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freenode

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freenode
Founded1995, as irc.linpeople.org
Geographic locationEurope
United States
Based inUnited Kingdom
Website URLfreenode.net
Primary DNSchat.freenode.net
Average users45,000 - 57,000
Average channels21,000 - 24,000
Average servers39
Content/subjectPublic/Unrestricted
There are 17 freenode server locations around the world as of June 2008.

freenode, formerly known as Open Projects Network, is a popular IRC network used to discuss peer-directed projects.[1] Their servers are all accessible from the domain name chat.freenode.net, which load balances connections by using the actual servers in rotation.[2] It is the largest free and open source software-focused IRC network, encompassing more than 50,000 users and 10,000 channels.[3]

History

freenode began as a 4-person Linux support channel called #LinPeople on EFnet, another IRC network. By 1995 it moved from being just a channel to its own network, irc.linpeople.org. In early 1998 it changed to Open Projects Net (OPN) with about 200 users and under 20 channels. The OPN soon grew to become the largest network for the free software community, and 20th largest in the world. In 2002 the name changed to freenode. The Peer-Directed Projects Center was founded as the legal umbrella organization. The OpenProjects.net domain was later put up for sale on eBay,[4] but did not sell.

On June 24, 2006, a user with the nickname "ratbert" (actually one of lilo's services-linked nicknames) gained the network privileges of freenode administrator Rob Levin (lilo) and took control of the network. It is likely that approximately 25 user passwords were stolen as a result.[5] This user proceeded to k-line many freenode staff members, and most freenode servers subsequently went down for several hours.[6][7][8][9]

Rob Levin died on Saturday, September 16, 2006.[10][11] His death was caused by head injuries sustained in a hit and run collision while riding his bicycle on September 12. He fell into a coma at the scene and did not regain consciousness.

Controversy

Mibbit ban

On 19th of June 2009, Freenode announced that access through the popular mibbit IRC-to-web gateway was now disabled due to "numerous reasons", but ultimately decided to block abuse as "Freenode staff were spending 10 times more time on mibbit abuse than any other source"[12], while putting its own web chat in place.[13][14][15][16] This prompted a large range of comments also on freenode's own blog entry with users objecting to freenode's new web chat lacking features in comparison to mibbit.[17]

Mibbit developer axod states that he believes 'abuse' reason "is a red herring" and that "their [freenode's] own web client is less secure than mibbit in terms of preventing abuse."[18] Freenode insist on the big amount of time their staff needed to stop abuse through mibbit and that they "chose a solution that fixed those two problems - using staff time and disrupting our 50k users - whilst giving the mibbit users an alternative."[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Mutton, Paul. IRC Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools. Cambridge: O'Reilly Media 2004. ISBN 0-596-00687-X
  2. ^ About freenode: IRC Servers
  3. ^ Network statistics over the last two weeks
  4. ^ The Register
  5. ^ "freenode Network Hijacked, Passwords Compromised?". It.slashdot.org. 2006-06-26. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  6. ^ "Regular Ramblings". Tgmandry.blogspot.com. 2006-06-24. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  7. ^ "The Liberation of freenode, Part 12 » Ad Terras Per Aspera". Ad Terras Per Aspera<!. 2006-10-29. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  8. ^ "The Liberation of freenode, Part 13 » Ad Terras Per Aspera". Ad Terras Per Aspera<!. 2006-06-28. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  9. ^ Freenode IRC Network hacked The Inquirer article about NickServ hack
  10. ^ "freenode news: 16 September 2006". freenode. September 16, 2006.
  11. ^ Chatmag News (2006-09-21). "Robert Levin Death Confirmed by Houston Police, other Area Sources". Retrieved 2007-03-30.
  12. ^ http://logs.ubuntu-eu.org/free/2009/06/25/#ubuntu-us-pa.log
  13. ^ New freenode webchat and why to use it
  14. ^ http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=665230
  15. ^ http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/8ulvm/freenode_bans_mibbit_launches_its_own_web_irc/
  16. ^ http://www.nabble.com/Mibbit-blocked-by-freenode-td24114264.html
  17. ^ http://blog.freenode.net/2009/06/new-freenode-webchat-and-why-to-use-it/#comments Blog comments]
  18. ^ http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=665507
  19. ^ http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=665508


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