but it fits my mental model.
• abstractbill 17y ago
  assistance with ban evasion in exchange for money That is absurd.
  • ankhmoop 17y ago
    Moving past the heated conjecture, the more accurate statement from a freenode staffer: njan: Xenos, for what it delivered, mibbit i) disrupted a large number of our network users, and ii) used a disproportionate amount of staff time. njan: Xenos, we chose a solution that fixed those two problems - using staff time and disrupting our 50k users - whilst giving the mibbit users an alternative.
    • swombat 17y ago
      My nose hurts from time to time. Maybe I should cut it off.
      • ankhmoop 17y ago
        Freenode doesn't need -- or have any responsibility to support -- Mibbit. Moreover, we've banned mibbit entirely from our channels without receiving any complaints or noticing any significant drop in channel traffic.
        • swombat 17y ago
          without receiving any complaints That's a ridiculous statement. I was in the #freenode channel for a few hours, I saw many people (other than the people coming from #startups) who were logging in to ask why Mibbit wasn't working.
          • froo 17y ago
            without receiving any complaints This is what you would call spin.... I too saw the same complaints.
          • ankhmoop 17y ago
• axod 17y ago
  Another fun quote: <nenolod> jtrucks: because mibbit users are retards and they think mibbit is the only way
  • Zev 17y ago
    I've actually spoken to several users who found that to be true. Even if silly, from the point of view of someone who knows what IRC is. Which is far from everyone. //edit: don't care much about karma, but I am curious as to how pointing out that not everyone knows what they're doing on IRC gets me downvoted.
    • allenbrunson 17y ago
      You are agreeing with someone who said "mibbit users are retards." That's not the kind of language that's encouraged around here.
      • Zev 17y ago
        Oh. Thanks for explaining. I didn't mean to imply that mibbit users are retarded. Just that they don't quite know (or care?) as much about IRC as other people do.
        • axod 17y ago
          I take offense at that. Do you have enough data to make that judgement? Out of the millions of people using Mibbit, you've done a survey and measured? Or is it just more likely that you'll notice if someone causing abuse is using mibbit?
          • Zev 17y ago
            Erm, might I suggest you reread what I said here, in this particular thread. Which amounted to saying that not all Mibbit users know or care much about IRC. Which is a very silly thing to be taking offense to, let alone demand to be proven.
  • 17y ago
• SohumB 17y ago
  nenolod is not a freenode staffer. The impression I got was that freenode felt they were going above and beyond in offering an alternative webchat to mibbit users, which they didn't need nor particularly want to do.