Libera Chat Explained

Libera Chat
Primary Dns:ircs://irc.libera.chat:6697
Users Date:02 June 2024
Channels Date:02 June 2024
Main Content:Public / unrestricted

Libera Chat, stylized as Libera.Chat, is an IRC network for free and open-source software projects. It was founded on 19 May 2021[1] by former Freenode staff members, after Freenode was taken over by Andrew Lee, founder of Private Internet Access.[2] [3]

History

Freenode

In 2017, Christel Dahlskjaer, then the head of staff at Freenode, incorporated a new company called Freenode Limited and transferred ownership to technology entrepreneur Andrew Lee.[4] In February 2021, Dahlskjaer added the logo of Shells, a company co-founded by Lee, to the Freenode website.[5] Following criticism from staff, Dahlskjaer resigned from the leadership of Freenode,[6] and Freenode staff elected Tom Wesley as the new head of staff. Lee allegedly removed a blog post explaining the leadership changes and, on 11 May, appointed a new person to oversee the Freenode infrastructure. Freenode staff members resigned en masse, and some published statements outlining their view of what happened and claiming that Lee had been applying legal pressure to Wesley.

Lee denied these claims, and said that he had provided Freenode with millions of dollars and was entitled to Freenode's servers as the owner of Freenode Limited. Lee also accused Wesley of harassing Dahlskjaer and of attempting a "hostile takeover."[7] [8]

Libera Chat

After resigning from Freenode, the former staff created Libera Chat on 19 May 2021. They have described the network as a successor to Freenode, which they intend to focus around "free and open source software projects and similarly-spirited collaborative endeavours". Many major projects like Bitcoin, FrOSCon, Fedora, Ubuntu, Gentoo, FreeBSD, the Free Software Foundation[9] and Wikimedia have since moved their channels from Freenode to Libera Chat and to other IRC networks.[10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Libera Chat. live. 21 May 2021. Libera Chat. en. 19 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210519235326/https://libera.chat/.
  2. Web site: Beschizza. Rob. 19 May 2021. Freenode IRC staff quit after new owner "seizes" control of network. live. 19 May 2021. Boing Boing. en-US. 19 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210519135149/https://boingboing.net/2021/05/19/freenode-irc-staff-quit-after-new-owner-seizes-control.html.
  3. Web site: Freenode IRC staff resign en masse after takeover by Korea's "crown prince". Jim. Salter. 24 May 2021. Ars Technica.
  4. Web site: Dahlskjaer. Christel. 12 April 2017. PIA and freenode joining forces. live. 21 May 2021. Freenode. 20 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210520054257/https://freenode.net/news/pia-fn.
  5. Web site: Franceschi-Bicchierai. Lorenzo. 19 May 2021. Developers Flee Open Source Project After 'Takeover' By Korean Crown Prince. live. 19 May 2021. Vice. en. 19 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210519190257/https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7ev8y/freenode-open-source-korea-crown-prince-takeover.
  6. News: Nardi. Tom. 19 May 2021. Freenode debacle prompts staff exodus, new network. Hackaday. 19 May 2021. 20 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210520140204/https://hackaday.com/2021/05/20/freenode-debacle-prompts-staff-exodus-new-network/. live.
  7. News: Claburn. Thomas. 19 May 2021. Freenode IRC staff resign en masse, unhappy about new management. The Register. 19 May 2021. 21 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210521043242/https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/freenode_staff_resigns/. live.
  8. Web site: Lee. Andrew. 19 May 2021. Letter to freenode. live. 31 October 2021. GitHub. 19 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210519125338/https://gist.github.com/realrasengan/88549ec34ee32d01629354e4075d2d48.
  9. Web site: FSF and GNU move official IRC channels to Libera.Chat network . Jun 11, 2021 . Free Software Foundation . 13 June 2021.
  10. Web site: Major Internet Projects Are Leaving Freenode After Korean Prince 'Takeover'. Lorenzo . Franceschi-Bicchierai . 2021-05-26. Vice . 26 May 2021 . en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Libera Chat".

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