Talk:Freenode

Ship of Theseus
The entire staff and vast majority of channels + users have now transitioned to irc.libera.chat.

The irc.freenode.org network is being run like a chan board, with users given op for using transphobic slurs.

In quality and composition, the Libera Chat community today is identical to the Freenode community of last year. Libera's history is Freenode's history; it doesn't belong to Andrew Lee except in the most artificial way.

I think there's an argument to merge this article into Libera Chat. As such the lead of the article would begin "Libera Chat, stylized Libera.Chat and formerly known as freenode and Open Projects Network, is an IRC network" and would include Freenode's history. 82.39.97.150 (talk) 19:13, 13 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Articles must be based in reliable sources, and from what I have seen the sources are treating them as two separate entities. I understand your point—that it is primarily the people and users who made Freenode, and what was once Freenode is no longer now that the staff and many of its users have migrated to Libera, but unless sources also take that view I don't think the two articles will be merged. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 19:40, 13 June 2021 (UTC)


 * freenode is probably not going to die out. When you consider the sort of reputation it's probably going to build for itself going forward, we wouldn't be doing Libera any favors by merging the articles. ApLundell (talk) 01:23, 14 June 2021 (UTC)


 * The suggestion to merge this article into Libera Chat is premature. That may well happen eventually, but it is much too soon.  At present, Freenode is still nominally a going concern, and some of the old network's servers are even still online, though it is not clear for how much longer that situation will continue to obtain.  (The round-robin DNS no longer points to them.  It points to a new network which is not large enough to be notable on its merits, except for via its connection to the Freenode name.)  Be patient.  Wikipedia is not Twitter, and an article being a little out of date with quite recent events is not a huge disaster.    --Jonadab the Unsightly One, 2021 Jun 15.


 * And even if it dies, it doesn't automatically follow that the article should be merged.
 * Wikipedia is full of articles about dead stuff.
 * ApLundell (talk) 18:40, 15 June 2021 (UTC)
 * A graph has been proposed which is cited to the self-published website netsplit.de. As we have said already, we need to base this article on reliable secondary sources. netsplit.de is a questionable source. The owner disclaims any quality control of the data. I object to its use to support assertions in this article. Elizium23 (talk) 00:54, 17 June 2021 (UTC)
 * It's worth noting that netsplit.de is also where the user and channel counts for this article (and the Libera article) are coming from. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 01:42, 17 June 2021 (UTC)
 * , thanks for pointing that out. No longer included in this article. Elizium23 (talk) 03:50, 21 June 2021 (UTC)
 * I don't think inclusion of netsplit.de data is inherently out of line, as long as we're not editorializing on their meaning; but yeah, be careful not to do that. netsplit.de is a largely unbiased gatherer of statistics, unaffiliated with any particular IRC network, with reasonably good data going back to the turn of the century, and I don't see a problem with including statistics or graphs from it where relevant, for illustrative purposes.  (Frankly, if netsplit.de isn't an acceptable source for data about IRC networks, then Alexa probably isn't an acceptable source for data about websites.  Which is, I think, taking RS a bit too far.)  With that said, netsplit provides statistics, but the interpretation of those numbers can get into subjective, Original Research territory if we aren't careful.  Sure, it looks to the casual observer as though Freenode under new management is self destructing, rapidly, but that observation does not belong in the article.  A sharp decline in the number of users, in the short term, could potentially have any number of explanations.  As further developments unfold, the situation should become more clear, and hopefully the, umm, I'll call it the "transition" for now, will get written up by, I don't know, Ars or someone, whom we can reasonably cite.  Netsplit statistics and graphs are all well and good when used for illustrative purposes, but they're just statistics and should not be used to justify Original Research.  Be patient; yes, the article is out of date with very recent developments; as I said before, it's an encyclopedia, not a Twitter feed.  Gathering enough secondary sources to assemble an article takes time.  --Jonadab the Unsightly One, 2021 Jun 21

freenode was killed and replaced by "new freenode"
There was a wall message on 2021-06-15 (times in UTC):

00:20:31-keitwo(~kei@freenode/staff/kei)- [Global Notice 1/3] We are moving past legacy freenode to a new fork. The new freenode is launched. You will slowly be disconnected and when you reconnect, you will be on the new freenode. We patiently await to welcome you in freedom's holdout - the freenode. 00:20:41-keitwo(~kei@freenode/staff/kei)- [Global Notice 2/3] If you're looking to connect now, you can already /server chat.freenode.net 6697 (ssl) or 6667 (plaintext). It's a new genesis for a new era. Thank you for using freenode, and Hello World, from the future. freenode is IRC. freenode is FOSS. freenode is freedom. 00:20:47-keitwo(~kei@freenode/staff/kei)- [Global Notice 3/3] When you connect, register your nickname and your channel and get started. It's a new world. We're so happy to welcome you and the millions of others. We will be posting more information in the coming days on our website and twitter. Otherwise, see you on the other side!

Now ~ 14 hours later, that disconnect happened. The old network is gone and chat.freenode.net points to a new network which reuses the old name. All entries from NickServ and ChanServ are gone. I.e. "freenode" and "new freenode" are two separate networks.

In my opinion, today is the day freenode died and that should be reflected in the article's infobox. And perhaps a new article "new freenode" created. --Wulf4096 (talk) 14:18, 15 June 2021 (UTC)
 * We need to base this article, like all others here, on reliable secondary sources and not personal accounts of what may or may not have transpired. Unfortunately, this will mean poor coverage of this kind of topic, because most of this drama is being carried out in chat rooms, forums, news aggregators, blogs and GitHub. None of those are sufficient to cite for this article. It does also relate to our biographies of living persons policy, insofar as these are the actions of Andrew Lee (entrepreneur). Elizium23 (talk) 14:23, 15 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Of course! But I'm certain that it won't be long until reliable news sites will write about this latest development. --95.163.172.236 (talk) 14:34, 15 June 2021 (UTC)


 * The only source thus far with a brief mention about the change is a Finnish website: https://www.tivi.fi/uutiset/tiedot-ovat-vihamielisen-tahon-kasissa-linux-kehittajat-ja-wikipedia-aktiivit-joutuvat-vaihtamaan-irc-verkkoa/84c66ade-8da1-4882-9861-f1f346f9fff4 – robertsky (talk) 00:29, 16 June 2021 (UTC)
 * , at a glance, through Google Translate, that looks like a WP:RS. Elizium23 (talk) 02:47, 16 June 2021 (UTC)
 * The last server running the old IRCd and database,  was killed sometime on June 16th, according to the logs I recovered from my old hexchat session.
 * The remnants of this can also be seen currently in  on Libera.chat, however I don't believe either of these are reliable enough sources to be included. Not from what I see, anyway. Routerchain (talk) 20:21, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
 * The remnants of this can also be seen currently in  on Libera.chat, however I don't believe either of these are reliable enough sources to be included. Not from what I see, anyway. Routerchain (talk) 20:21, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

Status as a historical website
According to this page and other recent developments, Freenode now requires SASL, TLS and an advance registration in order to actually use the network - among other things, this means netsplit is no longer able to track the status and usage of the network. Should the article be updated to reflect this change, and if so how? --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 10:27, 31 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I already updated the article to past tense. pandakekok9 (talk) 11:05, 31 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Ah. You'd mentioned that on IRC, yeah, but I was wondering if it'd been incorporated into the article proper. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 11:13, 31 July 2021 (UTC)


 * But does "the connection process has changed and netsplit can no longer track usage" accurately translate to "Freenode is now a former, past-tense entity that is no longer active"? Or from another perspective, should Wikipedia have more than one source before declaring Freenode no longer exists? Vague | Rant 13:16, 31 July 2021 (UTC)
 * This needs secondary sourcing. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 16:45, 31 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I also think this is too soon. Freenode clearly still exists in some form. Even if it's just a sad shadow of its former self.
 * Just because netsplit's bots can't collect data on it anymore isn't a good source to pretend it's completely offline.
 * ApLundell (talk) 17:47, 31 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Unregistered users cannot connect to the network any more. It requires off-site login at the irc.com website, which currently neither works for an existing user nor for registration of a new user. So it can no longer be used stand-alone with an IRC client. Also, look at https://www.hinner.com/ircstat/Socip_F.html especially the yearly graph. What else is needed to label this as a thing of the past? --94.219.18.112 (talk) 10:27, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Would that (the techrights.org link above) be a sufficiently reliable source for "On 28 July 2021, TLS+SASL with a registered account became a requirement to connect to Freenode. Therefore, clients that did not register new accounts after the network was replaced could no longer automatically reconnect." (or perhaps something better formulated by someone else)?
 * Here's the error message that (unless something has changed recently) anyone can currently see for themselves by trying to connect:
 * Κσυπ Cyp  10:46, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * To answer 94.*, we need a reliable source describing Freenode as a thing of the past. The techrights.org link does not appear to me to be a reliable source, but even if it were, it describes the "beginning of the end" for Freenode—it does not say that Freenode no longer exists as a network. For all we know there is a bug that Freenode is working to fix, and the network will settle on some (admittedly odd) form of login and return to whatever form it's in these days. Reliable sources don't appear to have decided that the network is done for good; neither should we. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 14:47, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * The network no longer announces itself as "freenode" but as "Joseon" in its MOTD. Also, chat.freenode.net is now an alias redirecting to irc.joseon.kr. User count has dropped to around 600 (from more than 80000 at the beginning of the year). Arguably, the name was the only thing that was common between the old and the new Freenode, so maybe this is the point where it can no longer be considered as the same entity? --178.4.105.166 (talk) 07:17, 11 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Should this page be moved (or split) to Joseon (IRC network) to match the new name? Although they apparently haven't moved the web server yet. Would be an acceptable source for TLS+SASL being a new requirement — they're announcing it themselves now? It's definitely not a neutral source, but I assume it's undisputed. Κσυπ Cyp   08:20, 11 August 2021 (UTC)
 * He doesn't deserve his own article.


 * It has more relevance historically, so no page move. Also, would Joseon (IRC network) be relevant enough for an article? There are no articles for other networks with 4-digit user numbers either, e.g. no GeekShed, GIMPnet, or Snoonet. --178.4.105.166 (talk) 08:49, 11 August 2021 (UTC)
 * All of these changes would require reliable sources before they could be incorporated. But to answer Cyp specifically, WP:COMMONNAME determines page names, and unless and until "Joseon" becomes the commonly-used name for the network, the article should stay where it is. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 16:19, 11 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Why would Joseon become the name for the network historically known as Freenode? It is a different entity: All former staff have left as well as 99% of users (and we don't even know if its few users had been there before or are new). It uses a different software stack, and now also a different name as can be seen in its DNS record and MOTD. Ship of Theseus indeed, and good luck finding secondary sources for something that has no relevance. --178.4.105.166 (talk) 17:07, 11 August 2021 (UTC)


 * I know it's really probably premature to move it to Joseon (IRC network) (if ever), I was just making a (probably-unclear) point that (in my opinion) the current ~1k user network calling itself Joseon and/or Freenode doesn't really have much (if anything) in common with the ~45k user network formerly known as Freenode. Κσυπ Cyp  17:41, 14 August 2021 (UTC)
 * The current network is Freenode in name only, and therefore I believe that notability should be evaluated for the new network. Does Joseon/"Freenode" meet Wikipedia notability guidelines? Rua (mew) 18:30, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

Requested move 11 October 2021

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: Snow close, not moved: after more than five days of inactivity, all participants opposed the move. Some policy-based arguments are WP:COMMONNAME (Freenode has long been the popular name for the network) and although not expressly cited, WP:NOTINHERITED (Freenode is the notable network and name, any new network deserving its own article would need to establish its own notability). A redirect from Joseon (IRC network) to Freenode and a mention of the new name is still possible if supported by a reliable source (WP:R). (closed by non-admin page mover) — Paleo Neonate  – 03:34, 19 October 2021 (UTC)

Freenode → Joseon (IRC network) – Freenode has changed its name to Joseon and the new domain when you connect to the network is irc.joseon.kr. 81.156.169.244 (talk) 20:00, 11 October 2021 (UTC) The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
 * Oppose. See section above. If there's a RS confirming the rename it could be mentioned here, but Freenode is the MOS:COMMONNAME. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 20:06, 11 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Strong oppose. Joseon isn't even in the top 20 of IRC networks, and fails notability as a result. Freenode was notable, but Freenode as it was exists no longer (fell from 80,000 users to not even 2,500 after the Joseon people built the new network from scratch; Libera.chat, meanwhile, has 50,000 users). If anything, this article should be in the past tense ("was") since there is no longer Freenode (which was notable, hence is notable as a historically large network), but only Libera and Joseon, and Joseon is neither large enough to be noteworthy nor well-documented by third-party sources. 71.62.227.79 (talk) 22:42, 11 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Oppose An encyclopedia isn't just about now, it's also about history. The notable thing is Freenode. I don't believe that whatever is being built from its ashes will ever be more notable than Freenode itself.  ApLundell (talk) 22:51, 11 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Oppose per GW and that the rename isn't even discussed in the article. As a procedural note, I (and presumably every Wikipedia editor who knows IRC) are former users of Freenode, hopefully we can just ignore "INVOLVED" as this doesn't appear to be a close call at this time. User:力 (power~enwiki,  π,  ν ) 23:36, 11 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Oppose for seemingly obvious reasons. Suppafly (talk) 15:30, 12 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Oppose per User:71.62.227.79. 162 etc. (talk) 19:47, 12 October 2021 (UTC)

Conflation of entities and concepts
This article conflates Freenode a company, freenode a DNS entry, freenode a group of servers of uncertain ownership and their configuration, and a previous registered charity. It's very confusing and looks like a lot of political agendas unsuited to an encyclopedia and somebody somewhere trying to make a misinformative page. TristanDC (talk) 08:04, 15 February 2024 (UTC)