Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Freenode Users Exodus as Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Boosted by Those Looking to Gain

Summary: Take a moment to study what actually begets the current split; the grievances don't merit a fragmentation, which the communities around Free software aren't likely to benefit from

THIS is the latest status report. It won't be the last. Many Free software projects and communities are still sitting on the fence, unable to decide (just yet) what to do. We too are among those and we're assessing the situation. I have seen and read Lee's side of the tale (complete with screenshots and photos). I have already read many resignation letters (since more than a week ago). On balance, I think neither side is "perfectly right"; I think that the scandal or alleged scandal is overinflated by those looking to fully control the platform while leaving Lee with scraps. If there are legitimate concerns (e.g. Oracle and OpenOffice.org), then branching or forking away is fine (LibreOffice). If that boils down to superficial nonsense (e.g. GIMP being a supposedly 'offensive' acronym), the forkers and disruptors (Glimpse) won't have a leg to stand on, at least in the long run...



"If people read Lee's side of the tale, they will see that there are allusions there to the FSF situation. Apparently there was concern about coups and takeovers."This post is mainly a rebuttal to false narratives, akin to headlines spelling the end of the FSF and telling us that everybody hates Richard Stallman (based on tweetstorms that are algorithmically curated).

If people read Lee's side of the tale, they will see that there are allusions there to the FSF situation. Apparently there was concern about coups and takeovers.

But here's the thing: many conveniently forget that the company which owns Freenode is a privacy company, not a surveillance outfit. At one point they rescued Linux Journal and they also donate to a bunch of Free (as in freedom) causes. For those who claim that Freenode's owner violates privacy there's this rebuttal showing that the supposed 'evidence' was in fact fabricated:

PIA snooping evidence fabricated
PIA snooping 'evidence' was allegedly fabricated



A lot of VPNs are faked privacy, but I never saw evidence of PIA itself lying about privacy. I saw the opposite of that. They've repeatedly proven, even in court, that they don't log. So their competitors are eager to find some 'dirt' and, failing that, manufacture some 'evidence'...

Since weeks ago (yes, we've been writing about the situation in Freenode for weeks!) we've been monitoring the situation and speaking privately to a number of people. Last week we felt morally compelled to shed light on some things, seeing that a boil-over was likely imminent and irreversible. Resignation letters were already being prepared and circulated privately for consultation.

"Last week we felt morally compelled to shed light on some things, seeing that a boil-over was likely imminent and irreversible."This is not what the Free software community needs and if the nature of the supposed scandal is too shallow, then let's try to reconcile rather than cause chaos to a lot of people (or projects that would rather code than coordinate migrations, change code that's hardlinked to Freenode and so on).

There are already problems associated with impersonation due to this whole chaos. This poses seriously severe security risks. As Gentoo has put it, "it has came to our attention that certain individuals have been using the situation to impersonate Gentoo developers on other IRC networks."

It's worth noting that Gentoo has not left Freenode. Alpine is leaving (because of its connection to longtime Freenode staff), Haiku is leaving, Xen is currently discussing the matter, and several other projects are in a sort of limbo, trying to get the facts right before (or to avoid) jumping the gun. So let's actually examine the facts.

"It’s worth noting that Gentoo has not left Freenode."Hackaday wrote about this yesterday, alluding to a "Staff Exodus" (this is correct, but the users aren't following).

We still see some insulting letters if not borderline (and veiled) racist ones. This new one plays along with the "us versus them" (classism and racism) narrative, alluding to Lee as "narcissistic Trumpian wannabe Korean royalty bitcoin millionaire" (he's an American and we lack evidence that he bears any resemblance to Trump). We keep seeing this framing in the same media that attacked Richard Stallman by distorting what he had written and then bragging that it caused him to resign.

As someone put it yesterday: "I am hopeful for this to be an end to gender and sexual orientation based harassment on the network while promotice a productive working environment for the open-source development (including libre and even "ethical") and job offerings!"

"For the time being, very few projects left Freenode entirely."Based on our understanding, some staff received abuse. This wasn't Lee's fault and, if anything, there were attempts to correct this. Rectifying such situations is hard because there's no resolution that can please everybody.

For the time being, very few projects left Freenode entirely. Many users stay where they are. Yesterday in IRC we peaked at around 90 online users (almost an all-time high). "The channel on Freenode is still active," PHP star "Remi" (or "Remi Repo") wrote, "but may be closed in the near future."

They are studying the situation. Totally understandable.

We've noticed that the very same people who worked super-hard to cancel both Stallman and Torvalds campaign against Lee. "I have been on IRC since at least 1993," said this person. "Currently my main public networks are OFTC and Freenode."

His project/product is associated directly with the Linux Foundation, whose position on this one can imagine (albeit it's not a monolith).

"We deserve better fact-finding, not a frantic rush to weapons like pitchforks."The media has been extremely unhelpful so far, egging people on and falling back on click-bait instead of bothering to listen to both sides. It's so comfortable to judge from a distance and ruin things, but what if this ruin is based largely on misunderstanding and groupthink. Consensus isn't the same as truth or justice. 2 months ago an angry, hateful mob offered us predictions of doom and gloom for the FSF. And where is the FSF now? Bigger Board than before, more pro-Stallman (RMS) than before, RMS giving public talks again, and many people (individuals) donating to the FSF. The petition in support of RMS exceeded 6,700 signatures, today it's at 6,702, and the defamatory hate letter didn't age well. At all! "VHS is dead – long live BETAMAX!" Yeah, how about that in the 1990s?

Market Research Telecast chose the headline "Freenode is dead – long live Libera Chat!"

In effect they're lying to people, hoping to bring about a particular outcome. Freenode is still here and much of the controversy is still misunderstood. We deserve better fact-finding, not a frantic rush to weapons like pitchforks.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
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
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
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"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"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%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
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
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.