Funny this is the worst possible IRC network to use - so many channels are overly restrictive which leads to a crappy user experience. The usual claim is to "combat spam" but most other networks (OFTC) don't implement these policies and have little to no trouble with spam.
As a freenode user I have no say over who the freenode owner is, much like I have no say over Discord's moderation policies. It's the same puppet with different masters; neither situation really empowers me. Yes I can always start my own IRC server but if nobody wants to join it what's the point? 99% of the battle is getting people into the same virtual room.
Freenode is for free software. It's not "free as in someone else runs our private chat for us." Hosting business chat via terms of service abuse is inadvisable to say the least.
There are many IRC servers. IRC daemons are available as free software that anyone can run. Freenode is not particularly problematic. It is an organization of servers run by a community, not a company. By asking someone to login to Freenode I do not entice them to use proprietary software like I would if I asked them to use Slack.
my first thought on that post actually was, how about moving all the channels onto freenode? there is no need for every community to maintain their own servers. and most FOSS IRC users will be on freenode anyways.
From what I've read it seems like you generally seem to have Freenode's interests at heart, but this seems like a complete communication failure. Most channels I've been a part of have moved to Libera Chat, so I don't think Freenode in its current form can recover from this.
Maybe you should consider incorporating it as a nonprofit and potentially a technology switch to Matrix? It would be nice to have a homeserver that people can rely on and isn't Matrix.org.
Thankfully, the open protocol means it's just a one-line change to move over to irc.libera.chat , run by the same people as ran freenode until last week, carrying on in the same spirit.
The freenode "staffers" just don't like the fact that someone was able to win the irc game (i.e., gaining more power) without following their invented arbitrary bureaucracy and dedicating their life to idling in the right set of channels.
This whole thing is really off topic and should be taken to ##wrongplanet .
Freenode ironically isn't very free.
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