Goodbye Freenode

As well as purging #python and network banning some of the regulars there for pushing back, #fsf and #gnu were taken over this morning by the new freenode staff, despite a 2 week transition plan being published.

https://status.fsf.org/notice/4214348

The current Libera Chat[0] is everything that Freenode was before rasengan entered the game: a stable IRC network that goes out of its way to be transparent to the communities and projects that use it and to provide them with stability and network operator support, period.

The current Fleenode is nothing that Freenode was before rasengan entered the game: it destroyed the stability of all the projects that previously used it by flipping the network's functioning upside down, in a very mediocre way ("accidentally" horrible communication from the current staff towards everyone else, "accidentally" taking over channels via bot action, "accidentally" k-lining irccloud about the time [3] was introduced, using the "I'm being cancelled" argument as one line of defense and "mistakes were made but they are fixed, understanding would be appreciated" as another) and with very mediocre results[1].

All of this was done seemingly in order to introduce several Freenode-branded projects[2][3][4][5] that I haven't seen anyone request. These projects, in their current shape, seriously look to me like some shiny toys that use Freenode as a hub and that are now out there, looking for use and popularity.

Congratulations and massive thanks to the Libera Chat team for proving that hard community forks are possible not just in theory, but also in practice - the transition period was short and the staff there really did everything to make it smooth. I've migrated and it seems it was a good decision, I don't look back in the slightest.

[0] https://libera.chat/

[1] https://isfreenodedeadyet.com/

[2] https://chit.freenode.net/ - a bash.org clone

[3] https://bbs.freenode.net/ - a Hacker News clone

[4] https://bnc.freenode.net/ - an irccloud clone

[5] https://jobs.freenode.net/ - a Hacker News clone, just exclusively with job postings

/., Digg, reddit — centralized convenience is still too convenient.

Build out open standards well, instead of trying to get people to avoid services on principles alone (it doesn't go great usually).

It is ironic, but not at all surprising to me, that "free speech" in the context of current Freenode means being not enforcing codes of conduct (so being transphobia-friendly among other things), but an iron moderation grip on any criticism of the network itself.

thankfully, IRC is an open protocol, so for most people making such a change could be as simple as mechanically replacing "chat.freenode.net" with "irc.libera.chat" in their config.