Bonum Certa Men Certa

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

Datamation, Where I Used to Publish Articles, Appears to Have Been Sold to TechnologyAdvice Only to Become a Slopfarm
I'd prefer to not associate with that site anymore
 
How Software Patents Were Viewed or Their General Status Changed Over Time
A rough summary
We Are Turning 19 in One Month, FSF Turns 40 in 3 Hours (CET)
For our anniversary next month we still have no concrete plans
Patent Docs (or PatentDocs) Learned the Wrong Lessons From the Death of TypePad
Had they gone ahead with an SSG, they'd become a lot more future-proof
USPTO Patent Bubble Already Imploding, After Decades of Artificial Inflation, Entire Offices Close for Good
we can deduce that financial pressures (lack of "demand" for monopolies) play a role
TikTok is Not Harmless (Being CheeTok in the US Will Advance Orange Agenda)
Social control media isn't "fun and games"; it's a digital weapon that lets hostile groups or nations infiltrate others, then turn them against themselves
Andy Farnell and Helen Plews Explain What "Modern" Tech Does to Old People
Imposing terrible tech "religion" on people is not helping them
Tomorrow the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Turns 40 and Its Web Site is Still Slow Due to DDoS by LLM Slop Bots
For an advocacy group, uptime is important (for its message to remain accessible)
Slopwatch: Google News as a Firehose of LLM Slop About "Linux"
Google News is really bad
Links 03/10/2025: "NPR’s Economics Lessons Come With Neoliberal Spin" and Canada Post at Risk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/10/2025: Panic Attacks and Food Adulteration
Links for the day
Links 03/10/2025: Lawyers Caught Using LLM Slop Explain Why They Did It, LibreSSL 4.1.1 and 4.0.1 Released
Links for the day
FSF Board Grew 50% Since Last Year, Has New President, Turns 40 in Two Days
It's a good move for the FSF and - by extension - for software freedom
Links 03/10/2025: Conflicts, Death of TypePad, and TikTok/CheeTok Gives a Boost to Far Right Groups in Europe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 02, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 02, 2025
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Google News, and LinuxSecurity
They carry on polluting the Web with fake articles
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: Kubernetes With FreeBSD and robots.txt
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: 'Open' 'AI' Resorting to Gimmicks and Fake Funding, Europe’s ‘Drone Wall’ Discussed
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: Brave Passes 100M Users Milestone, Kodak Selling Its Own Film Again
Links for the day
Michael “Monty” Widenius: It Started in 1983 With Richard Stallman (RMS)
The other co-founder of MySQL is a bit notorious for confronting RMS rather viciously
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims of says can be trusted
su lisa && rm -rf /home/ibm/power
Novell was ruined by another person from IBM, Ronald Hovsepian
A Record Demand at Microsoft: Demand to Cancel
What we're witnessing is a very ungraceful destruction of XBox
Microsoft is Losing Europe
Hence all the "support" and "discount" offers that are limited to Europe
The Free Software Foundation Starts Fund-raising for 40th Anniversary
New pop-up 2-3 days ahead of the 40th anniversary event
Systemd Breaks Networking in Debian and Microsoft Staff Rushes to Make Face-Saving Excuses in LWN
Microsoft's bluca is already there in the comments, his Microsoft money pays for LWN to let him leave comments early
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 01, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 01, 2025
What the End of XBox Will Look Like: a Fiery Crash
XBox is the next Skype. It won't last much longer. Expect many more layoffs.
Richard Stallman is Going to Finland to Give a Talk Next Thursday
A day later he speaks in Sweden
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: SMTP Pipelining and End of ROOPHLOCH 2025
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Plagiarism, Fake Articles, and FUD About Linux
not a day goes by without Google News feeding FUD from slopfarms
Gemini Links 01/10/2025: Chat Control and End of Life
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: Long Covid Risk Reiterated, "Bitcoin Queen" Caught
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: EA $55 Billion Deal is Debt and Slop "Raises Vishing Risks"
Links for the day
Bluewashing at Red Hat Means Redundancies
The man who sold Red Hat to IBM meanwhile became a Microsoft Mono booster
After Killing OpenSource.com, IBM ('Red Hat') and OSI Told Us OpenSource.net Would Replace It (But That Didn't Happen)
Now it's time to move on, perhaps tarnishing the "Open Source" label some more (for whatever sponsor wants this)
Linux is Not a Community Project, It's a Wall Street Product
The core goal should be freedom
Bad Actors Abusing the Free Software Community, Vandalising It Using Rogue Politics and Old Tactics
Oil giants have long attempted to do this; now, the digital equivalent of Big Oil does this in technology
Social Control Media Isn't the Future, The Federation or Fediverse Isn't Growing, People's Accounts Vanish for Good
users' accounts will get deleted, not just become inactive
IBM is Failing, This Helps Show Wall Street is Entirely Detached From Actual Commercial Performance
IBM is unable to grow, it's just constantly shrinking
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Clerical Aspects of Publishing and Development
In Free software, the management aspects are considerably reduced
Slopwatch: Fake Articles and Google News Promoting "Linux" Spam or Bot-Generated Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
These slopfarms help misplace blame
Third Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in September, This Time Many in Liverpool Affected
Be ready for more waves of layoffs ahead of the so-called "results" in late October