Bonum Certa Men Certa

So-called 'Coup' Attempts and Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

Video download link



Summary: In order to keep our Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels on topic and reasonably troll-free we're temporarily changing the channel mods somewhat; this video explains how and why

THE connection or the link between Free software and free speech is very strong. But free speech maximalism can also be leveraged or exploited against Free software advocacy, mostly by interjecting stuff into it to falsely associate it with dangerous cults, such as those who think that all women should be presumed spies and provocateurs. Several sites connected to Microsoft recently attempted to publicly shame Free software by associating it with radical, racist people. We've decided to omit links to that.



"We never delete (censor) anything, we didn't kickban anyone, but to keep focused on our goals we need to change the way the channels work."Techrights has used Freenode for its community for a very long time (since 2008) and the FSF uses it too. So does the GNU Project. It's not really a threat to Freedom as long as the protocol itself isn't proprietary. When I first used IRC I was about 13 or 14 and back then DALNet was 'all the rage'. For Free software projects Freenode is like a de facto standard or default, even if the current owners might be somewhat dodgy (we do not exchange passwords or anything over IRC, we use SSH and PGP for critical operations). Some might ask, why use Freenode at all and not self-host? Well, given the number of people parking in channels (including unknown people), even if we did not publish IRC logs, everyone else would be able to. We've already seen those looking to maintain private chats (e.g. Wikileaks) having FBI moles among them, in effect leaking out internal communications. So that approach is inherently deficient, especially for open chats that welcome strangers. When anyone can just enter and spew out garbage -- maybe even deliberately -- there's growing risk of discreditisation by association. We've seen that too in the distant past. Recently we've come under more and more of those attacks (assuming they're attack vectors), so just as we limited who can speak when Freenode itself was under attack (spam and defamation attacks, network-wide) we're temporarily back to it while we work on an important series. IRC is here to stay, but we need to be careful not to allow it to be hijacked by rogue elements. We never delete (censor) anything, we didn't kickban anyone, but to keep focused on our goals we need to change the way the channels work. At least for now, at least temporarily.

Side note/afterthought: An hour later and 600MB of video later I came to realise that I had muted the microphone (by accident, wrong press on the keyboard) and basically ruined a very long recording. Upon having a second go, I made is a lot more concise. This happened in the past and will probably happen again some time in the future (without professional recording equipment it's hard to have visible indicator of microphone status).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
 
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Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
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cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
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slides
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"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
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Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
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The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
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Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
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"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
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IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
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Wayland is Bad for the Planet
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Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
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