Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff • Hacker News Board

Re: Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff

#41

Post by corobo » Mon, Jun 14, 2021, 1:38 PM UTC

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #30

andai wrote: post #10

Seriously, what's the matter with this guy? I thought he was just really naive but I can't see an explanation for doing something like this that isn't malicious.

The only thing I can think of is that freenode and libera are in it together, and they're creating drama to make people talk about IRC again. I joked on another thread that he is just being a wrestling heel at this point. It's either that or it's a purely emotional response with no rational plan. Edit: if it is all a bit of performative art, then it's brilliant. I have logged into public IRC maybe 10 times in the las…

That'd be a hell of a plot haha. Honestly I think this is closer to being the last big IRC drama

Re: Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff

#42

Post by Aeolun » Mon, Jun 14, 2021, 1:39 PM UTC

GekkePrutser wrote: post #20

300bps wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s an amazing drop in users! Thanks for that link - I was on Undernet starting in 1995 and even though the charts only went back to 1998 it was interesting to see the popularity of different IRC networks wax and wane over the years.

More stats: https://isfreenodedeadyet.com

I miss a big button saying ‘NO, freenode is not dead yet’ on that website :/

Re: Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff

#43

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 14, 2021, 1:41 PM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #29

Freenode: Current global users 49980 Libera: Current global users 32769 Freenode's decline in users over the past month: http://www.hinner.com/ircstat/Socip_F_2.gif Comparison showing Freenode decline and Libera rise: https://netsplit.de/networks/top10.php Probably won't be long before Freenode is effectively dead. Edit: Also see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27502059 for a projection and more stats.

[deleted]

Re: Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff

#44

Post by Libcat99 » Mon, Jun 14, 2021, 1:44 PM UTC

Biganon wrote: post #32

Libcat99 wrote: post #2

freenode is dead. Everything it stood for is dead. Staff tout free speech, but they apparently only mean troll speech since anyone speaking against them or announcing new homes is getting channels stolen and users banned. It's disgusting.

Freenode is not dead, it has a new name. And everything it stood for is especially not dead.

Sure, the communities have moved on. This is what Lee did not understand. freenode was never something he could own.

freenode was communities of people. The servers were donated, provided by people in the communities who wanted a reliable network. The staff were members of those communities, developers for those projects, and all volunteers. The users never were freenode users, they were ubuntu, and debian, and ham radio, and gimp users.

There was nothing to OWN.

And now that someone who has no clue about any of this does, they leave in droves.

Re: Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff

#45

Post by haunter » Mon, Jun 14, 2021, 1:50 PM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #29

Freenode: Current global users 49980 Libera: Current global users 32769 Freenode's decline in users over the past month: http://www.hinner.com/ircstat/Socip_F_2.gif Comparison showing Freenode decline and Libera rise: https://netsplit.de/networks/top10.php Probably won't be long before Freenode is effectively dead. Edit: Also see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27502059 for a projection and more stats.

That low? IRC is truly dead

But then again everyone is on Discord now so no surprise

Re: Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff

#46

Post by syshum » Mon, Jun 14, 2021, 1:50 PM UTC

loudtieblahblah wrote: post #35

LocalH wrote: post #3

Wow, they really think they own the communities just because people chose to use them for IRC? How fucking entitled and arrogant . I don't even use it, but death to Freenode. Obviously somebody thought they found a gold mine, but in their tunnel vision is so focused on "owning" something that they never owned, that they're willing to burn the whole place down to keep "owning" it.

is it really any different than say.. Discord? or a subreddit? it always stuck me as amazing in how much autonomy IRC channels tend to have on various servers, especially as the internet has changed in the past 20 years. Between mobs wanting "accountability" for speech they don't like, the increases in liability, the MSM targeting any platform that has any free speech or autonomy to it (be it Substack, podcasts, E2EE…

the classic reddit debate, are Moderators Janitors or leaders...

I have always said they should be viewed as content janitors but many many many (most) moderators disagree and take the limited power they have way to seriously

Re: Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff

#47

Post by danaris » Mon, Jun 14, 2021, 1:52 PM UTC

_fat_santa wrote: post #26

blakesterz wrote: post #4

I've only been 1/2 following along with this, I'm not sure I get it now. Freenode staff now has total control over every single change on Freenode? Won't that drive everyone (literally everyone) away? What's the Freenode staff's goal here? I'm not a Freenode user and have no interest in this at all, just wondering as a somewhat interested outsider.

I wonder the same as an outsider. If you drive away all your users what do you really have at the end? Maybe they thought they were a monopoly and could act with impunity, though that seems like a foolish assumption

It's clear from Lee's words and actions that that's exactly what he thought.

That, combined with a fragile ego and controlling personality, led very predictably to him reacting to people starting to talk about leaving by trying to tighten his grip on everything—and everything slipping through his fingers.

Re: Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff

#48

Post by craftinator » Mon, Jun 14, 2021, 1:52 PM UTC

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #37

tutfbhuf wrote: post #33

The reasoning is quite simple: Lee wants to force everybody away from Freenode to Libera so that he has full control and power over an empty Freenode network.

Why, though? How does that benefit him in any way?

Dictators gonna dictate.

Re: Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff

#49

Post by foobarbaz33 » Mon, Jun 14, 2021, 1:52 PM UTC

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #37

tutfbhuf wrote: post #33

The reasoning is quite simple: Lee wants to force everybody away from Freenode to Libera so that he has full control and power over an empty Freenode network.

Why, though? How does that benefit him in any way?

Do you even underpants gnomes bro?

Re: Last remaining 1000+ user community channel seized by Freenode staff

#50

Post by SllX » Mon, Jun 14, 2021, 1:52 PM UTC

loudtieblahblah wrote: post #35

LocalH wrote: post #3

Wow, they really think they own the communities just because people chose to use them for IRC? How fucking entitled and arrogant . I don't even use it, but death to Freenode. Obviously somebody thought they found a gold mine, but in their tunnel vision is so focused on "owning" something that they never owned, that they're willing to burn the whole place down to keep "owning" it.

is it really any different than say.. Discord? or a subreddit? it always stuck me as amazing in how much autonomy IRC channels tend to have on various servers, especially as the internet has changed in the past 20 years. Between mobs wanting "accountability" for speech they don't like, the increases in liability, the MSM targeting any platform that has any free speech or autonomy to it (be it Substack, podcasts, E2EE…

No, it’s not different, but there is a difference in expectations.

If anything, Discord and Reddit are the ones that have it backwards. Their servers are theirs, and their free speech interest are theirs, but while you can own the premises and prioritize your own interests on your premises, that doesn’t grant you ownership over the communities you host.

Communities are made up of people, so claiming to own a community isn’t any different than claiming to own people. People can just pick up and move elsewhere, even if that means losing the benefits and privileges of the prior host.