Posted on Freenode Limited on the morning of May 12, 2021 US PST: | |
Approximate timeline: | |
1. Shells sponsors freenode providing 3k/mo. | |
2. Freenode lists the shells logo. | |
3. Tomaw's team attacks christel, who had run Freenode since early | |
2000, and she resigns, unable to deal with the persistent harassment. | |
4. Rather than allow for a usual grace period after resignation | |
(e.g. as we speak, several resigned former-staffers are still OPd | |
in here), or allow for a reasonable transition from one head of | |
Freenode staff to the next (something reasonable and responsible | |
to do to ensure proper continuity of operations), Tomaw's crew | |
abruptly cuts christel's access while she is asleep that night. | |
5. Tomaw turns around and asks me a bunch of questions if I'm going | |
to challenge his control. He also says he understands I am the | |
owner. I suggest that freenode needs decentralization and good | |
governance, to prevent the kinds of hasty destabilizing things that | |
have transpired. | |
6. I hear whispers that Tomaw is up to something and reach out to | |
prawnsalad (kiwiirc) who has nothing but good to say about Tomaw. | |
He schedules a meeting with tomaw and me to mediate. | |
7. In the meeting Tomaw and I disagree entirely about freenode | |
domain ownership (which we've since come to an agreement on), but | |
we both clearly agree in writing not to make any changes to ownership, | |
governance, or project trajectory until we speak again. I created | |
a document detailing the discussion on April 8 and general plan on | |
Google Docs (dated). | |
8. Rather than wait until we speak again, Tomaw turns around and | |
changes up the staff and website. | |
9. Upset that tomaw has renegged on his commitments and acted rashly, | |
prawnsalad says he's not going to deal with tomaw and discussion | |
ends; the mediator drops out. | |
10. I ask tomaw wtf and he brushes me off. | |
11. I get a lawyer and tomaw says he understands and is sorry etc | |
and sends me a letter. | |
12. Meanwhile some other story is being told to the staff that | |
doesn't match the truths listed here. | |
Given the millions I have injected into freenode thus far, the fact | |
I own it and the fact that I protected the freenode staff with | |
professional legal work and funding when they needed help and they | |
could still lie and slander like this... says a lot about who they | |
are. It saddens me that christel was forced out, and I wish she'd | |
feel safe returning. I'm frustrated that tomaw's hostile takeover | |
seems likely to succeed, in spite of all. I simply want freenode | |
to keep on being a great IRC network, and to support it financially | |
and legally as I have for a long time now. | |
So this is where we are. I passionately want freenode to survive. | |
I have serious concerns about the stability of the project with | |
tomaw here, given his duplicitious and rash actions. But I also | |
have faith and trust in the freenode staff as a general body. So | |
it's my hope we can resolve this leadership issue. I proposed a | |
way to decentralize freenode in the past and would love to embark | |
on that journey still. Perhaps if tomaw could be forthright with | |
everyone about what's happened, the staff could decide for themselves, | |
but I fear he has been far less than forthright. I do not want to | |
interfere, but I also want to protect freenode from what appears | |
to be a pretty hostile set of moves that I believe threaten the | |
network. This concern might point to larger issues we'll need to | |
address about governance in general, and I'm open to having those | |
discussions and formalizing fair and reasonable processes. But for | |
now in the short term, I would really like to work together to find | |
a resolution to this. Freenode must survive in tact, not torn to | |
pieces. |
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I stopped using freenode when it became a woke culture, post-meritocracy movement, elect joe biden, sjw fuckery. You're doing the right thing. The other networks have your back with resources aplenty if you just ask for them. You should probably make a move sooner, than later, as word is that freenode staff are spamming users to migrate their IRC client settings over to irc.libera.chat |
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Holy shit |
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This kind of shit right here is why IRC is dying a slow death of irrelevancy. |
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Hello rasengan, I do not like you. |
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the only thing I find myself thinking while reading this, is wondering why the irc networks are operating smoothly before you get involved, and then the drama shows up when you do. freenode is not the only one why would you invest "millions" into an irc network? is freenode really this costly to operate? doesn't seem like it when a 3k/month sponsorship from shells is significant enough to land them an advertisement in the website's header it seems to me that irc culture is better off without your "help" if you really love irc as much as you claimed to on your original statement on the irc.com website, you could have just come chat. that's how you keep irc alive. |
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buzztiaan commentedMay 14, 2021