Libera Chat
 | |
| Founded | 19 May 2021 |
|---|---|
| Website URL | libera |
| Primary DNS | ircs://irc.libera.chat:6697 |
| Average users | 48,200 (23 February 2022) |
| Average channels | 21,400 (23 February 2022) |
| Content/subject | Public / unrestricted |
Libera Chat, stylized 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][4]
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.[5][3][6] In February 2021, Dahlskjaer added the logo of Shells, a company co-founded by Lee, to the Freenode website.[3] Following criticism from staff, Dahlskjaer resigned from the leadership of Freenode,[6][3] 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.[3] 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.[3]
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.[3][6] Lee also accused Wesley of harassing Dahlskjaer and of attempting a "hostile takeover."
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,
, Fedora, Ubuntu, Gentoo, FreeBSD, the Free Software Foundation and. have since moved their channels from Freenode to Libera Chat and to other IRC networks.
References
- ^ "Libera Chat". Libera Chat. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g 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.
- ^ Salter, Jim (24 May 2021). "Freenode IRC staff resign en masse after takeover by Korea's "crown prince"". Ars Technica.
- ^ 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 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.
External links
