Probable very detrimental change to Freenode IRC

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Oct 22, 2019
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Oh dang that's really sad. :frown: Had a lot of good memories on Freenode's IRC network. I wonder how this will affect Linux distros that use Freenode for their chat and support channels? The legalese is beyond my comprehension, not to mention I didn't know that Freenode, of all networks, would succumb to a hostile takeover with lawyers involved. It was a volunteer-driven project at its roots.
 

taupehat

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Dec 20, 2016
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Can we please move over to libera.chat? It's where the bulk of the community seems to be heading.

And I mean move officially, or to whatever extent "officially" means in this context. Right now the /topic says "This is still currently the official IRC channel for FreeNAS/TrueNAS."
 

m0nkey_

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I've mentioned it in a slightly more official way, and now it is up to those powers that be. :)
Very happy to see this is being dealt with. I did reach out to Kris to inform him of the Freenode situation and that the project should be registered on Libera. In the mean time, being a mod of #freenas on Freenode, I have registered the channels #freenas and #truenas on Libera to prevent them from being misused.

And I mean move officially, or to whatever extent "officially" means in this context. Right now the /topic says "This is still currently the official IRC channel for FreeNAS/TrueNAS."
Indeed it does. I was the one who set the topic as I was being asked. I guess we just have to wait to hear from iX to get the official word on whats happening.
 

Tigersharke

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There is also this. I only provide as additional info, the politics and whatever is happening there is nothing I can control or fully understand.

The following is only the leading portion of what is there at present, an excerpt:
On freenode and its commitment to FOSS
rasengan on 2021-05-19

Dear freenode,
First and foremost, I want to thank the hard working staff for keeping freenode running during these challenging times. Without you, this wouldn't be possible.
On Recent Events
Since 2013, I have been a major sponsor of freenode providing servers and funding through one of my companies. I have no intention to stop this in the future. The rumors of a 'hostile takeover' are simply untrue - I've been the guardian and owner of freenode since 2017, when Christel, the former owner approached me and asked if I was
 

Tigersharke

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And FreeBSD'spresent position on all the hooplah..

A brief quote from that, below, excerpt:
FreeBSD IRC Admin is aware of and monitoring the freenode IRC network situation closely.

Our freenode #freebsd* channels remain open to the community. We have registered #freebsd on libera.chat as a contingency.


No decisions have been made regarding moving networks at this time.
 

Tigersharke

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FreeBSD now has its official presence on libera chat.

Screenshot 2021-05-30 at 00-29-46 IRC Official-FreeBSD-IRC-channels-now-on-Libera-Chat - FreeB...png
 

Arwen

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Others are abandoning Freenode. Gentoo Linux had started migration to LiberaChat, and then had the old Freenode channels taken over;
Gentoo Freenode channels have been hijacked (May 26, 2021)
Today (2021-05-26) a large number of Gentoo channels have been hijacked by Freenode staff, including channels that were not yet migrated to Libera.chat. We cannot perceive this otherwise than as an open act of hostility and we have effectively left Freenode.
Please note that at this point the only official Gentoo IRC channels, as well as developer accounts, can be found on Libera Chat.

Gentoo IRC presence moving to Libera Chat (May 23, 2021)
The Gentoo Council held an emergency single agenda item meeting today. At this meeting, we have decided to move the official IRC presence of Gentoo to the Libera Chat IRC network. We intend to have this move complete at latest by 13/June/2021. A full log of the meeting will be available for download soon.
At the moment it is unclear whether we will retain any presence on Freenode at all; we urge all users of the #gentoo channel namespace to move to Libera Chat immediately. IRC channel names will (mostly) remain identical. You will be able to recognize Gentoo developers on Libera Chat by their IRC cloak in the usual form gentoo/developer/*. All other technical aspects will feel rather familiar to all of us as well. Detailed instructions for setting up various IRC clients can be found on the help pages of the IRC network.
 

Constantin

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Reminds me of the shenanigans at Arduino and Company with their italian subsidiary.

The big delta being that the FreeNode team can simply decamp and leave the vulture capitalist with nothing but a smoking crater.
 

m0nkey_

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The FreeNAS/TrueNAS iX Systems IRC presence is in the process of moving, likely an update to be posted here along with any applicable documentation adjustments on this site and any other areas.
I've been in contact with Josh. The channel #truenas on libera.chat is live and people are welcome to join. See you all there. Once an announcement has been made, I will update the /topic on the Freenode channel.
 

m0nkey_

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Any explainer for those of us who don't use IRC?
Freenode, where the Free/TrueNAS IRC channel has been hosted for many years is now in total meltdown and no longer represents what Freenode is about. Freenode went through a hostile takeover by somebody called Andrew Lee a couple of weeks ago, channel take overs of projects channels by their "staff", forcing a number of communities to move to either IRC communities Libera.Chat or OFTC. This is reminiscent of IRC drama from the early 90s. This is just the final nail in the coffin as they are wiping clean the services database, which contains all of the registered nicknames and channels.

There's already a #truenas channel on libera.chat if people wish to join.
 

Arwen

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Gentoo Linux considers the old freenode a security issue now;
2021-06-15 update

As a part of an unannounced switch to a different IRC daemon, the Freenode staff has removed all channel and nickname registrations. Since many Gentoo developers have left Freenode permanently and are not interested in registering their nicknames again, this opens up further possibilities of malicious impersonation.
 
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