date: 2002-08-14 00:00:32+00:00
slug: open-projects-is-now-freenode
title: Open Projects is now freenode!
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- social
-- technical
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: social
+category: technical
---
As of today, Open Projects Net has changed its name. We are now freenode!
date: 2006-02-20 05:38:01+00:00
slug: good-morning-all
title: '[Announcement] Group registration and fundraising.'
-categories:
-- community
-- development
-- freenode
-- pdpc
-- social
+category: community
+category: development
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
+category: social
---
A quick note on a few current topics. First, new manual group registrations have been, if anything, slower than before. We apologize for this; we're working on ramping up the freenode-registry project and concentrating on coding for the moment. The code is in the early prototyping stage and is going fairly slowly, though it's beginning to pick up speed. However, the current manual group registration process is suffering while we work on the code which will eventually automate our processes. We'll try to pick off some of the more active projects in the group registration queue and get them moving again. Thanks in advance for your patience.
date: 2006-05-02 21:03:26+00:00
slug: good-evening-everyone
title: '[Scheduled Maintenance] European Rehubbing'
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
We'll be rehubbing our European servers at about 6am UTC tomorrow, in about 9 hours (11pm US/Pacific, 8am Europe/Paris, 4pm Australia/Sydney). We're returning our normal hubbing, which was modified several days ago due to backbone connectivity problems between our US and Europe hubs. This correction should reduce transatlantic latencies.
date: 2006-09-16 10:47:55+00:00
slug: announcement-rob-levin-has-passed-away
title: '[Announcement] Rob Levin has passed away'
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- social
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: social
---
On the 12th September Rob Levin, known to many as freenode's lilo, was hit by a car while riding his bike. He suffered head injuries and was in a coma. Rob was being treated at the Neuro Trauma Intensive Care Unit at a local hospital in Houston, Texas where he passed away on Sept 16th.
date: 2006-09-23 14:46:39+00:00
slug: '94'
title: Rob Levin, a man who will be greatly missed
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- pdpc
-- private
-- social
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
+category: private
+category: social
---
As previously announced last week, Rob Levin aka lilo, the father of freenode, passed away on the 16th of September. He had been in a coma after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle.
date: 2006-11-02 16:46:39+00:00
slug: downtime-unexpected-downtime
title: '[Downtime] Unexpected downtime.'
-categories:
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
We would like to apologise to those of our users affected by the network downtime earlier tooday, November 2nd 2006. The network went down unexpectedly after one of our staffers accidentally found a bug in the IRCD code.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to suggest that you keep your eyes on this webpage as we will shortly be announcing some exciting changes and bringing you some great news!
date: 2006-11-11 08:00:49+00:00
slug: introducing-the-pdpc-board
title: '[Announcement] Introducing the PDPC board'
-categories:
-- pdpc
+category: pdpc
---
It is with great pleasure that I can finally introduce the new board of directors for PDPC, the not-for-profit entity that runs freenode.
date: 2006-12-22 00:00:53+00:00
slug: scheduled-maintenance-ircd-upgrade
title: '[Scheduled Maintenance] IRCD upgrade.'
-categories:
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
In order to upgrade our ircd code to fix various bugs and security issues, it has become necessary to restart a large portion of freenode network.
date: 2007-02-15 02:12:17+00:00
slug: bringing-people-together
title: Bringing people together?
-categories:
-- community
-- fosscon
-- freenode
+category: community
+category: fosscon
+category: freenode
---
When I first came on board as [freenode](http://www.freenode.net) staff I had no idea what a incredible experience I was in for.
date: 2007-02-15 00:13:59+00:00
slug: here-there-be-blog-posts
title: Here, there be blog posts
-categories:
-- freenode
+category: freenode
---
If you are reading [christel's blog](http://blog.simplychristel.net/), you will know that we have been mulling over creating a staffblog. It is not meant as an official newsfeed like freenode news, it is our semi-official way to talk about what happens behind the scenes, what makes us happy and what we think needs changing. We really do hope to get this thing flying and are aiming for at least one entry per week. Let us see how good we do once novelty wears off..
date: 2007-02-16 20:25:46+00:00
slug: group-registration-with-freenode
title: Group registration with freenode
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- projects
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: projects
---
Hi all. I'd like to talk about a unique feature that freenode has that many are not aware of for my first post to this blog. Sitting quietly in a small corner of our website, the concept of group registration is one of the things that makes freenode unique amongst IRC networks and it is something that I think highlights our commitment to open projects. The process is simple: after submitting a group contact form, a representative of freenode will contact you, usually by telephone, to verify your identity and to help get things set up.
date: 2007-02-23 07:49:11+00:00
slug: the-heart-and-mind-of-a-catalyst
title: The Heart and Mind of a Catalyst
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- philosophy
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: philosophy
---
As the staff has so recently begun this blog, I've been carefully thinking about freenode and what make it different from so many other networks. Ask 10 people and you might get 10 different answers, but I have my own theory, which I thought I'd share with you here. The difference is, quite simply, the people that populate the network - and their heart and drive to make it something better. For a long time, though I was operating a channel of my own, I never realized that freenode officially encouraged the sort of behavior that I often employ - self-mediation, moderation, arbitration, catalysing, or whatever you want to call it. But indeed, freenode has an entire section on its website about the importance (and role) of a Catalyst!
date: 2007-02-28 00:26:33+00:00
slug: fosdem-2007
title: FOSDEM 2007
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- private
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: private
---
I was at [FOSDEM](http://fosdem.org/) last weekend and I liked it. There were loads of interesting talks in over a dozen tracks. Dev rooms, hacker's corner, booths with funny gadgets and interesting software, you name it :). A huge thank you to all the people that made this happen!
date: 2007-02-28 00:58:33+00:00
slug: freenode-is-about-you-and-dont-just-take-our-word-for-it
title: freenode is about you and don't just take our word for it
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- philosophy
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: philosophy
---
We are still experimenting with this blog and we would really like to get some input on what interests you guys and gals. So please take five minutes, sit down and write a comment to this blog post. Tell us what you feel, what you think, what you love, what you hate, what you always wanted to know about us and anything else you can come up with. Talk to us. I promise we will answer.
date: 2007-03-24 22:15:49+00:00
slug: nickserv-is-your-friend
title: NickServ Is Your Friend
-categories:
-- freenode
+category: freenode
---
**UPDATE: This is outdated. See [here](http://freenode.net/faq.shtml#nicksetup) for up-to-date instructions. Note that some commands in this entry have been renamed or have different syntax. If you need help with your NickServ account and can't find information on our website, please ask in #freenode.**
date: 2007-03-24 16:13:29+00:00
slug: pdpc-design-contest
title: PDPC Design Contest!
-categories:
-- pdpc
+category: pdpc
---
A while back we announced on the freenode news page that we are running a design competition for logo + website design for the PDPC (Peer-Directed Projects Center); the not-for-profit organization that owns and operates freenode.
date: 2007-04-05 10:58:35+00:00
slug: building-bridges
title: Building Bridges
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
+category: community
+category: freenode
---
For the last few months, some of freenode's staff have been doing overtime as 'observers' on another IRC network for FOSS developers; hanging out in their staff channels, watching how they do things. At the same time, some of their staff have been watching how we work. It's been interesting.
date: 2007-04-06 09:55:38+00:00
slug: whats-your-story
title: What's your story?
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
+category: community
+category: freenode
---
We would like to feature a few stories of how open source in general and freenode in specific influenced you and your life. Anyone who is interested in getting their story published should write email to blog*freenode.net. Depending on feedback, this might even evolve into a weekly feature (or not ;) ). So, happy submitting!
date: 2007-04-19 13:07:23+00:00
slug: getting-voice-in-freenode-social
title: 'Getting voice in #freenode-social'
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
+category: community
+category: freenode
---
If you've been on the network for a little while you'll probably have noticed that #freenode presently forwards you to #freenode-social, a moderated channel. This is officially our "staff social channel", but it oftens confuses people how it can seem to take a long time to get a voice, when most of the channel are happily chattering away. I thought I'd have a go at clearing up this mysterious situation a little, in the hope that the channel will cause less angst in the future. At the moment, we get a lot of requests for voice, and I hope that by explaining the situation here it will be easier for people to understand what policies we are implementing.
date: 2007-04-19 14:03:09+00:00
slug: upcoming-changes-to-hyperion-our-ircd-software
title: Upcoming changes to hyperion, our ircd software
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
---
We're working on rolling out some new changes to hyperion, our ircd software. If everything goes well, we should be running with these changes in a few weeks. However, you should note that we're releasing these changes as **hyperion 1.0.3**, and we don't particularly encourage any other networks to try to run this code (there are better, more modern ircd software out there). In addition, hyperion 1.0.3 will probably be the last release we make of hyperion. (We are collaborating with Stuart Walsh and TJ Fontaine, the authors of oftc-hybrid which have some great ideas for a next generation ircd tree for freenode!)
date: 2007-05-02 17:24:56+00:00
slug: silence-is-golden-handling-trolls-and-spammers
title: 'Silence is Golden: Handling trolls and spammers'
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- philosophy
-- social
-- technical
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: philosophy
+category: social
+category: technical
---
**The Issue **
date: 2007-05-12 14:53:10+00:00
slug: a-re-de-focus
title: A Re-/De-focus
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- social
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: social
---
freenode is pleased to announce a few changes effective May 12, 2007 at 12:55 UTC:
date: 2007-05-15 03:49:56+00:00
slug: all-roads-lead-to-defocus
title: 'All roads lead to #defocus'
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- philosophy
-- social
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: philosophy
+category: social
---
Some time ago I used to work as a special projects mentor for a large international company, one of the things I were to try purvey to the people I trained was 'Change is good, change is great'. It took a long time for me to change my internal thought process and face my own fears of giving up security of what's familiar, and as such it took a long time for me to be able to stand there in a room full of people and utter those words while actually believing in and meaning what I said.
date: 2007-05-22 21:20:41+00:00
slug: changes-to-the-board-structure-of-the-pdpc
title: Changes to the board structure of the PDPC
-categories:
-- pdpc
+category: pdpc
---
As of the board meeting on May 22nd 2007 a few changes have been made with immediate effect. David Levin has stepped down from his position as President. Christel Dahlskjaer (freenode Head of Staff) replaces him as President by unanimous vote, while David retains a position on the PDPC board.
date: 2007-05-22 21:42:48+00:00
slug: so-much-is-happening
title: So much is happening...
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- pdpc
-- social
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
+category: social
---
Today has been an interesting day in 'freenodia', a day of reflection, and a day where both myself and my incredible staff got a feel of what it means to be surrounded and embraced by so many large and vibrant communities as those who choose to use the freenode network. We are proud and happy to host the projects we host, and we are tremendously grateful that by using freenode you allow us to get a peek behind the curtains on how your project operates, which is always refreshing.
date: 2007-05-26 17:40:38+00:00
slug: communicating-with-the-irc-community
title: Communicating with the irc Community
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- philosophy
-- social
-- technical
+category: community
+category: different
+category: philosophy
+category: social
+category: technical
---
For most of my professional career, I worked in the international arena. I'm not sure why I have always enjoyed that so much - perhaps as a result of having lived overseas for a portion of my life. There are, as a result, a lot of things that I take for granted in dealing with others, and I've recently become more aware that others often don't think or don't realize there is a bit of an art to dealing with folks from other cultures, countries, backgrounds and who speak other languages. On irc, there are **so** many different people, languages, cultures, it's important to realize the need to do things a bit differently than we normally would, even though many of the traditional issues that arise when you're face-to-face don't exist.
date: 2007-07-11 17:58:11+00:00
slug: freenode-defocus-an-evaluation
title: '#freenode & #defocus: an evaluation'
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- social
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: social
---
Donna [recently posted](http://blog.freenode.net/?p=41) on the move that changed #freenode-social and #tapthru to #defocus and #freenode respectively. This has involved getting the former #tapthru staff on board as our new freenode helpers, and as staff we have found them a great bunch of people to work with - thank you to you all. Yesterday we held an evaluation meeting about how the last two months had gone, with the ups and downs, and to try and set plans for the future. It was a constructive event; what follows us a brief summary of the meeting.<!-- more -->
date: 2007-08-14 08:56:42+00:00
slug: were-still-here
title: We're still here!
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- pdpc
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
---
It's been quiet on the blog front lately, we're mid holiday season so find ourselves somewhat lacking in active staff and this has kept most of those who are around tremendously busy. Both on freenode and with working on new stuff!
date: 2007-08-26 19:20:55+00:00
slug: cia-bots-the-instant-version-control-informants-an-annoyance
title: CIA Bots - 'The Instant Version Control Informants' -- an annoyance?
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- projects
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: projects
---
While most FOSS contributors will be familiar with [CIA](http://cia.vc) and likely to utilize it for tracking commits for their project(s) and contributors, we occasionally have concerns raised from projects who find that CIA-* joined their channel unexpectedly and not on their request, this may be because someone typoed a channel name when setting things up over at the CIA page, or because someone decided to be helpful and share the joys of CIA with a new project/channel but forgot to ask the project admins/channel owners whether this would be a-ok.. and occasionally we find ourselves getting a bunch of notices alerting us to a CIA-* bot as a potential spambot as it tries rejoin a channel from which it has been banned, or when its been misconfigured and cycle a channel which has a forward set (this tends to confuse most bots!).
date: 2007-08-28 19:12:18+00:00
slug: freenode-has-reached-40-000-users
title: freenode has reached 40 000 users
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- social
-- user count
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: social
+category: user count
---
Today at around 18:45 UTC freenode hit a total number of connections of fourty thousand, which is a new network record. Over the past few months our usercount has been steadily growing and we are really pleased that more people are finding freenode a useful resource. If you want to see how many users are connected at any one time, type the IRC command /lusers
date: 2007-11-04 23:32:18+00:00
slug: thank-you-alindeman
title: Thank you!
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- pdpc
-- social
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: pdpc
+category: social
---
Today saw the (hopefully temporary) resignation of one of our senior staffers; Andy Lindeman (alindeman). Andy has been an important part of freenode staff, both as an excellent part of the strong group of user facing staff and as a part of our infrastructure team. It's sad to see him go, and we hope that he will find the time to rejoin our ranks at some point in the future, but as most of us can relate, being a college student you often find yourself with new and other priorities, be it studies or the social aspects of spending a few years away studying.
date: 2007-11-11 12:20:54+00:00
slug: a-very-brief-mention-of-upcoming-changes
title: A very brief mention of upcoming changes..
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
---
As you are probably aware we are in the process of rehauling the IRCd and Services software running on freenode. While hyperion and theia have served us well for a significant amount of time they are also starting to struggle under the weight of our rapid growth (we recently hit 43,000 users, which is a number we hadn't anticipated -- that's 15,000 more users than we had a year ago).
date: 2007-11-18 23:49:19+00:00
slug: keeping-tabs-on-channel-bans
title: Keeping tabs on channel bans
-categories:
-- freenode
-- philosophy
-- social
+category: freenode
+category: philosophy
+category: social
---
The channel ban, initiated with a mode change of +b, is perhaps one of the most recognised and well known features of IRC, dating back to the origins of the protocol. freenode has implemented a number of features that extend the basic nick!user@host mask format because we believe that the 'kickban' is outdated and there are better ways of dealing with disruptions to channel activity. On freenode you will find the quiet, where by replacing +b with +q you can stop a user from speaking in a channel but they can still read the contents of it. It has been found that this creates a more positive atmosphere in the channel that means better discussion can take place. There is also the realname ban, used via +d.
date: 2007-12-01 23:00:55+00:00
slug: blogging-about-logging
title: Blogging about logging..
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- social
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: social
---
After [this](http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/30/will-irseek-have-a-chilling-effect-on-irc-chat/) recent article on [techcrunch.com](http://www.techcrunch.com) many of our users have contacted freenode staff to express their concern, shock, surprise and unease that IRseeK have for some time now been operating covert clients in various channels on freenode (and other IRC Networks) logging all communication and publishing it on their website.
date: 2007-12-11 00:38:03+00:00
slug: we-are-recruiting
title: We are recruiting!
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
---
We are currently looking to expand the freenode volunteer staff team – seeking people from across the target communities we serve.
date: 2007-12-23 18:07:24+00:00
slug: happy-holidays
title: Happy holidays!
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- fosscon
-- freenode
-- pdpc
-- projects
-- social
+category: community
+category: different
+category: fosscon
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
+category: projects
+category: social
---
It's been just over a year since freenode saw it's biggest shake-up yet, the passing of founder Rob 'lilo' Levin. It has been a challenging and interesting year both for freenode and Peer-Directed Projects Center, the not-for-profit organisation which owns and operates the network. There have been changes within the staff, there have been technical changes and soon we will see the change-over of both our Services package and our IRC daemon.
date: 2007-12-23 18:06:00+00:00
slug: more-blogging-about-logging
title: More blogging about logging...
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- projects
-- social
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: projects
+category: social
---
I promised you all that I would write an update when we'd had a chance to review things and speak with the IRseeK people. After a bit of discussion, both amongst freenode staff and with the management of the company which provides the IRseeK service, we are happy to announce that there will be a few changes.
date: 2008-01-16 20:36:46+00:00
slug: thanks-for-volunteering
title: Thanks for volunteering!
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
---
Thank you to all those who have responded to our [recent call for volunteers](http://blog.freenode.net/?p=65). We have been somewhat overwhelmed with the amount of applicants and are pleased to see so many interested in help keep freenode running. Due to the Head of Staff going on holiday, and due to the amount of e-mails received, we are running a little behind on replying to each and every applicant. Hopefully, everyone should have a response by the end of the weekend.
date: 2008-03-22 17:46:11+00:00
slug: helping-others-help-you
title: Helping others help you.
-categories:
-- philosophy
+category: philosophy
---
From _[The Pragmatic Programmer](http://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-Journeyman-Master/dp/020161622X)_:
date: 2008-04-22 20:57:29+00:00
slug: registering-a-channel-on-freenode
title: Registering a channel on freenode
-categories:
-- freenode
-- projects
+category: freenode
+category: projects
---
One of the questions we get asked a lot in #freenode is "What's the command to register my channel?"This being the freenode staff blog, I'd like to answer that question the long way around ;)
date: 2008-05-29 15:06:27+00:00
slug: services-migration
title: Services Migration
-categories:
-- freenode
-- projects
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: projects
+category: technical
---
The time has come for freenode to migrate from our old, legacy services package to a much newer, actively maintained package known as [Atheme](http://www.atheme.net/), developed by the [Atheme Project](http://www.atheme.org/). Although we, with the help of the Atheme developers, have tried to make the migration process as painless as possible, there are still a few interface differences that you will need to be aware of. This guide, prepared by tomaw, will attempt to walk you through the main changes, grouped by service.
date: 2008-05-31 17:56:35+00:00
slug: new-services-nicknames-and-accounts
title: 'New Services: Nicknames and Accounts'
-categories:
-- freenode
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: technical
---
We've noticed a lot of people who are confused (and rightly so!) about the new nickname system - particularly the way that nickname grouping has changed. Hopefully this blog post will clear some of it up.
date: 2008-06-10 17:45:54+00:00
slug: who-are-freenode-staff-part-1-of
title: Who Are freenode Staff? (Part 1 of ?)
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- social
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: social
---
As you have undoubtedly noticed by now, freenode recently changed services. Along with this new look, we thought it would be a good time to formally (and perhaps not-so-formally) announce the addition of new staff. You’ll find below a list of all our current staff, and in this post and some that follow, we’ll give you a tiny snapshot of the new (and some of the old) members of our circus^Wteam.
date: 2008-07-02 18:58:46+00:00
slug: lugradio-live-the-grand-finale
title: 'Lugradio Live: The grand finale'
-categories:
-- community
-- projects
-- social
+category: community
+category: projects
+category: social
---
I, for one, was saddened to hear that my favourite FOSS podcast; Lugradio is coming to an end. If you are in the UK, heck, if you're anywhere and don't mind traveling a bit you may want to catch the grand finale at this years Lugradio Live.
date: 2008-08-28 11:00:51+00:00
slug: freenode-autovoice-trial
title: '#freenode: Autovoice Trial'
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
+category: community
+category: freenode
---
It's been a while since we touched the layout of #freenode - we are generally quite pleased with how things run in there! However, we believe that it needs to be easier for a user to identify a member of staff when they join the channel - our current system of using a mixture of
date: 2008-09-02 11:51:24+00:00
slug: happy-25th-birthday-gnu
title: Happy 25th Birthday, GNU!
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- free software
-- projects
+category: community
+category: different
+category: free software
+category: projects
---
To mark the 25th "birthday" of the [GNU](http://gnu.org) project the [FSF](http://www.fsf.org) have teamed up with a very special man; [Stephen Fry](http://www.stephenfry.com).
date: 2008-09-14 19:17:17+00:00
slug: change-in-defocus-policy-and-what-do-you-think
title: 'Change in #defocus policy - and what do you think?'
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- philosophy
-- social
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: philosophy
+category: social
---
Since rearchitecting freenode's network help and social channels, we've been considering various ways to improve them for our network users, and recently freenode's steering committee has investigated and considered these issues.
date: 2008-09-15 18:49:43+00:00
slug: 50000-active-users
title: 50,000 Active Users
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
-- user count
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
+category: user count
---
Howdy, folks! At 19:40 UTC+1 today, freenode reached 50,000 active users online, which is a record for us!
date: 2008-10-30 12:40:18+00:00
slug: fundraising-for-charity-status
title: Fundraising for Charity Status!
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- pdpc
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
---
As you may be vaguely aware, we have been working on some structural changes to the operations of the parent organisation behind freenode. And I am happy to announce that Peer-Directed Projects Center Ltd is now incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales.
date: 2008-11-02 20:14:06+00:00
slug: help-us-test-ircd-seven
title: Help us test ircd-seven!
-categories:
-- development
-- freenode
-- technical
+category: development
+category: freenode
+category: technical
---
As many of you will have noticed, our current IRC server software, [hyperion](http://freenode.net/hyperion.shtml), has been showing its age for some time now. Expectations for its eventual replacement are nothing if not high -- hyperion contains a great many features not found elsewhere, most of which are fairly unique to the way in which freenode operates, so anything that wants to take over from it must provide all of these, in a more robust, maintainable and future-proof package.
date: 2008-11-02 19:01:07+00:00
slug: maintenance-downtime-warning-lem-orwell
title: '[Maintenance] Downtime warning -- lem, orwell'
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
Hi all,
date: 2008-12-20 23:32:49+00:00
slug: new-servers
title: New servers
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
Hi all,
date: 2008-12-24 20:10:42+00:00
slug: merry-christmas-and-a-happy-new-year
title: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- pdpc
-- social
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
+category: social
---
Another year is coming to an end, for freenode and the PDPC it has been a year of change. We've made a lot of progress on development, the NFP is branching out and starting to slowly move towards providing more services to the FOSS communities and we've grown in size and now peak at a whooping 51,000 users! It feels amazing to see so many FOSS enthusiasts together in one place.
date: 2009-01-05 13:36:18+00:00
slug: 20082009-fundraiser
title: 2008/2009 Fundraiser.
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- pdpc
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
---
date: 2009-01-05 13:34:32+00:00
slug: nickserv-access-module-loaded
title: Nickserv Access Module Loaded.
-categories:
-- freenode
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: technical
---
We recently added support for NickServ's ACCESS command to freenode's services. This allows you to define a list of hostmasks from which nickserv will recognise you before you have identified. Logging in as normal is still required, but matching an entry on this list will prevent NickServ from changing your nick if ENFORCE is enabled.
date: 2009-01-29 23:24:30+00:00
slug: happy-15th
title: Happy 15th!
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- pdpc
-- social
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
+category: social
---
15 years ago, on January 29th 1994 Rob (lilo) Levin first joined the channel #linuxneo on the EFNet IRC network. This date has since been referred to as the conceptual moment, the foundation, the cornerstone which later led to the network you now know as freenode.
date: 2009-02-02 19:19:55+00:00
slug: who-are-freenode-staff-part-2-of
title: Who Are freenode Staff? (Part 2 of ?)
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- social
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: social
---
It's been a while since we posted Part 1 of our series on "Who Are freenode Staff?" - which makes it about time to post a bit more.
date: 2009-02-09 14:40:19+00:00
slug: freenode-t-shirts
title: freenode t-shirts
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- pdpc
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
---
As you are probably aware, the PDPC re-incorporated in the UK and to that end we are trying to meet the threshold for being registered as a charity through the charity commission -- a status which would allow us to continue offering tax relief to hardware and bandwith sponsors, in addition to cutting our costs. To this end, we are in the process of designing several cool t-shirts which will be available on the pdpc's website for purchase. The proceeds from these sales will help supplement donations which we already receive from some of our users.
date: 2009-03-09 15:32:07+00:00
slug: 20082009-fundraiser-campaign-update
title: 2008/2009 fundraiser campaign update
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- pdpc
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: pdpc
---
**[UPDATE]**
date: 2009-03-17 13:19:47+00:00
slug: free-as-in-node
title: free-as-in-node
-categories:
-- community
+category: community
---
We are proud to announce our very first episode of our very first season of free-as-in-node, the new freenode podcast. Now you can let IRC waste your life even when you can't be online! The purpose is simple: entertain, inform, and interact, just like IRC. Via the podcast we will be bringing you guests and information from all over the freenode community.
date: 2009-03-24 14:43:41+00:00
slug: update-on-the-pdpc-20082009-donation-campaign-success
title: Update on the PDPC 2008/2009 donation campaign (SUCCESS!)
-categories:
-- community
+category: community
---
We are happy to announce that we have in fact reached our 2008/2009 fund raising goals, and as such are no longer in danger of losing charity status. At present, we have exceeded the required amount (£5,000) by at least £200 and we here are all very excited (and relieved) to have accomplished this with your help. We would like to offer our thanks to each and every one of you who helped out and contributed. This truly shows just the sort of thing the community is capable of. We'd also like to offer thanks Canonical in particular for their help in reaching our goal through their matching of £1,700 of donations by others.
date: 2009-03-31 21:53:28+00:00
slug: irssi-0813
title: Irssi 0.8.13
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
---
Piping hot and straight from the oven! The Irssi core development team has been hard at work, hunched over their computers for many moons, tapping away till their hearts content! Bruised and blistered, they've just set off to put their sore fingers around a few bottles of cold beer and have a well deserved rest! Thank you all and keep up the good work!
date: 2009-04-01 01:07:55+00:00
slug: pdpc-yahoo-acquisition
title: 'PDPC Yahoo acquisition '
-categories:
-- different
+category: different
---
It is with great fanfare that we announce the Yahoo acquisition of the PDPC, and by extension, freenode. After much deliberation, we have decided to accept Yahoo's offer to purchase the freenode irc network and associated resources for the amount of approximately £2,700,000.00 in yahoo shares. At present it is expected that all current network staff will remain in place while certain yahoo employees will be added to the mix.
date: 2009-04-03 15:21:40+00:00
slug: geeknics
title: Geeknics
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- pdpc
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
---
When most people think of geeks, they think of pasty white people who never leave their basement. Well, we are aiming to change that... by getting you outside and making you a little less pasty white.
date: 2009-04-14 09:53:24+00:00
slug: community-leadership-summit-july-18-19th-2009-san-jose-ca
title: Community Leadership Summit - July 18-19th 2009, San Jose, CA.
-categories:
-- community
+category: community
---
[](http://www.communityleadershipsummit.com/)
date: 2009-04-14 09:52:06+00:00
slug: php-testfest
title: PHP TestFest
-categories:
-- community
+category: community
---
Jonathan mentioned in his [blog post](http://blog.freenode.net/2009/04/free-as-in-node-episode-3-released/) about the free-as-in-node podcast yesterday that this weeks guest on "Pimp My Project" was there to talk about **PHP TestFest**.
date: 2009-04-18 10:27:07+00:00
slug: pdpc-and-the-open-source-community
title: pdpc and the open source community
-categories:
-- community
+category: community
---
As we've mentioned in previous blog posts, pdpc, the parent organization that operates freenode, is very interested in offering more to the community. To this end we've begun a number of other projects such as the new free-as-in-node [podcast](http://podcast.freenode.net/)and "[geeknics](http://geeknic.org)", but this is just a small part of the level of involvement we aspire to. We want to do more for the projects and users that use freenode every day, and for the community they represent.
date: 2009-04-20 10:33:24+00:00
slug: summer-of-geeknics-off-to-a-great-start
title: Summer of Geeknics Off to a Great Start!
-categories:
-- community
+category: community
---
After much worry about the weather (and possibly being thrown out of the park by park rangers), the Philadelphia Geeknic held yesterday, Sunday, April 19th, 2009, kicked off for a great day of fun in the (partial) sun, with food, fun, and geeks! With about thirty people in attendance and plenty of food to go around, there was much to do. Conversation centered around software, work, and harassing the "windows guy" while children played in the field. Eventually a handful of geeks wandered off for a game of Frisbee at which they for the most part failed miserably. Despite the slightly cloudy day, the weather stayed mostly warm and comfortable.
date: 2009-05-20 01:29:18+00:00
slug: southeast-linuxfest-self-2009
title: SouthEast LinuxFest (SELF) 2009
-categories:
-- community
+category: community
---
The first annual SouthEast LinuxFest is coming up in just a few weeks, on June 13th. This event is for anyone who wants to learn more about free and open source software, and is a combination educational conference and social gathering, all in one. It looks to be a very exciting event. Freenode will have at least one representative at the event and we are already aware of quite a few freenode users who will be there.
date: 2009-05-29 18:06:35+00:00
slug: free-as-in-node-episode-5-released
title: Free-as-in-Node episode 5 released!
-categories:
-- community
+category: community
---
Episode 5 of Free-as-in-Node is now available and ready to abduct even more of your time, now with even more ginger! Listen in for some details on Ubuntu-1 from Stuart “aquarius” Langridge in Pimp My Project. Ubuntu-1 sounds like an amazing new project. Stuart gives us a tip to take a look at Ubuntu-1 without the wait, and gives us a few details on what he is up to and whats going on at Canonical. He tells us about the[ ayatana mailing list](https://lists.launchpad.net/ayatana), where discussion takes place on the interface and looks of Ubuntu. We also find out about the new telepathic user interface Stuart is going to deliver to us... personally.
date: 2009-06-09 09:43:51+00:00
slug: scheduled-maintenance-services-database-clear-out-2
title: '[Scheduled Maintenance] Services database clear-out.'
-categories:
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
This is just to let you know that we will soon be performing a fairly substantial cleanup of the NickServ and ChanServ databases.
date: 2009-06-11 11:22:18+00:00
slug: freenode-network-services-cleanup-and-changes
title: freenode Network Services Cleanup and Changes.
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
As announced previously, we have recently (as of Thursday, June 10th) pruned our nickserv and chanserv databases. We also performed some additional updates and modifications. While the most obvious change of this will be that any nicks older than 60 days have been dropped, there have been some additional changes implemented as well. In addition, we have added a new webchat service for users who wish to irc from behind a firewall disallowing a more direct connection. You can try it out [here](http://webchat.freenode.net/)!
date: 2009-06-17 09:39:25+00:00
slug: we-want-you
title: 'We want YOU! '
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
---
We are currently looking to expand the freenode volunteer staff team, seeking people involved with the target communities we currently serve.
date: 2009-06-19 11:41:04+00:00
slug: new-freenode-webchat-and-why-to-use-it
title: New freenode webchat (and why to use it)
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- technical
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: technical
---
As of today we have disabled access to the freenode irc network via mibbit. While there are numerous reasons for this, it ultimately comes down to the ability to prevent abuse via this client. We allow connections from many types of web gateways, and such connections require a certain amount of trust and communication between the server operators and the gateway operators. While we have tried to maintain a good working relationship with anyone who wishes to provide access to freenode and are lucky that most of our users and projects are very friendly and communicative, we have found it difficult to maintain open communications with mibbit. This has resulted in a large amount of staff time being spent on managing abuse coming from mibbit, disrupting service for other mibbit users and reducing the quality of the network. Sadly, we feel that this is ultimately not beneficial to mibbit users or the network as a whole.
date: 2009-06-22 22:07:52+00:00
slug: possible-sorbs-closure
title: Possible SORBS closure
-categories:
-- community
-- free software
-- open source
-- technical
+category: community
+category: free software
+category: open source
+category: technical
---
Short blog post this evening but an important one!
date: 2009-07-06 10:54:14+00:00
slug: fosseventsorg
title: fossevents.org
-categories:
-- community
-- pdpc
+category: community
+category: pdpc
---
[fossevents.org](http://fossevents.org) is an open source event aggregation site created by the Peer Directed Projects Center, the nonprofit organization the operates freenode. Our goal with this new site is to make it easy to find open source events near you, that interest you. Many of us have missed events that were right around the corner because we didn't know about them until it was way too late.
date: 2009-07-26 19:32:00+00:00
slug: web-chat-updates
title: Web chat updates
-categories:
-- development
-- free software
-- freenode
-- open source
-- webchat
+category: development
+category: free software
+category: freenode
+category: open source
+category: webchat
---
Over the last few weeks we have had quite a bit of feedback from our new web chat client. As a result of this we've been able to feed back requests to the qwebirc developers who have been able to add many requested features:
date: 2009-09-15 18:31:25+00:00
slug: free-as-in-freenode
title: Free as in freenode
-categories:
-- community
-- free software
-- freenode
-- philosophy
-- social
+category: community
+category: free software
+category: freenode
+category: philosophy
+category: social
---
Most of you are probably familiar with the various freedoms that are frequently stated, such as freedom of speech or expression. While freenode does exist to promote communication amongst free and open source projects, it is not an open forum for all to use in any way.
date: 2009-12-31 13:32:59+00:00
slug: happy-new-year-2010
title: Happy New Year 2010
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- pdpc
-- social
-- user count
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: pdpc
+category: social
+category: user count
---
The New Year is arriving in various parts of the world, and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank the people who continue making freenode possible.
date: 2010-01-14 14:28:35+00:00
slug: ircd-migration-sat-jan-30th-2010
title: ircd Migration Sat Jan 30th 2010
-categories:
-- development
-- freenode
+category: development
+category: freenode
---
In the coming weeks, we will be migrating freenode to our new ircd, ircd-seven. Presently, freenode uses hyperion and efforts have been underway for some time move us off this platform for reasons of stability and functionality. We are now almost there.
date: 2010-01-17 02:36:04+00:00
slug: javascript-spam
title: Javascript spam
-categories:
-- freenode
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: technical
---
You may have noticed some unusual amounts of spam over the past few days, which has had an impact on a number of channels. This spam is the result of some malicious javascript being distributed on a number of webpages which causes visitors to these pages to make a connection to freenode and send spam. While we are doing what we can to mitigate the spam, we would ask that you take a careful look at any unusual sites or URLs you might visit in the near future to be sure you are not being tricked into visiting such a site.
date: 2010-01-29 18:55:02+00:00
slug: connecting-to-freenode-using-tor-sasl
title: 'Connecting to freenode using Tor: SASL'
-categories:
-- development
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: development
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
With our change of ircd to the all new [ircd-seven](http://www.freenode.net/seven.shtml), we are trialling a new method of allowing users to connect to the network via Tor. This method brings a number of changes:
date: 2010-01-30 08:20:10+00:00
slug: freenode-is-dead-long-live-freenode
title: freenode is dead, long live freenode
-categories:
-- community
-- development
-- different
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- pdpc
-- projects
-- technical
+category: community
+category: development
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: pdpc
+category: projects
+category: technical
---
After much time in development and testing, the move to ircd-seven is finally complete. The migration took place in the early hours of today, Saturday January 30th 2010.
date: 2010-04-03 18:54:26+00:00
slug: groups-advisory-board
title: Groups Advisory Board
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- groups
-- pdpc
-- projects
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: groups
+category: pdpc
+category: projects
---
For many years now, freenode has offered projects and userbases on the network the option of registering themselves as "Groups". Each of these groups has one or more designated people as their "Group Contacts", who are the point of contact for freenode-staff<=>group liasion, and are thus able to contact staff to request that cloaks be set, or to request assistance in administering channels.
date: 2010-06-10 18:30:18+00:00
slug: freenode-webchat-changes
title: freenode webchat changes
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
-- webchat
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
+category: webchat
---
Webchat has always presented an interesting problem, mostly for the staff of various channels as well as the network itself, but indirectly for all our users as well. All webchat connections come from the IP address of the webchat service. This results in them having to be handled a little bit differently from other connections.
date: 2010-06-12 11:06:26+00:00
slug: group-registration-form-verifications
title: Group Registration Form verifications
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- groups
-- projects
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: groups
+category: projects
---
For a long time, freenode has utilised a [Group Registration](http://freenode.net/group_registration.shtml) system to give groups (such as companies and open source projects) the ability to manage channels in the [primary namespace](http://freenode.net/policy.shtml#channelnaming) (ie, channels beginning with a single "#") and to give contributors to their projects [cloaks](http://freenode.net/faq.shtml#cloaks). Perhaps more importantly, the system allows groups to retain control of their identity on freenode. It is because of this aspect of Group Registration that filing a [Group Registration Form (GRF)](http://freenode.net/group_registration_form.php) has been necessary for projects to acquire primary channels which have been already registered. For the same reason, we ask those who register new primary channels to file a form.
date: 2010-06-15 13:27:23+00:00
slug: fosscon-2010-free-and-open-source-software-conference
title: Fosscon 2010 Free and Open Source Software Conference.
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- fosscon
-- free software
-- open source
-- pdpc
-- philosophy
-- social
+category: community
+category: different
+category: fosscon
+category: free software
+category: open source
+category: pdpc
+category: philosophy
+category: social
---
While talking online is great, meeting in person presents brand new opportunities... and we would like to meet you!
date: 2010-08-04 20:36:05+00:00
slug: java-webclient-decommissioning
title: Java webclient decommissioning
-categories:
-- development
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- projects
-- webchat
+category: development
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: projects
+category: webchat
---
Following our successful switch of cloaking on our web gateway ([http://webchat.freenode.net](http://webchat.freenode.net)) to show the full IP address of connecting users (see [this blog post](http://blog.freenode.net/2010/06/freenode-webchat-changes/)), we have decided to transition our old and relatively unused Java client ([pjIRC](http://www.pjirc.com/main.php)) to our webchat service. This will be done via a HTTP redirect.
date: 2010-10-02 01:58:22+00:00
slug: webchat-downtime
title: Webchat downtime
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
Hi everyone.
Currently the freenode webchat instance (webchat.freenode.net) is down. This is due to maintenance by the host of the box upon which the service sits, and looks set to continue for up to a further 6 hours.
date: 2010-10-18 11:57:11+00:00
slug: further-webchat-issues
title: Further webchat issues
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
-- webchat
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
+category: webchat
---
Unfortunately, it seems the box our webchat is on has decided to fall out with the Internet again. We're working on setting up a reserve instance which shouldn't be affected by this sort of issue in the future. When we have more details, we'll update this post. We're really sorry for the inconvenience this causes, and guarantee it will be less in future.
date: 2010-11-14 16:22:31+00:00
slug: be-safe-out-there
title: Be Safe Out There
-categories:
-- freenode
-- philosophy
-- social
+category: freenode
+category: philosophy
+category: social
---
**freenode **is sometimes a target of spammers, bots, or attempts to trick users into taking action or giving up information they normally would not. One form of spam, popular recently, claims that freenode will require SASL to connect. Others attempt to lure users to a website that may generate revenue for the spammer, attempt to install malicious software, reveal information about the user (such as location, IP address, operating system, and so on), or lead to a shock site intended to offend or disgust. Other spam has no purpose except to cause disruption through channel noise, nick-highlights, and the ensuing complaints from those disrupted.
date: 2010-12-24 05:00:47+00:00
slug: happy-holidays-2
title: Happy Holidays!
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- social
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: social
---
Just a quick note to wish each and every one of our users, sponsors, donors, volunteers and projects for making freenode great.
date: 2011-01-30 01:24:40+00:00
slug: we-are-going-to-fosdem
title: We are going to FOSDEM
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- open source
+category: community
+category: different
+category: open source
---
[](http://blog.freenode.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/going-to-fosdem-2011.png)
date: 2011-01-31 20:56:57+00:00
slug: freenode-70k
title: freenode 70k
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- user count
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: user count
---
With apologies to cringing table-top players, we are more than happy to announce that we passed the threshold of 70,000 active users a few minutes ago. Lingering at a maximum of 69,991 lately, we have been anticipating this day for some time, now. And it has come :)
date: 2011-02-13 21:19:18+00:00
slug: sponsorship-roundup
title: Sponsorship Roundup
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
---
As you may know, the network operations of freenode are fully supported by donations - of hosting and other resources - from both companies and individuals. We acknowledge all sponsors on our [website](http://freenode.net/acknowledgements.shtml), but it is nice from time to time to provide a round-up of recent changes on the sponsorship scene!
date: 2011-02-14 00:00:16+00:00
slug: pdpc-fundraiser-2011
title: PDPC Fundraiser 2011
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- free software
-- pdpc
+category: community
+category: different
+category: free software
+category: pdpc
---
Hello everyone and Happy St Valentine's Day!
date: 2011-08-14 15:48:09+00:00
slug: a-short-mention-on-mibbit
title: A short mention on Mibbit
-categories:
-- freenode
+category: freenode
---
Hi all.
date: 2011-09-17 23:19:47+00:00
slug: new-grf-freenode-process
title: New GRF-freenode process
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- groups
-- pdpc
-- projects
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: groups
+category: pdpc
+category: projects
---
As you might know, GRFs ([Group Registration](http://freenode.net/group_registration.shtml) Forms) exist to form a relationship between a project and the [PDPC (Peer Directed Projects Center)](http://pdpc.org.uk). This relationship is relatively formal - personal details (address/tel no./etc) need to be shared by the project. For this reason, a severe backlog of GRFs has built up, since only a few staff have access to them (to protect this personal data). PDPC is the UK-based not-for-profit company which runs freenode. For most groups in our request backlog, their reason for registering is not to work with PDPC, but to gain a channel or cloak namespace on freenode. We've decided that running a separate, freenode-centric groups request system may help to move the system along. By requesting fewer details, we can open up this system to more staff, and hopefully keep on top of the queue of requests.
date: 2011-10-31 23:04:34+00:00
slug: ircd-upgrades-2
title: ircd upgrades
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- open source
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: open source
+category: technical
---
We've got some ircd upgrades in the works!
date: 2011-12-23 23:26:48+00:00
slug: merry-christmas
title: Merry Christmas
-categories:
-- community
-- fosscon
-- freenode
-- geeknic
-- pdpc
-- social
+category: community
+category: fosscon
+category: freenode
+category: geeknic
+category: pdpc
+category: social
---
It was the day before Christmas, when all across the network not a creature was stirring, not even a troll...
date: 2012-03-10 23:39:50+00:00
slug: planet-freenode-net
title: planet.freenode.net
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- geeknic
-- social
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: geeknic
+category: social
---
Today, we launched [planet.freenode.net](http://planet.freenode.net).
date: 2012-04-02 21:19:37+00:00
slug: 80k
title: 80k...
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- user count
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: user count
---
As of today, freenode had 81443 concurrent connections. Last Friday, the count lingered around 79987, presumably to make things more interesting for those of us keeping close track.
date: 2012-04-06 20:33:38+00:00
slug: database-prune
title: Database prune
-categories:
-- community
-- development
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: community
+category: development
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
Every couple of years, freenode likes to get out the shears and prune the services database. Recently we broke the 80,000 usercount barrier, but the services stats are way ahead:
date: 2012-04-06 20:33:08+00:00
slug: help-us-test-our-services-upgrade
title: Help us test our services upgrade!
-categories:
-- development
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- open source
-- projects
-- technical
+category: development
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: open source
+category: projects
+category: technical
---
Very soon we will be upgrading your favourite network helpers... (no not erry…): NickServ, ChanServ, Alis etc. They’re currently connected to our testnet and we need your help with testing, looking for any issues which may affect the production network.
date: 2012-06-09 10:39:38+00:00
slug: fosscon-2012-saturday-august-11th-in-philadelphia-pa
title: Fosscon 2012, Saturday August 11th in Philadelphia PA
-categories:
-- community
-- fosscon
-- pdpc
+category: community
+category: fosscon
+category: pdpc
---
August 11th, 2012 (All day)
date: 2012-06-09 17:38:33+00:00
slug: services-upgrade-and-database-prune
title: Services upgrade and database prune
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
Hi
The long-awaited upgrade of services which we [blogged about a while ago](http://blog.freenode.net/2012/04/database-prune/) is now planned for this coming weekend, the 16th/17th June.
date: 2012-06-16 21:35:15+00:00
slug: upgrade-and-database-prune-completed
title: Upgrade and database prune completed
-categories:
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
The planned services upgrade and database prune went ahead today as planned and has completed successfully. Approximately 300000 nicks were removed from the database, and we've moved to Atheme 7, so hopefully response times from services should be improved, with less of the lag that was sometimes noticeable before.
date: 2013-03-19 20:14:46+00:00
slug: bye-bye-pdpc
title: Bye bye PDPC
-categories:
-- infrastructure
-- pdpc
+category: infrastructure
+category: pdpc
---
Sadly, we were forced to dissolve PDPC, freenode's parent organisation.
date: 2013-04-09 22:24:47+00:00
slug: april-1st-2013-the-aftermath
title: April 1st 2013, the aftermath
-categories:
-- April 1st
+category: April 1st
---
It’s been a little more than a week since we started our April Fools quiz this year; thanks to everybody who participated.
date: 2013-05-24 21:09:57+00:00
slug: over-9000-10
title: Over 9000 * 10
-categories:
-- community
-- freenode
-- user count
+category: community
+category: freenode
+category: user count
---
freenode has been growing slowly and steadily, breaking the next practically-useless-but-still-kinda-neat barrier of more than 90,000 concurrent connections at the same time. It's very nice, and humbling, to know that we are able to enable so many people to communicate with each other.
date: 2013-06-27 09:10:13+00:00
slug: new-tlsssl-channel-modes-and-webirc
title: New TLS/SSL Channel Modes & Webchat Features
-categories:
-- infrastructure
-- technical
-- webchat
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
+category: webchat
---
We've recently enabled some new functionality in our ircd to further help you manage your channels:
date: 2013-07-17 21:51:27+00:00
slug: fosscon-an-open-source-conference-in-philadelphia-pa-saturday-august-10th
title: Fosscon, an open source conference in Philadelphia PA, Saturday August 10th
-categories:
-- fosscon
+category: fosscon
---
FOSSCON 2013 will be held on August 10th, 2013. Several of our very own staff here at freenode will be attending this year and we are really looking forward to it.
date: 2013-07-22 19:19:36+00:00
slug: server-hosting-and-trust
title: Server hosting and trust
-categories:
-- community
-- different
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
+category: community
+category: different
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
---
For the purpose of disclosure we have had to make the difficult decision to discontinue a long-standing relationship with a server sponsor.
date: 2014-04-01 00:01:17+00:00
slug: googleplusfreenode
title: +freenode
-categories:
-- April 1st
+category: April 1st
---
UPDATE: This was of course an April Fool... you can "/msg nickserv set property GOOGLE+" to remove the property from your account. There might still be other secrets within the message though...
date: 2014-04-15 18:52:05+00:00
slug: heartbleed
title: Heartbleed
-categories:
-- infrastructure
-- security
-- technical
+category: infrastructure
+category: security
+category: technical
---
The recently exposed [heartbleed bug](http://heartbleed.com/) in the OpenSSL library has surprised everyone with a [catastrophic](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/04/heartbleed.html) vulnerability in many of the world's secure systems.
date: 2014-04-26 18:05:01+00:00
slug: april-1st-2014-followup
title: April 1st 2014, Followup
-categories:
-- April 1st
-- freenode
+category: April 1st
+category: freenode
---
It's been almost too long for this blog post to arrive here after the April Fools quiz this year. Thanks to everyone who participated!
date: 2014-06-18 15:54:08+00:00
slug: new-extban-j
title: 'New extban: $j'
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+category: technical
---
We have loaded a new module on the network which provides the $j extban type:
date: 2014-10-29 21:20:17+00:00
slug: user-enabled-sendpass
title: User-enabled sendpass
-categories:
-- freenode
-- philosophy
-- technical
+category: freenode
+category: philosophy
+category: technical
---
As a network, we feel it is hugely important to maintain close relationships with our many communities and users. Our interactions with users in #freenode and elsewhere on the network, fielding support requests and assisting users, help build and maintain these relationships.
date: 2014-11-11 10:49:11+00:00
slug: helping-gnome-defend-its-trademark
title: Helping GNOME defend its trademark
-categories:
-- community
-- free software
-- open source
-- projects
-- social
+category: community
+category: free software
+category: open source
+category: projects
+category: social
---
The GNOME project will be familiar to the vast majority of our users, what you might not be aware of is that the project is currently facing an expensive trademark battle against Groupon with the latter having allegedly chosen to infringe upon GNOME's trademark by launching a product with the same name (a POS "operating system for merchants to run their entire operation").
date: 2015-09-18 08:58:13+00:00
slug: services-database-purge
title: Services database purge
-categories:
-- freenode
-- infrastructure
-tags:
-- expiry
-- nicks
+category: freenode
+category: infrastructure
+tag: expiry
+tag: nicks
---
On or around Friday, October 2nd, we shall be cleaning up the services database. This involves the bulk removal of expired nicks, channels and accounts.
projects / irc / freenode / web-7.0.git / commitdiff
