Bonum Certa Men Certa

Freenode is Not Dying, the Media is Just Lying

Video download link



Summary: Personally-motivated and overloaded statements would have people think that Freenode is dying or dead; beware such misinformation, whose purpose is likely a self-fulfilling prophecy propaganda war

IS Freenode collapsing? Nope.



Is it losing users and channels? Yes, it does.

But how many?

"Freenode is still by far the biggest network."Back in March a bunch of corporations and their corporate media (funded by these corporations through advertising contracts and more) told us that everybody hated Richard Stallman (RMS) and that the FSF, which he had founded in 1985, was doomed.

How wrong were they [1, 2]. They lied! Again! They keep doing that.

Here's what the usage charts of Freenode looks like (and yes, it's up to date, updated daily as far as we know):

Stats of Freenode history

IRC in general isn't peaking, but it's still there. And Matrix isn't replacing it but complementing it (there's bridging in place for compatibility).

Freenode logoAt the moment a bunch of corporations and non-corporations (projects) are deciding on a lesser of the two evils. Some of them leap to another network which they barely even understand!

It's mostly managed by a Swede, based on GitHub history, and that's why it's Sweden-based. It's not about free speech or privacy, so don't be easily misled by words like "Libera" (or neo-liberal), as they're enforcing rules akin to "blasphemy law". They're not about freedom; in fact, their site is hosted by Microsoft, they manage the site with Microsoft proprietary tools, and they're putting their code in a proprietary Microsoft monopoly. Do we want Free software projects to embrace this sort of dependency? Microsoft can use all that coercive power to tell the network which users or channels to ban. Heck, the staff there uses GitHub for communications (as if a blog isn't good enough), so it's not unthinkable that aside from privacy abuses there will be intelligence by Microsoft on more than just projects in GitHub. It's also worth noting that several of the people who now work for that network signed the letter which demanded cancelling RMS. Not a good sign, is it? Some of their staff was reported to us as manipulating communications by means of censorship/bans and intelligence/surveillance. That was way back in April when people coordinated strategies for canceling the founder of the Free Software Movement.

The video above mostly deals with debunking the falsehood about the future of Freenode. Falsehoods aren't cool. The video shows some Freenode stats and full context (compared to other IRC networks).

Freenode is still by far the biggest network.

Recent Techrights' Posts

If You Don't Control Your Online Platform, Then Someone Else is Controlling You
be (or become) independent
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has a Policy on Racism and Sexism
In then future we'll show the misogyny and racial slurs
Links 22/09/2025: Murdochs Might Join Fentanylware (TikTok) 'Investors' (Masters), United Kingdom Recognises Palestinian Statehood
Links for the day
The 50-Pound Note Experiment and the "War on Cash"
Britain is actually seeing a rebound in cash payments, and it's not a temporary phenomenon
 
What Scares Them the Most is Independent News Sites That They Cannot Control and Censor
Wikileaks was a good example of this
Oracle Started This Year With Slop. Then It Stopped.
Passing fads are like this
Distros That Run on PCs Made 20 Years Ago and Don't Use Systemd
Betas for now
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part I - Abusing British Women on Behalf of American Men Who Abuse American Women
Transparency is important to us, so we've decided to make this series
Slopwatch: Google News and the Evident Slopfarm Infestation
This is what people get about Linux when they query Google for Linux
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Esperanto Music History and Apps For Android
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: More American 'Censorship' (Retaliation for Journalism), Cheeto "Might Be Losing His Race Against Time"
Links for the day
The Blob Slop
Give me more words, give me some text
Slopwatch: Blaming the Victims for Microsoft's Failures and Plagiarising Phoronix
That's what Google has been reduced to: slop and slopfarms
Links 22/09/2025: Breaches, Windows TCO, and Arrests
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day