Subject: Re: Should we do something with #git-devel on Freenode?

From: Jonathan Nieder <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 19 May 2021 12:08:07 -0700

Hi,

Emily Shaffer wrote[0]:

> Seems like there's been some kerfuffle with Freenode staff and new
> ownership[1][2][3]. What does this mean for Git project? I think #git
> on Freenode isn't maintained by Git developers directly, right?

https://gitirc.eu/ involved a lot of work by Jan Krüger (thanks!), so
cc-ing him since he likely knows who else is active there.

[...]
>                                                             We do
> theoretically keep up #git-devel on Freenode, though it's largely
> silent. Should we be worrying? Migrating?

The main practical struggle on #git-devel has been spam.  I don't know
that any particular IRC network is better at spam prevention than
others.

It looks like most of the Freenode admins have moved to
https://libera.chat/, so that would be a close equivalent.  Another
alternative is OFTC <https://www.oftc.net/>, which is used by
irc.debian.org, for example.

There are also other real-time chat programs such as Zulip (open
source, used in Outreachy), Discord (used by LLVM), and Slack (used by
Chromium); each has its benefits and flaws.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[0] https://lore.kernel.org/git/CAJoAoZ=[email-masked]/
> [1] https://boingboing.net/2021/05/19/freenode-irc-staff-quit-after-new-owner-seizes-control.html
> [2] https://gist.github.com/joepie91/df80d8d36cd9d1bde46ba018af497409
> [3] https://fuchsnet.ch/freenode-resign-letter.txt