Bonum Certa Men Certa

Libera.Chat Became Far Smaller After the Collapse of Matrix.org, But the Number of Distinct IRC Networks is Growing

Libera.chat shrank



Summary: It seems like more IRC networks are being rolled out (deployed afresh) this year, but Matrix.org no longer gives IRC a false sense of magnitude (many users were just bridged across from Matrix.org)

ONLY weeks ago Ryan mentioned the layoffs and moderation crisis* at Matrix.org, resulting in exclusion from the largest IRC network (if scale is measured by number of users "online", including passive lurkers and bots). The users' fatigue has extended to Matrix.org and judging by the front page (homepage) of Matrix.org, you'd not know anything is amiss:



Matrix.org homepage



We've spent some time trying to put all this in context. Some GNU/Linux bloggers took note of the woe-some situation and we've quoted them in Daily Links.

The good news is, judging by netsplit.de, the number of unique and decent-sized networks actually grew. It's now higher than when we last checked (before 'Matrix-pocalypse'):

IRC Networks index: There are 525 known IRC networks listed below...



Just to add a quick line about why that is a good thing, consider the collapse of Social Control Media and what it does to online communities. IRC seems a lot more robust, so communities can stay together. They don't get scattered. USENET didn't age too well, partly due to ISPs pulling the plug (that, in turn, was partly due to lawsuits from the copyright cartel).

IRC has been around since the 1980s and it's still doing fairly well, so it'll probably survive just fine well past 2030. No company controls it. Money does not determine its success. _________ * The 'moderation crisis' and its effects got more properly explained by Ryan earlier this month. He said that child abuse images or other illegal content were routinely being posted there and even when reported to the operators/moderators there was nobody available to take action. This could be clarified a bit more by Ryan, who was a (now former) Matrix.org user. They also kept banning a lot of legitimate and law-abiding users, according to him, so it's not clear what or who got excluded (or why exactly). It was not being filtered transparently (same issue as old Freenode). They were overzealous with their global, centralised moderation hammer. IRC is not centralised like this. IRC "dictatorship" it limited to particular networks, but some networks share banlists (thankfully not a common practice; OFTC does this).

Recent Techrights' Posts

It's Cheaper to Pay Bribes (and Produce Press Releases) Than to Pay Fines (After Lots of Negative Publicity)
Does the UK still have real sovereignty or do corporations from overseas purchase decisions and outcomes?
November 2023 Over With GNU/Linux at All-Time Highs According to statCounter
ChromeOS+GNU/Linux combined are about 7% of the "market"
 
Links 01/12/2023: Facebook Infested With Malicious Campaigns by Imposters, ACLU Gives Advice on Doxxing and Online Harassment
Links for the day
Just Like Its Budget Allocation, the Linux Foundation Devotes About 3% Of Its Latest Newsletter to Linux, Devotes More to Linux's Rivals
It's just exploiting the brand
Links 01/12/2023: Google Invokes Antitrust Against Microsoft
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
UK Government Allowing Microsoft to Take Over Activision Blizzard Will Destroy Jobs
Over 30,000 fired this year? More?
New Report Provides Numerical Evidence That Google Hired Too Many People From Microsoft (and Became Malicious, Evil, Sociopathic)
"Some 12,018 former Microsoft employees currently work for the search and data giant"
Google: Keep Out, Don't Save Your Files, and Also Let Us Spy on Everything You Do
Do you still trust "clown" storage?
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, November 30, 2023
IRC logs for Thursday, November 30, 2023
Links 01/12/2023: Many Suppressions in Hong Kong and Attempts to Legitimise Illegal and Unconstitutional Fake Patent 'Court' in EU (UPC)
Links for the day
Gemini Not Deflated Yet (Soon Turning 5!)
Gemini numbers still moving up, the protocol will turn five next summer
Links 30/11/2023: Belated End of Henry Kissinger and 'Popular Science' Shuts Online Magazine
Links for the day
Site Priorities and Upcoming Improvements
pages are served very fast
[Meme] One Person, Singular Pronoun
Abusing people into abusing the English language is very poor diplomacy
Ending Software Patents in Recent Years (Software Freedom Fighters MIA)
not a resolved issue
New Article From Richard Stallman Explains Why He Says He and She for Unknown Person (Not 'They')
"Nowadays I use gender-neutral singular pronouns for a person whose gender I don't know"
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, November 29, 2023
IRC logs for Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
Links 30/11/2023: Rushing Patent Cases With Shorter Trial Scheme (STS), Sanctions Not Working
Links for the day
Links 30/11/2023: Google Purging Many Accounts and Content (to Save Money), Finland Fully Seals Border With Russia
Links for the day
Lookout, It's Outlook
Outlook is all about the sharing!
Updated A Month Ago: Richard Stallman on Software Patents as Obstacles to Software Development
very recent update
The 'Smart' Attack on Power Grid Neutrality (or the Wet Dream of Tiered Pricing for Power, Essentially Punishing Poorer Households for Exercising Freedom Like Richer Households)
The dishonest marketing people tell us the age of disservice and discrimination is all about "smart" and "Hey Hi" (AI) as in algorithms akin to traffic-shaping in the context of network neutrality
Links 29/11/2023: VMware Layoffs and Too Many Microsofters Going Inside Google
Links for the day
Is BlueMail a Client of ZDNet Now?
Let's examine what BlueMail does to promote itself
Just What LINUX.COM Needed After Over a Month of Inactivity: SPAM SPAM SPAM (Linux Brand as a Spamfarm)
It's not even about Linux
Microsoft “Discriminated Based on Sexuality”
Relevant, as they love lecturing us on "diversity" and "inclusion"...
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, November 28, 2023
IRC logs for Tuesday, November 28, 2023