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posted by janrinok on Wednesday June 16 2021, @05:03PM   Printer-friendly
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)


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:06PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:06PM (#1146033)

    i got no beef in this game.
    however i got "auto-encrypted" when using irrsi and /connect chat.freenode.net (new server).
    going to irc.libera.chat or wats-it-called got me this:
    "Cannot join channel (+r) - you need to be identified with services"

    pleeaaase(!) don't require registration/identification to chat!

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:17PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:17PM (#1146047) Journal

    Registration has been a near-requirement on many IRC channels, for as long as I can remember. The server will accept your connection, but channel operators set their own privileges. It's no problem to mute or even ban unregistered users from a channel.

    Maybe libera requires all users to register before they can "speak" anywhere, but it's more likely the individual channel operators who have done so. You can join #otter-browser and talk without registering - I've been connected there since June 09.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:36PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:36PM (#1146054)

    I'm not sure if your specific example is due to a VPN or something, but IRCs besides libera.chat have been doing that for years. Some even had channel naming ettique indicating +r only channels. I personally find it annoying but given the spammers and griefers regularly showing up in registration-free channels/networks I can see why some have chosen curated responses to the problem.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @11:40PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @11:40PM (#1146200)

      "but given the spammers and griefers regularly showing up in registration-free channels/networks I can see why some have chosen curated responses to the problem"

      SN tried that out too, now look where we are! Human social groups require some amount of accountability and ground rules, anarchy has yet to produce any real value.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @03:58AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @03:58AM (#1146333)

        If hierarchy is the only way you can imagine forming groups with acceptable norms of behavior, you are the problem.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @08:53PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @08:53PM (#1146697)

          they should really tatoo all these required social norms into babies code in the future. social, just and normed genetic code for the win!!!