Libera Chat
 | |
| Founded | 19 May 2021 |
|---|---|
| Website URL | libera |
| Primary DNS | ircs://irc.libera.chat:6697 |
| Average users | 45,500 (16 September 2022) |
| Average channels | 22,400 (16 September 2022) |
| Content/subject | Public / unrestricted |
Libera Chat, stylized Libera.Chat, is an for projects. It was founded on 19 May 2021 by former staff members, after Freenode was taken over by , founder of Private Internet Access
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.[1][2][3] In February 2021, Dahlskjaer added the logo of Shells, a company co-founded by Lee, to the Freenode website.[2] Following criticism from staff, Dahlskjaer resigned from the leadership of Freenode,[3][2] 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.[2] Freenode staff resigned en masse, and some published statements outlining their view of what happened and claiming that Lee had been applying legal pressure to Wesley.[2]
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.[2][3] Lee also accused Wesley of harassing Dahlskjaer and of attempting a "hostile takeover."[2][4][3][5]
Libera Chat
After resigning from Freenode, the former staff created Libera Chat on 19 May 2021.[6][2] 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".[3] Many major projects like Bitcoin, FrOSCon, Fedora, Ubuntu, Gentoo, FreeBSD, the Free Software Foundation[7] and Wikimedia have since moved their channels from Freenode to Libera Chat and to other IRC networks.[8]
References
- ^ Dahlskjaer, Christel (12 April 2017). "PIA and freenode joining forces". Freenode. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Franceschi-Bicchierai, Lorenzo (19 May 2021). "Developers Flee Open Source Project After 'Takeover' By Korean Crown Prince". Vice. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Nardi, Tom (19 May 2021). "Freenode debacle prompts staff exodus, new network". Hackaday. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ Claburn, Thomas (19 May 2021). "Freenode IRC staff resign en masse, unhappy about new management". The Register. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ Lee, Andrew (19 May 2021). "Letter to freenode". Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021 – via GitHub.
- ^ Beschizza, Rob (19 May 2021). "Freenode IRC staff quit after new owner "seizes" control of network". Boing Boing. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ "FSF and GNU move official IRC channels to Libera.Chat network — Free Software Foundation — Working together for free software". www.fsf.org. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ "Major Internet Projects Are Leaving Freenode After Korean Prince 'Takeover'". www.vice.com. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
External links
