Bonum Certa Men Certa

An Explanation of IRC.Techrights.org (Our Self-Hosted IRC Network)

IRC networks
Ariadne Conill has set up a network where we can better focus on the Web site while putting aside lesser savoury aspects of IRC -- aspects that include spam and abuse (inevitable when dealing with protocols like IRC that aren't restricted)



Summary: We've added to the pool of IRC servers out there; there's hope that IRC can be expanded in terms of adoption and use, with pertinent communities and sites taking control of their communications instead of relying on third parties

Techrights.org is turning 15 in a few months (TuxMachines.org turns 17 in 3 days) and it has presence in IRC. There are 4 channels since more than a decade ago. TuxMachines also has a channel, but without a corresponding one in Techrights.org, only in Freenode.net (where we've been for over 13 years).



"There are further benefits such as uptime if we can keep two IRC networks in conjunction (so Techrights.org works fine when Freenode.net has spam/downtime issues, and vice versa)."Why are we doing this?

Simple. Last year we decided it would be useful to self-host the channels; for that, it helps to have our own IRC network and daemon. There are further benefits such as uptime if we can keep two IRC networks in conjunction (so Techrights.org works fine when Freenode.net has spam/downtime issues, and vice versa). In the "clown computing" universe they call it multiclown.

Several people are currently present in both IRC networks. At this very moment, for instance, #techrights at Freenode.net has 84 online users, whereas #techrights at Techrights.org has 17 online users. There's a bridge (hosted by a VPS) connecting the two and logging can be deduplicated. We recently heard that the FSF might consider implementing something similar. It's beneficial not just because it enhances self-governance* but also because it acts as a sort of gateway to people outside the local network (through Freenode.net one can reach about 60,000 users and user retention improved in the past week, as shown below). As a side note, Freenode.net launched a BBS service. Now we're talking business! Or nostalgia...

Just to be very, very clear: Techrights does not endorse everything that gets spewed into IRC channels; it never did! By the very nature of IRC messaging and logging, there's no moderation (even all the spam makes it through!). Yesterday there were day-long spam attacks on Freenode.net and on the Open and Free Technology Community. IRC.Techrights.org was not affected. Sometimes being small means being not much of a target for attacks.

Freenode.net users online
Freenode.net is barely losing users anymore



____ * Today in the news we see what happens to Nigeria's government after outsourcing its communications to a for-profit American company [1, 2, 3], in effect losing control of its very own voice. Nigeria, with about 211,400,708 citizens, has therefore blocked Twitter, nationwide.



Recent Techrights' Posts

[Video] Richard Stallman's Talk in Spanish (in Peru Last Week)
Alternative URLs too
Gemini Links 03/11/2024: Fantasy Life Day and Worship
Links for the day
[Meme] Write Us Drivers and GTFO!
When you realise sanctioning BRICS devs goes against the community
GNU/Linux "Market Share" in Lebanon More Than Doubled in a Few Months
Maybe it's a reaction to something? Assassination in Haret Hreik was in July.
Wall Street Has Demoted Intel, Seeing There May be No Future to Intel
Intel's loss isn't a loss to us
Free Software Licence Compliance is About Security Too
Linux as de facto proprietary off-the-shelf platform
 
Gemini Links 03/11/2024: Election Thoughts, Plagiarism, and LLM Slop
Links for the day
Links 03/11/2024: Deere 'Right to Repair' (RoR) and "Threads Bans Anyone For Mentioning Hitler"
Links for the day
[Video] "El Movimiento del Software Libre y el Sistema Operativo GNU" by Richard M. Stallman
The footage is a bit jittery (taken with a phone apparently, and there's no tripod available), but the sound is OK and the words (in Spanish) are comprehensible
Android at New Highs (47%), Windows at New Lows (24%), Suggests Latest Data From statCounter
So the market share of Android is about double that of Windows
The Media Focuses on the Wrong Scandal
The real scandal at MIT was Gates
Decommissioning Copper Lines Makes Us Less Safe
We've essentially degraded the robustness or reliability of critical systems
Life of an Addicted Lolicon Who Can Also Code
Personal blog as an open diary
[Meme] Reporting Crime is Not a Crime
Obviously!
Manchester Party for Techrights
If you choose to come, of course we'll cover the cost of the food and treats (but not travel)
Privacy is Not a Crime (in Places Where It is a Crime the Regime is Typically Very Rogue)
Also, criminals lack "privacy rights" to hide their crimes from the public
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, November 02, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, November 02, 2024
Nearly 40 Years Without Security Incidents
People who use Windows have come to sort of "accept" that security incidents are part of life or "normal"
[Meme] The Streisand Effect
Simon says, don't bother trying to suppress facts
Streisand Effect at IBM?
Trying to silence your workers isn't the best approach. It only makes colleagues even more curious.
Microsoft is a Gift That Keeps Giving (Future Stories to Techrights)
Microsoft has been trying to silence me using dirty tricks for nearly 20 years
Elon Musk Has Trashed Twitter for Ideological Reasons (and Propping Up Trump in Exchange for Financial and Political Favours Once in Public Office)
In case you didn't leave Twitter already, consider the fact that Twitter's (or "X"... whatever!) future is uncertain
Links 02/11/2024: Many Fakes in Social Control Media
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Usage Surveys: Up to 6.8% (With ChromeOS, Based on StatCounter) in Desktops/Laptops and Above 2% in Steam
Today StatCounter starts releasing graphs based on data for November
Gemini Links 02/11/2024: Petscop, Jokes, and RetroChallenge
Links for the day
Links 02/11/2024: Temu EU Probe and Shorts Trademark
Links for the day
The "Luddite" Complex
Sometimes simplest is best and sometimes "modern" is designed not with the buyers' interest in mind
SCO's Darl McBride Dead at Age 64
There's hardly any information about it, except we know he reached bankruptcy and 3 years later he died at a relatively young age
The 'Turning-Free-Code-Proprietary Foundation' (Linux/Microsoft Foundation)
LF will basically become just as sinister as its corporate sponsors
[Meme] Python Knows Its Bosses
Microsoft strings attached
Python Software Foundation is 'Cancel Culture' Rehomed
Python isn't grassroots and it doesn't really tolerate grassroots
DeVault "Closes Down His Mailing Lists Every Time There's a Scandal" and Also Censors Messages
Censorious code hosting platform
[Meme] Debt of About $20 Per Active User
Facebook isn't laying off tens of thousands for "efficiency" but for survival
What Social Control Media Really Is
Social Control Media, in a nutshell, isn't just bad if its controller is some foreign or hostile nation
Taking Ethics Lectures From Drew
Projection tactics
Links 02/11/2024: Facebook Stock Falls (Soaring Debt), Apple’s Quarterly Profit Down
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/11/2024: Burnout, Emacs Bookmarks, and Smooth Migration
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 01, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, November 01, 2024
Facebook's Debt Has Soared to All-Time High of Nearly 50 Billion Dollars
But the corporate media pretends all is well (while mass layoffs continue and slop takes over the social control media)
Geminispace Makes It Past 4,200 Capsules on November 1st
At last!
Links 01/11/2024: Election Interferences by X/Twitter/Musk, Strava as Espionage Tool
Links for the day
The October 2024 Web Server Survey Shows a Further Collapse for Microsoft in the Servers Market
Microsoft experienced the next largest loss of 699,464 sites (-3.45%)
Gemini Links 01/11/2024: TLS Sucks, twytere.com Announced
Links for the day
Links 01/11/2024: Few Things Are Cheaper Than This Antenna and "Nothing Lasts Forever"
Links for the day
Technology: rights or responsibilities? - Part V
By Dr. Andy Farnell
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 31, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, October 31, 2024
R.T.O. is Another Name (or Acronym) for Voluntary Layoffs
Amazon is trying to get many workers to leave on their own
Microsoft's Acquisition of Activision (to Fake Revenue Growth by Buying Revenue) Was a Failure
Of course the mass layoffs at Microsoft aren't just a Microsoft thing
Stagnant, Shrinking Businesses and "IBM's Corporate Culture Since the Late 1980s... Over 35 Years."
Recently, IBM was using share price as a talking point, insisting the company was doing OK while tens of thousands were being laid off
Links 01/11/2024: World News, Political Catchup
Links for the day