Kicked off Freenode

#1

Without any obvious warning on the Mailpile IRC channel itself, I have been kicked off Freenode with the message:

[error] Closing link: (~jack@[*** my Internet connection ***]) [You must use TLS/SSL and authenticate via SASL to connect to freenode please visit https://irc.com/login/sso in order to create an account. SASL Configuration: https://freenode.net/kb/answer/sasl - Webchat: https://webchat.freenode.net/]

I had noticed that the number of signed-in nicks had suddenly diminished over the last couple of days, so maybe others were kicked off before me.

Being generous, this may be an attempt to improve security, but if so it nevertheless indicates disregard on the part of the new owners of Freenode for the damage that this does to the #mailpile IRC community. How many people will never get around to ā€œcreating an accountā€? Couldnā€™t existing registered nicks have been grandfathered? This is good reason to switch #mailpile to another IRC provider.

#2

Thereā€™s also a problem with Freenodeā€™s new owner engaging in a lot of extremely questionable practices, including hijacking various high-profile open-source projectsā€™ official IRC channels. The takeover also pushed swathes of Freenodeā€™s existing staff and server admins to leave the organisation; theyā€™ve started a new network at libera.chat which has become the new home for a lot of the affected projects. It might indeed be worth moving to another network.

#3

I agree it probably makes sense to move somewhere else, Freenode seems to be a mess these days. Does anyone have a recommendation?

#4

Hi Bjarni! I donā€™t know much about IRC providers, but ā€¦ .

I watch the Debian Android tools packaging team IRC (though I usually have no idea what they are talking about). They are using oftc.net.

I have tried to create an account at the new Freenode just to see how many others are still on the channel. So far Iā€™ve tried twice to create an account at irc.com, which is part of the procedure, only to have my username/password rejected after the account has supposedly been created.

#5

After writing my last comment, I tried again to sign up on the ā€œnew Freenodeā€ without success. So Iā€™m scratching my head, trying to understand why new owner Andrew Lee would be motivated do this. Whatā€™s in it for him? Then I remembered the principle known as Hanlonā€™s Razor: ā€œNever attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.ā€

If this account can be believed, no attempt was made to migrate nicks and other information from the old Freenode to the new; the new Freenode has very few users, which is not surprising in the circumstances.

Also, In the process of trying to sign up, I found a statement by Andrew Lee, signed thusly:

Your proud servant,
HIH Andrew Lee
of the Joseon Empire, the oldest nation in the world since 1392

Apparently the basis of this is that Andrew Lee (who was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA) has been named Crown Prince of Korea.

Iā€™m reminded of the aphorism, I think by economist John Kenneth Galbraith, that we tend to believe that people who get rich must be exceptionally intelligent, when in the reality they are usually just lucky.

#6

A lot of the big FLOSS projects that used to be on Freenode (KDE, Fedora, Ubuntu, you name it) have moved over to libera.chat, which was set up by a lot of the ex-Freenode staffers that left when Andrew Lee took control of the org. I get the impression that it is de facto the actual ā€œnew Freenodeā€.

There is in fact already a small #mailpile channel there, as I found out when joining it on a whim :slight_smile:

#7

Apparently the basis of this is that Andrew Lee (who was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA) has been named Crown Prince of Korea .

ā€œPeople think itā€™s cool that Iā€™m royalty [now],ā€ Lee says. ā€œBut I donā€™t go around saying ā€˜Hey, Iā€™m a princeā€™, I stay pretty low key.ā€

Your proud servant,
HIH Andrew Lee
of the Joseon Empire, the oldest nation in the world since 1392

I guess he isnā€™t technically, literally, saying ā€œHey, Iā€™m a princeā€? :smiley:

#8

Sorry to go off topic, but what is the advantage of IRC channels vs forums such as this one, or something like https://discord.com/

#9

It uses a fraction of the resources for the client, the server, and the network in between.

It doesnā€™t clutter my mind with fonts, hyperlinks, search windows, ā€¦ .

Other kinds of forums have their place, but in keeping with its name, IRC is good for a simple ā€œchatā€.

#10

Yes, https://libera.chat/ seems to be the one most ex-Freenoders have gone to (itā€™s run by ex-Freenode staff)