If it wasn't already obvious, this basically confirms that Freenode is no longer a good place to be. Most projects are migrating to libera.chat while some are migrating to OFTC.
In case you missed it, last week the staff running freenode for 20 years were evicted by legal threats and the sudden change in how the network is run is because of new management.
That particular incident was the moment when the staff all resigned.
They had already seen it coming and had made preparations. All the important things have moved to a new domain:, see: https://libera.chat/
Once the dust settles, basically what's effectively left to say is that everything that made freenode great will be renamed to libera.chat; whilst an imposter will (sadly) be left in control of the old freenode.net name.
The story has been breaking over the past few days.
Wikipedia has links to news stories:
Having decided to move their channels to Libera, with a final transition date of June 25th, the Free Software Foundation channels were seized by freenode staff early today.
Fosshost.org has moved all of its channels to Libera with immediate effect. We no longer support the Freenode network by its current management and or leadership. It is such a shame that it has come to this.
Freenode's management changed. Libera.Chat is a new organization with new servers not associated with Freenode -- but many organizations that had previously maintained IRC channels on Freenode are moving to Libera.Chat.
Fosshost.org #fosshost has taken the decision to move all of its channels from freenode to libera with immediate effect. It is such a shame that it has come to this, but we had no option.
What? No. Our hackerspace decided that we should probably maybe move our IRC channels to libera.chat but have a grace period, generally do things carefully and slowly. We had 'moving to libera.chat soon' in our /topic, set by myself in haste just to let people know that we are aware of the Freenode kerfuffle and that yes, we will likely move over.
Then we lost control of our IRC channels on Freenode, because someone from Freenode took it from us. No-one member of the hackerspace has control over it anymore. That's a hijacking.
the freenode irc network disappeared overnight, but everyone just updated their links to point at libera.chat instead, which has almost all of the same projects, active users, etc.
It was essentially just an infrastructure change, which is the nice thing about open protocols and server implementations. Libera has 40k users and over 1000 foss projects that were on freenode.
the freenode userbase and community is alive and well, just under a new link
Andrew decided at about 1600 EST on June 15th that he'd close down the Old Freenode down prematurely, and forcibly move everyone to the new network:
<kn\> when is freenode classic being turned off
<rasengan> kn\ looks like soon
<rasengan> i didnt realize it was such a swamp
<rasengan> gotta drain it asap
...
rasengan places a new sign in #freenode: THE SWAMP WILL BE DRAINED TODAY!
<rasengan> Decision has been made.
<rasengan> We have to drain this swamp.
rasengan sets #freenode +m moderated
rasengan unsets #freenode -z
<rasengan> We are draining the swamp.
<rasengan> Classic tried to go on for the sake of the community, but the community has made it loud and clear - they want freenode classic to end, today!
<rasengan> #MFGA
rasengan adds !@* to the #freenode +q founder list
<rasengan> Everyone thinks they can just say whatever they want. Lesson #1 for IRC: Think before you type.
<rasengan> Consequences are real. Treat things you care about with respect. Appreciate it. Help it. Cultivate it. And don't try to destroy it - because if you wish for its destruction, you're going to get it.
<rasengan> Classic Freenode had a special part in my heart and everyone else's. It's the saddest and hardest thing I've done, in a long time - but I
<rasengan> am giving the directive to shut it down.
<rasengan> Goodbye freenode classic.
<rasengan> This is your queue to go to libera and oftc if you dont like waht we're doing.
<rasengan> Do it. If you don't like what we're doing - go do it better.
<rasengan> They need help.
<rasengan> So does OFTC.
<rasengan> I hope you'll all contribute hands. If you hate me so much anyway, it's a good use of energy to try to do everything ya'll can to cultivate other IRC networks to cause freenode to not matter.
(Some unrelated discussions were trimmed; see https://0x0.st/-L59.txt for a slightly-less edited version.)
#blender got hit too, tho interestingly enough, not any of the sub-channels (none of which had 'libera.chat' in the topic) were hit.
This seems like it is very bad timing on the part of freenode staff... with many communities already on the knife edge about switching, this is likely to push plenty of people over.
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.
It's hilarious that rasengan is complaining about Libera "fracturing the FOSS community".[0]
For example, #newsboat members decided to move by June 5th, and we've been deciding between OFTC and Libera. Then this happened:
20:05 --> freenodecom [freenode-placehol] (www.freenode.net) (~com@freenode/staff) has joined #newsboat
20:05 -- freenodecom has changed topic for #newsboat from "We intend to migrate off Freenode. What do you prefer: OFTC or Libera.chat? Details here: https://github.com/newsboat/newsboat/issues/1643" to "This channel has moved to ##newsboat. The topic is in violation of freenode policy: https://freenode.net/policies"
20:05 <@freenodecom> This channel has been reopened with respect to the communities and new users. The topic is in violation of freenode policy: https://freenode.net/policies
20:05 -- Mode #newsboat [+o freenodecom] by OperServ
20:05 -- Mode #newsboat [+impsf ##newsboat] by ChanServ
20:05 <@freenodecom> The new channel is ##newsboat
20:05 <-- freenodecom (~com@freenode/staff) has left #newsboat
Great. Now none of us can speak on #newsboat, making coordination to switch much harder. New users might get confused and join the wrong channel operated by a hostile party. The community is more fractured now.
To everyone with a freenode channel: whatever you do, do not mention "libera" in your channel topic. That's the trigger for this action.
Below is the global message sent to all users, on reconnect all channels are unowned and whoever rejoined first is the operator, all nicks are unregistered.
10:20 -keitwo(~kei@freenode/staff/kei)- [Global Notice 1/3] We are moving past legacy freenode to a new fork. The new freenode is launched. You will slowly be disconnected and when you reconnect, you will be on the new freenode. We patiently await to welcome you in freedom's holdout - the freenode.
10:20 -keitwo(~kei@freenode/staff/kei)- [Global Notice 2/3] If you're looking to connect now, you can already /server chat.freenode.net 6697 (ssl) or 6667 (plaintext). It's a new genesis for a new era. Thank you for using freenode, and Hello World, from the future. freenode is IRC. freenode is FOSS. freenode is freedom.
10:20 -keitwo(~kei@freenode/staff/kei)- [Global Notice 3/3] When you connect, register your nickname and your channel and get started. It's a new world. We're so happy to welcome you and the millions of others. We will be posting more information in the coming days on our website and twitter. Otherwise, see you on the other side!
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