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[Update: Hostile takeover of Gentoo, others] Freenode Staff quit en-masse after secret ownership changes

rcmaehl
By rcmaehl
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13 hours ago, CarlBar said:

So basically they stole the network and the actual owners don't have the fund to fight it?

Yep

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5 hours ago, rcmaehl said:

Yep

That should probably be somewhere in the OP…  I mean it was clear something was amiss here… But we still dont know how they really "stole" it, it all seems very sus.  The only thing that fits is that its a VPN provider lol. 

 

I have been suspecting something personal perhaps from the get go, but thats just speculation, and in reality its probably about user data or something.

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9 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

That should probably be somewhere in the OP…  I mean it was clear something was amiss here… But we still dont know how they really "stole" it, it all seems very sus.  The only thing that fits is that its a VPN provider lol. 

 

I have been suspecting something personal perhaps from the get go, but thats just speculation, and in reality its probably about user data or something.

Will do

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On 5/26/2021 at 4:09 AM, rcmaehl said:

If the forums have a riot over it they'll address it, but the entire LTT fanbase will be looped in. Just like last time a company got bought out/was shady.

well... just like what i expected., they didnt even mention it even a bit on the wan show, and from what i see - nothing here as well lol

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On 5/26/2021 at 2:39 PM, igsilya said:

can confirm this.  Our channel was taken over today.

 

On 5/26/2021 at 11:54 AM, JockeTF said:

just took control over a gaming-related channel I've been an admin of for 14 years, along with more than 700 other channels. The channel was renamed, a redirect replaced the old name, and all admins lost their privileges to the renamed channel

So, guys, whats the point of all this? Where is the financial gain from this "takeover"? Whats the point? You must have at least an idea…

 

I mean you know from the outside it really looks like VPN guy has some personal beef , right?

 

That or $$$

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1 hour ago, Mark Kaine said:

So, guys, whats the point of all this? Where is the financial gain from this "takeover"? Whats the point? You must have at least an idea…

 

I mean you know from the outside it really looks like VPN guy has some personal beef , right?

 

That or $$$

On the takeover of channels: I think it was just a very stupid implementation of measures to stop bleeding. I guess they were just trying to silence libera.chat advertising on channels that had already migrated or were in the process. However, this had the opposite effect, as all channels that had hesitated before then migrated immediately as soon as control of the channel was lost. So I think this channel takeover is just stupidity.

 

As for the endgame of gaining control over the network, I am very confused about what they are trying to achieve. Assuming everyone is acting with the best of intentions, this might be a fatal misunderstanding between the former team members and the new owner. But I have no idea if the intentions are actually good and they have no intention to destroy the network or monetize the data somehow. But anyway, the really stupid things that new stuff did on command of the new owner destroyed trust, and I don't think those who left freenode will ever return.

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14 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

That or $$$

 

Follow the money. This is a seemingly somewhat popular in some circles chat platform. That means theirs data, and potentially subscriptions up for grabs, especially if they integrate it into existing services and add to the functionality. In fact in that respect it gets them a big chunk of a chat platform from a programming perspective, which is a work saving.

 

The sudden aggressive moves where clearly an attempt to stop migration off the platform and bad press by stifling the discussion.

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1 hour ago, CarlBar said:

The sudden aggressive moves where clearly an attempt to stop migration off the platform and bad press by stifling the discussion.

What a bright idea, like there is no other platform where they cant went their frustration and anger and spread the word..... /s

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12 hours ago, jagdtigger said:

What a bright idea, like there is no other platform where they cant went their frustration and anger and spread the word..... /s

 

I didn;t say it was a good way to do that, but you see this kind of behaviour too often for that to be a valid reason for why they wouldn't do it.

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2 hours ago, CarlBar said:

 

I didn;t say it was a good way to do that, but you see this kind of behaviour too often for that to be a valid reason for why they wouldn't do it.

It was a sarcastic remark at the idea not at you 😉 .

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Hello, this is Chris from Private Internet Access.  This whole situation has been very confusing, and many articles mention PIA, some even in the title. However, I want to make sure it is clear that Private Internet Access has nothing to do with Freenode or this current situation, and has not since PIA was sold in 2019.  The person responsible for this situation is no longer employed by or connected to PIA any way.

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On 6/1/2021 at 4:25 PM, PIAchris said:

Hello, this is Chris from Private Internet Access.  This whole situation has been very confusing, and many articles mention PIA, some even in the title. However, I want to make sure it is clear that Private Internet Access has nothing to do with Freenode or this current situation, and has not since PIA was sold in 2019.  The person responsible for this situation is no longer employed by or connected to PIA any way.

most ppl here should be able to learn that from a bit of search tbh and im sure ppl here are far more knowledgeable than general public, but dont expect anything from ltt, since this kind of issue is more about going silent just like what happened to RING sponsorship back then.to even mention that pia is no longer owned by londontrustmedia

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On 5/27/2021 at 1:18 PM, StDragon said:

I was responding to what @WolframaticAlpha Said "You're too old to know of a time when modems were only sold by att to the military, amirite?

That is to say, at least in the US you could purchase a 2400 baud modem to dial into a privately run BBS. At that time, TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, and NetBEUI weren't even used in the session. In fact, file transfer was via XMODEM, YMODEM, and ZMODEM.

...and KERMIT as well.

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On 6/1/2021 at 12:25 PM, PIAchris said:

Hello, this is Chris from Private Internet Access.  This whole situation has been very confusing, and many articles mention PIA, some even in the title. However, I want to make sure it is clear that Private Internet Access has nothing to do with Freenode or this current situation, and has not since PIA was sold in 2019.  The person responsible for this situation is no longer employed by or connected to PIA any way.

Hi Chris, I did my best to try to prevent PIA being mention in the OP when I made it. Hope things get better for you all!

image.thumb.png.bd490cee5298c1990f2cc51413899845.png
 

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On 6/5/2021 at 12:04 PM, rcmaehl said:

Hi Chris, I did my best to try to prevent PIA being mention in the OP when I made it. Hope things get better for you all!

image.thumb.png.bd490cee5298c1990f2cc51413899845.png
 

Thank you, I did notice that and appreciate it.  Thanks for the support! 😀

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Posted

Weird stuff continues.  As of today, old freenode network is shutting down, new freenode is launched on the same domain, huge netsplit and what the hell is going else...

https://www.devever.net/~hl/freenode_suicide

https://isfreenodedeadyet.com/

I cannot confirm, since I have been not there for several weeks, but still.

kiwiirc for some reason can't connect to freenode now at all.

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19 hours ago, igsilya said:

Weird stuff continues.  As of today, old freenode network is shutting down, new freenode is launched on the same domain, huge netsplit and what the hell is going else...

https://www.devever.net/~hl/freenode_suicide

https://isfreenodedeadyet.com/

I cannot confirm, since I have been not there for several weeks, but still.

kiwiirc for some reason can't connect to freenode now at all.

 

Quote

At this point, I can't even consider Freenode a serious network anymore.

 

My thoughts as well.

don't say banana

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Posted

I pretty much stop using Usenet back the late 90's and maybe the Year 2000. IRC? Used only a few times and didn't like it.

 

Did use AOL Chat however. After canceling AOL Sevices I used their Chat but with FOSS Clients for a few years...

 

Now I stick with Forums instead. A lot easier to use.

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