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Introduction to Techrights IRC

IRC channels



Summary: A sort of belated primer regarding our IRC channels; these remain our main collaboration tool for real-time interactions (since 2008)

Techrights IRC channels go back more than 12 years (hence the channels with "boycottnovell" still in them; it's a legacy feature or artifact). There are 4 channels and one of them is mostly used to retain local copies of Social Control Media posts; historically this was done for about a dozen regulars of ours, using Identi.ca (and later Twitter) APIs; when Twitter shut down these APIs 2 years ago we resorted to Pleroma/Fediverse (a bot called "viera" was developed for us, for this very purpose), so the number of people echoed was significantly reduced. Many are, sadly enough, not on Fediverse (and not because they're too busy blogging).

"Nowadays the main channel has in it between 60 to 70 people (plus bots) constantly lurking. Some people do not lurk in IRC but instead read the logs to keep abreast (happenings behind the scenes)."In a sense, going back to these Identi.ca roots (Fediverse is only partly compatible with what was once known as StatusNet) is a gain for freedom and for Free software, even if the paradigm itself -- namely Social Control Media -- is deeply flawed.

Nowadays the main channel has in it between 60 to 70 people (plus bots) constantly lurking. Some people do not lurk in IRC but instead read the logs to keep abreast (happenings behind the scenes). Sometimes E-mail provides a sort of 'feedback loop' between log lurkers and IRC lurkers (they can communicate with one another days apart). We facilitate those kinds of discussions.

While we don't need to talk about who's who (some people prefer their pseudonyms and their privacy; they're reasonably technical and privacy-conscious), there's something to be said about the IRC logs.

Logging



It all started in 2008. Keith from Slated.org helped set up the main and first channel. The channels were logged on multiple machines and logs published on a daily basis since the early days (my workstation in Manchester University used to be the fallback machine, sitting there in the shared office with XChat in the background). Some time around 2011 -- or maybe a year later -- the logs were published less regularly because the workflow was labour-intensive and sometimes I was physically away. Mark, who is based in Canada, has a server sitting on the channels logging it for us in case the connection goes offline here in the UK. Logging is nowadays also being done in the US. So three different countries do the logging, which improves robustness (avoiding data loss/textual lapses) by redundancy. Netsplits and Freenode downtime incidents -- however rare these may be -- can be compensated for (by having logs from both sides of the 'split'). We improved these mechanisms over the years. Not even prolonged power outages would lead to data loss.

"Netsplits and Freenode downtime incidents -- however rare these may be -- can be compensated for (by having logs from both sides of the 'split')."Last summer or in early autumn (we published some logs retroactively) we worked to address that lack of automation and resumed publishing logs every day at roughly the same time. The logs are typically generated, manually, some time after midnight and then uploaded. Supervised by a person, the process is less error-prone. Two people check the process.



Redaction



There are two levels of redaction. One pertains to pre-pasting of material onto channels and another is done, albeit very rarely, after something is said publicly (in IRC, but not in logs). This can be due to a privacy issue, a pasting malfunction, or a request (it's rare but it happens). We don't just publish everything irresponsibly. We carefully check that nothing illegal, for example, is being done or promoted. Considering the fact we're censorship-free, the channels are still surprisingly civil and most of the time they're professional enough. Profanities aren't being censored; we detest censorship. Profanity is part of human nature and deletion won't change that nature.

How to Join Us



The channels can be accessed using a Web browser or using an IRC client. The main channel is #techrights at irc.freenode.org (the less important channels are #boycottnovell, #techbytes and #boycottnovell-social; there's also #tuxmachines, but that's a different site).

"It probably shouldn't be too shocking that many of the IRC discussion lead to topics and angles covered here on a daily basis (in wiki and blog form)."We're always attentive and there's always somebody ready to reply, provided one waits long enough because people are "away from keyboard" (afk) a lot of the time. Sometimes people drop by, say a few words, then disappear after about a minute, not giving even an opportunity to respond. 4 of my screens show me 4 IRC channels in tandem, but rather than or instead relying on alerts/notifications I depend on motion (screen changes) to detect activity because it is a lot less distracting.

It probably shouldn't be too shocking that many of the IRC discussion lead to topics and angles covered here on a daily basis (in wiki and blog form). The community generally grew over time and we're proud to say no censorship or "CoC" was needed; it would only harm the general atmosphere. We're an unmoderated forum. We're also transparent enough that the concept of "techrightsGate" or "techrightsLeaks" is ludicrous at best; it would not reveal anything that's not already publicly accessible to all.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Speed of GNU/Linux
The media seldom speaks of the dangers of "proprietary software"
Proprietary Windows Versus "Linux" News (Trying to Keep People on Windows, Never Exploring GNU/Linux)
Good editors know better how to recognise threats and not give them lip service
Ensuring That Every Computer User Anywhere in the World Can Take Control of All His or Her Computers
We must fight the people who attack general-purpose computing, in particular those who push this agenda very aggressively inside Linux
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Autism and Structural Navigation
Links for the day
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: The Purge, the Cover-up, and the Witch-hunts
OSI has gone "full Microsoft"
 
Links 28/04/2025: Canada's Election, Pakistan-India Conflict
Links for the day
Glue Inside Your Pizza (or Why People Will Get Fed Up With Slop)
People are given "answers" from non-intelligence word dumpsters
Links 28/04/2025: Cyberattacks Happening, Chatbots Disappointing, and "Free Speech Under Fire"
Links for the day
Phone Adoption Very Low in Vatican, Windows Usage Fell Nonetheless
Even in places where people still use desktops/laptops most of the time (and have access to these) Windows is gradually losing ground
GNU/Linux 9% in Cuba, Vista 11 Waning, Android Dominant
Microsoft has pretty much lost Cuba
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 27, 2025
In 24 Countries Observed by statCounter Vista 11 is Still Less Than a Quarter of Windows Users Despite All Other Versions Being 'Expired'
They ought to move to GNU/Linux
Links 27/04/2025: Pope Goodbyes, "Politics of Fear", Slop Redux and More Google Shutdowns (Google Debt Had Grown This Year)
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Serenity Dialectics, Hockey Jersey Ethics, and More
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Death of Nest Thermostats, Death of Metaverse
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Projects Workflow and Discovering Technology
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 26, 2025
Microsoft Isn't on the Map in USSR
To them, it's either Google or Yandex
In Central America Windows Became a Small Force
These are countries where Windows used to have well over 95% of the "market"
What's Very Vexing to GAFAM, EPO and Others Is That It's Incredibly Hard to Censor Us (and Nobody Ever Successfully Did That Before)
resist, do not capitulate
Site May be Even Faster Now
It basically takes less than a tenth of a second to serve the page
Receiving SLAPPs and Collecting Them Like Trophies (the SLAPPs Always Fail)
People who file lawsuits bring even more attention to themselves (or to embarrassing statements about them)
Year of GNU/Linux on the Laptop?
It's not happening only in Lenovo
What People Must Understand About the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
some facts about the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
Many of the Scandals Are Interconnected (Overlapping People and Corporations)
We're only getting started
More Copyright Lawsuits Against LLM Slop Providers and Suppliers of LLM Slopfarms Would Benefit Society
It's not just bad for the Web and for society; it's also legally dangerous
Links 26/04/2025: General Assassinated in the Town of Balashikha, US Promoting Seafloor Mining
Links for the day
Links 26/04/2025: Facebook Layoffs Again, Remembering What's Real, and Say No to Mass Surveillance
Links for the day
Links 26/04/2025: NOAA Budget Cuts and "Dog Days Ahead"
Links for the day
In defence of JD Vance, death of Pope Francis
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Three Years in Prison for Disney Employee’s ‘Menu Hacking’: The Economic Fallout of Digital Menus
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 25, 2025