content/pages/project.md

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   2 Title: The Project
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   4 The freenode project began as _#linuxneo_, a tiny GNU/Linux support channel, created by Rob Levin in 1994 on EFNet IRC. The channel soon changed its name to _#LinPeople_. By 1995, after moving to Undernet and then DALnet, _#LinPeople_ became a small network, _irc.linpeople.org_. In early 1998, it became _Open Projects Net_, with about 200 users and fewer than 20 channels.
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   6 In 2002, Open Projects Net became freenode, a service of Peer-Directed Projects Center, a tax-exempt corporation.
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   8 In 2013, the Peer-Directed Projects Center shut down; however the freenode project continues to operate as before.
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  10 Today, the freenode project plays host to somewhere in the region of 90,000 users and just shy of 50,000 registered channels.
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  12 The freenode project is managed entirely by a small team of enthusiastic volunteers who all share a passion for free and open source software and peer-directed project communities. You can learn more about the people behind freenode [here](pages/people).
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  14 The freenode project has experienced immense growth over the years and, in line with its original vision, the project provides interactive discussion facilities to a number of free and open source software communities and other peer-directed projects.
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  16 Peer-directed projects combine open, informal participation with broad licensing and wide dissemination of output.
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  18 You can read more about the Philosophy on which freenode is founded [here](pages/philosophy).