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from the deleting-your-most-valuable-asset dept.
Yesterday I got this global notice on Freenode IRC network:
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.
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.
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!
I didn't notice it until I was disconnected and reconnected today and found myself cancelled on the network. Since there is no blog post mentioned in the system notice, I went looking and I found a summary of this week's drama from Hugo Landau.
Freenode commits suicide, is no longer a serious IRC network
The old services database (registered nicknames, channels, etc.) is apparently gone. All of your registered nicknames and channels are gone. Anyone who wishes to continue to use Freenode (though at this point I honestly can't imagine why anyone would want to) must re-register their nickname.
In short, it seems there was no effort whatsoever to migrate the services database when migrating from Atheme to Anope. Not only that, this transition happened suddenly with, as far as I am aware, zero warning. Freenode has simply dropped all nickname and channel registrations without warning.
Even my channel ##hntop which was previously seized personally by Andrew Lee is no longer registered. It's literally open season for anyone who wants to impersonate someone else, steal their nickname, or take over someone else's channel.
What a strange move, to delete all users and channels and make no effort to move them to a new system, and not explain themselves publicly in a blog post!
Earlier Soylent coverage: Freenode Hijacked (Part 2)
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:04PM (1 child)
As you might expect, my registered account is no longer registered.
Those channels that I log into show a battle going on for ops. I see no reason to stick around, other than the lulz. This is what I was greeted with when I connected to the server:
After about four of those messages, my client finally connected, but as an unregistered user.
I did, after a couple days, re-register my nick, just to prevent it being used maliciously by some other person. I'm certainly not high profile on freenode, but others have noted that channels and user accounts are being hijacked wholesale.
The /list command shows 77696 users on 3953 channels, but I have little idea which of those channels have been usurped, and which have been reclaimed by their proper owners.
/me joins the mass exodus from freenode
(Score: 3, Touché) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @08:56PM
Lot of "new" in those messages. Where else have we heard that kind of "new" before? Brave New World. New Economy.