I spent ~15 years of my life as freenode staff.
For a year or so I did most if not all user support alone.
In 2006/2007, I helped save it from hostile takeover.
There is no moral, and likely no legal, way for it to have been sold.
I am numb from pain.
irc.libera.chat
For a year or so I did most if not all user support alone.
In 2006/2007, I helped save it from hostile takeover.
There is no moral, and likely no legal, way for it to have been sold.
I am numb from pain.
irc.libera.chat
https://twitter.com/rfc1036/status/1394987628756357123
Registered : Nov 30 00:00:00 2000 (20y 25w 0d ago)
(It used to be really, really easy to accidentally drop your own nick doing end user support, so a few of us had/still have reg times reset by hand)
(It used to be really, really easy to accidentally drop your own nick doing end user support, so a few of us had/still have reg times reset by hand)
Within eight hours, irc.libera.chat is the eight-largest IRC network on Earth.
And the migrations are just getting started.
And the migrations are just getting started.
At last count, 150 projects are moving or have moved to irc.libera.chat already.
This screenshot is a first in the 23 year history of netsplit.de :
This screenshot is a first in the 23 year history of netsplit.de :
* CentOS moving: lists.centos.org/pipermail/cent…
* Ubuntu moving: lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubunt…
* #Bitcoin moving
* @grafana moving
* @fosdem moving
* @PrometheusIO moving, or stopping IRC usage completely
* Ubuntu moving: lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubunt…
* #Bitcoin moving
* @grafana moving
* @fosdem moving
* @PrometheusIO moving, or stopping IRC usage completely
@liberachat for official updates. Currently a partially restricted account as too many followers are flooding in.
I managed to be follower number 666 by sheer accident.
I managed to be follower number 666 by sheer accident.
@ThePSF @Wikimedia @Wikipedia moving away from freenode and to irc.liberia.chat :
meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?ti…
meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?ti…
24 hours after irc.libera.chat was opened, it is the sixth-largest IRC network on Earth.
At 10,634 concurrent users, @liberachat has overtaken OFTC.
I expect libera to overtake EFnet & Rizon before today is over.
At 10,634 concurrent users, @liberachat has overtaken OFTC.
I expect libera to overtake EFnet & Rizon before today is over.
/lusers on OFTC currently shows 17470; netsplit.de numbers seem to lag behind the current freenode exodus, so I will stop reporting numbers until that settles a bit.
Rumor has it the people and organizations sponsoring freenode's servers and infrastructure for years and decades are... surprised... that anyone would claim they have willfully been providing free resources to a for-profit entity for years.
How it started: How it's going:
A ton of old-time freenode staffers have rallied around @liberachat and became active again.
Not only is the community's choice and voice clear, it's even bringing back people from way back.
Not only is the community's choice and voice clear, it's even bringing back people from way back.
@liberachat @fosdem & @grafana have just been registered as projects on @liberachat . Huge project backlog because of the mass migration.
We'll wind down the IRC channels on freenode ASAP and not look back.
Anything official, help, etc -> irc.libera.chat
See you on the otter side.
We'll wind down the IRC channels on freenode ASAP and not look back.
Anything official, help, etc -> irc.libera.chat
See you on the otter side.
@liberachat @fosdem @grafana We started doing this in what? 2004? 2005? Still going strong.
https://twitter.com/ircpuzzles/status/1395776813532688401
FOSDEM and Grafana got tickets 330 and 331, just to give an indication of the amount of projects which are switching.
It's almost as if everyone with the slightest bit of context agreed 100%.
It's almost as if everyone with the slightest bit of context agreed 100%.
https://mobile.twitter.com/shadowcat_mst/status/1395992964061618176
* Xen: lists.xenproject.org/archives/html/…
* VoidLinux: voidlinux.org/news/2021/05/l…
* SourceHut: sourcehut.org/blog/2021-05-1…
* KDE in active discussions, including handing back all previous donations from shells<dot>com
* VoidLinux: voidlinux.org/news/2021/05/l…
* SourceHut: sourcehut.org/blog/2021-05-1…
* KDE in active discussions, including handing back all previous donations from shells<dot>com
Alpine Linux moving to OFTC, which is also 100% valid and run by dedicated volunteers: alpinelinux.org/posts/Switchin…
For anyone who is still uncertain if the takeover of freenode was hostile or not:
@IrssiProject has literally *purged* freenode from their codebase and set all defaults to @liberachat
github.com/irssi/irssi/co…
@IrssiProject has literally *purged* freenode from their codebase and set all defaults to @liberachat
github.com/irssi/irssi/co…
That was already clear, but there's a migration guide now: @Wikimedia moving to @liberachat :
meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC/Migra…
meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC/Migra…
The freenode exodus is currently #2, #3, #7, and #13 on Hacker News.
Several times #1 over the day, and #1, #2, and #3 once from what I was told.
Several times #1 over the day, and #1, #2, and #3 once from what I was told.
@PrometheusIO maintainer locked out of a Prometheus channel 🙃
https://twitter.com/bwplotka/status/1397557682052206601
OK, wow.
Arguably the single most important sponsor in the history of #freenode getting kicked out of their own channel. Because of course they were.
https://twitter.com/osuosl/status/1397583424437690375
Why "arguably"? Without @osuosl, early freenode would have keeled over and exploded. I am not convinced we could have grown as much without their support.
When freenode was close to exploding again, there came jonas of probe networks and saved us.
It's a tie between the two.
When freenode was close to exploding again, there came jonas of probe networks and saved us.
It's a tie between the two.
@osuosl @liberachat is the fifth-largest network on Earth by netsplit's sliding average; and should break the 20k user barrier today.
@osuosl @liberachat It's myself and tens to hundreds of thousands of people who have to thank you. Quite literally, without @osuosl freenode could never have grown into what it was until last week.
https://twitter.com/osuosl/status/1397633679581597697
Cyclic link; article links back to this thread:
https://twitter.com/lorenzofb/status/1397538878404374529
In which @quasseldroid literally implements a warning against connecting to freenode:
https://twitter.com/quasseldroid/status/1397824682259329024
https://twitter.com/liberachat/status/1397888598243000321was ~12 hours ago.
~1.5k more users since then.
If there's one positive thing about the whole freenode kerfuffle, it's that I don't have to care about anyone spelling it "Freenode" or "FreeNode" ever again.
Reminder: #OFTC is the other community-run and FLOSS-centric IRC network:
https://twitter.com/grmlproject/status/1398194067566178305
@liberachat is the third-largest IRC network on Earth according to netsplit's sliding average.
Should overtake @irc_net over the weekend.
Should overtake @irc_net over the weekend.
It's just too many projects to track here; see github.com/siraben/freeno… going forward.
% host redondo.freenode.net
https://t.co/SjuMuUoah4 has address 107.167.8.10
% host irc.voat.co
https://t.co/cW9rcSahin has address 107.167.8.10
%
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voat :
"The website was widely described as a hub for the alt-right"
https://t.co/SjuMuUoah4 has address 107.167.8.10
% host irc.voat.co
https://t.co/cW9rcSahin has address 107.167.8.10
%
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voat :
"The website was widely described as a hub for the alt-right"
securitytrails.com/domain/irc.por… has led me to securitytrails.com/list/ip/64.44.… - an overview of projects which still have CNAMEs onto freenode even though many migrated already. If your project is on the list, consider updating.
You may have heard that FOSSHOST, a redistributor of third-party resources, had monetary problems recently and joined forces with freenode Ltd. after a substantial donation
Reliable sources have it that
Reliable sources have it that
https://twitter.com/joepie91/status/1400475838894817283&
https://twitter.com/nicolas09F9/status/1400121795458523136are not isolated incidents
Will be interesting to see how that overall situation develops.
Impressive. @liberachat shot straight past the 30k concurrent users into the 31ks.
22:00:37 [libera] -!- Current global users 31309, max 31309
22:00:37 [libera] -!- Current global users 31309, max 31309
@liberachat This is so much growth, the sliding average by netsplit.de reports more than 10k too few as of right now: 20620
@liberachat YEOUCH!
@liberachat I work with graphs and communities for a living. This is remarkable.
@liberachat That would do it. Another reference by @fbegyn in reply to parent tweet.
https://mobile.twitter.com/IRCCloud/status/1404153550159159298
Quick history lesson: IRC networks usually cater to an specific target audience. That might be your local hackerspace, your work, or a specific community. QuakeNet caters to gamers, freenode used to cater to the FLOSS community. Cyclic effects are per community.
As you can see (~ish) from this graph from 2012, game networks like QuakeNet spike in usage from Friday to Sunday as people go play. FLOSS-centric networks like libera and OFTC spike on Monday and fall off over the week as people go there to get work done. Every week of the year.
For as long as I can remember, at the very least since 2005, freenode usage spiked up every single Monday. See this graph from 2005.
Today's Monday. Compare the size of the spikes from a month ago to today. That change is the amount of people going there to do paid work through it.
It seems this thread will end soon.
Immediately visibly, the existing ircds have been delinked and a new network spun up:
Immediately visibly, the existing ircds have been delinked and a new network spun up:
https://twitter.com/dave_universetf/status/1404603691001270272
These are the ircd self-reporting stats:
There are 3812 users and 515 invisible on 11 servers
19 operator(s) online
8 unknown connections
6444 channels formed
I have 1092 clients and 1 servers
08:59 -!- Current local users: 1092 Max: 1098
Current global users: 4327 Max: 4328
There are 3812 users and 515 invisible on 11 servers
19 operator(s) online
8 unknown connections
6444 channels formed
I have 1092 clients and 1 servers
08:59 -!- Current local users: 1092 Max: 1098
Current global users: 4327 Max: 4328
Why and how 4327 users span up 6444 channels between themselves is unclear. If I had to venture a guess:
Bots sitting in now-empty channels, waiting patiently for users who may never return into the newly created void.
Bots sitting in now-empty channels, waiting patiently for users who may never return into the newly created void.
More than 20 years of automation point to freenode. Endless small scripts on long-forgotten servers are connecting there. It will take time, or action by new staff, to get rid of that installed base quickly.
But the starkest signal:
20+ years of Services database records, user & channel registrations, have been dropped. It's a free-for-all and nicknames & channels have new owners. If you choose to connect, you must assume that many (most?) familiar names belong to unfamiliar faces.
20+ years of Services database records, user & channel registrations, have been dropped. It's a free-for-all and nicknames & channels have new owners. If you choose to connect, you must assume that many (most?) familiar names belong to unfamiliar faces.
Even though many of you endlessly requested I link to isfreenodedeadyet.com I refrained; it was not about publicly killing anything. It seems the people behind the site consider the question answered and intend to stop tracking:
Myself, I was mainly trying to create a diary for myself and others. Document in near-real time something that will be part of many a master's and PhD thesis on FLOSS communities for years to come.
I was also trying to work through the pain of saying goodbye to something I considered a dear friend, even if not human in itself. I carried a gentle and passionate affection for it.
Sometimes, external circumstances suddenly make it easier to let go.
Sometimes, external circumstances suddenly make it easier to let go.
But I mainly care about the ideas, philosophy, and ethos underlying what freenode used to be. And what OFTC and libera still are.
Look back to learn, look forward to create.
Look back to learn, look forward to create.
How fitting that libera staff asked me to stand for election as staff over the weekend. I have been voted in and accepted.
It will be an advisory role, not an operational one. I don't have the time I used to have. Still, I hope to have looked back enough, learned enough, to be useful.
Let's rise.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
