View source for Libera Chat

{{Short description|IRC network}}
{{Infobox IRC network
| name = Libera Chat
| image = [[File:Libera Chat Logo.svg|150px]]
| founded_on = {{start date and age|2021|05|19}}
| located_in = 
| website_url = {{URL|https://libera.chat/}}
| primary_dns = ircs://irc.libera.chat:6697
| average_users = {{IRC NQNS link|Libera.Chat|34,239}}
| users_date = 02 June 2024
| average_channels = {{IRC NQNS link|Libera.Chat|23,141}}
| channels_date = 02 June 2024
| average_servers = 
| servers_date = 
| main_content = Public / unrestricted
}}

'''Libera Chat''', stylized as '''Libera.Chat''', is an [[IRC network]] for [[free and open-source software]] projects. It was founded on 19 May 2021<ref>{{Cite web|title=Libera Chat|url=https://libera.chat/|url-status=live|access-date=21 May 2021|website=Libera Chat|language=en|archive-date=19 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519235326/https://libera.chat/}}</ref> by former [[Freenode]] staff members, after Freenode was taken over by [[Andrew Lee (entrepreneur)|Andrew Lee]], founder of [[Private Internet Access]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Beschizza|first=Rob|date=19 May 2021|title=Freenode IRC staff quit after new owner "seizes" control of network|url=https://boingboing.net/2021/05/19/freenode-irc-staff-quit-after-new-owner-seizes-control.html|url-status=live|access-date=19 May 2021|website=[[Boing Boing]]|language=en-US|archive-date=19 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519135149/https://boingboing.net/2021/05/19/freenode-irc-staff-quit-after-new-owner-seizes-control.html}}</ref><ref name="vice2" /><ref name="ars">{{Cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/freenode-irc-has-been-taken-over-by-the-crown-prince-of-korea/|title=Freenode IRC staff resign en masse after takeover by Korea's "crown prince"|first=Jim|last=Salter|date=24 May 2021|website=Ars Technica}}</ref>

== History ==
=== Freenode ===
{{main|Freenode#Ownership change and conflict}}
[[File:IRC top 10 networks 2021.png|thumb|right|255px|A large proportion of Freenode's users migrated to Libera.Chat, when Freenode's owner changed.]]
In 2017, Christel Dahlskjaer, then the head of staff at Freenode, incorporated a new company called Freenode Limited and transferred ownership to technology entrepreneur [[Andrew Lee (entrepreneur)|Andrew Lee]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dahlskjaer|first=Christel|date=12 April 2017|title=PIA and freenode joining forces|url=https://freenode.net/news/pia-fn|url-status=live|access-date=21 May 2021|website=Freenode|archive-date=20 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520054257/https://freenode.net/news/pia-fn}}</ref><ref name="vice2" /><ref name="hackaday20212" /> In February 2021, Dahlskjaer added the logo of Shells, a company co-founded by Lee, to the Freenode website.<ref name="vice2">{{Cite web|last=Franceschi-Bicchierai|first=Lorenzo|date=19 May 2021|title=Developers Flee Open Source Project After 'Takeover' By Korean Crown Prince|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/freenode-open-source-korea-crown-prince-takeover/|url-status=live|access-date=19 May 2021|website=[[Vice (website)|Vice]]|language=en|archive-date=19 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519190257/https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7ev8y/freenode-open-source-korea-crown-prince-takeover}}</ref> Following criticism from staff, Dahlskjaer resigned from the leadership of Freenode,<ref name="hackaday20212">{{Cite news|last=Nardi|first=Tom|date=19 May 2021|title=Freenode debacle prompts staff exodus, new network|work=[[Hackaday]]|url=https://hackaday.com/2021/05/20/freenode-debacle-prompts-staff-exodus-new-network/|access-date=19 May 2021|archive-date=20 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520140204/https://hackaday.com/2021/05/20/freenode-debacle-prompts-staff-exodus-new-network/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="vice2" /> and Freenode staff elected Tom Wesley as the new head of staff. Lee allegedly removed a blog post explaining the leadership changes and, on 11 May, appointed a new person to oversee the Freenode infrastructure.<ref name="vice2" /> Freenode staff members resigned [[en masse]], and some published statements outlining their view of what happened and claiming that Lee had been applying legal pressure to Wesley.<ref name="vice2" />

Lee denied these claims, and said that he had provided Freenode with millions of dollars and was entitled to Freenode's servers as the owner of Freenode Limited.<ref name="vice2" /><ref name="hackaday20212" /> Lee also accused Wesley of harassing Dahlskjaer and of attempting a "hostile takeover."<ref name="vice2" /><ref name="register20212">{{Cite news|last=Claburn|first=Thomas|date=19 May 2021|title=Freenode IRC staff resign en masse, unhappy about new management|work=[[The Register]]|url=https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/freenode_staff_resigns/|access-date=19 May 2021|archive-date=21 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521043242/https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/freenode_staff_resigns/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="hackaday20212" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Andrew|date=19 May 2021|title=Letter to freenode|url=https://gist.github.com/realrasengan/88549ec34ee32d01629354e4075d2d48|url-status=live|access-date=31 October 2021|via=[[GitHub]]|archive-date=19 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519125338/https://gist.github.com/realrasengan/88549ec34ee32d01629354e4075d2d48}}</ref>

=== Libera Chat ===
[[File:Libera Chat KiwiIRC web client chat screenshot.png|thumb|Libera Chat web client (based on KiwiIRC)]]
After resigning from Freenode, the former staff created Libera Chat on 19 May 2021.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="vice2" /> They have described the network as a successor to Freenode, which they intend to focus around "free and open source software projects and similarly-spirited collaborative endeavours".<ref name="hackaday20212" /> Many major projects like [[Bitcoin]], [[FrOSCon]], [[Fedora Linux|Fedora]], [[Ubuntu]], [[Gentoo Linux|Gentoo]], [[FreeBSD]], the [[Free Software Foundation]]<ref>{{cite web |title=FSF and GNU move official IRC channels to Libera.Chat network |url=https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-and-gnu-move-official-irc-channels-to-libera-chat-network |date= Jun 11, 2021  |website=Free Software Foundation |access-date=13 June 2021}}</ref> and [[Wikimedia movement|Wikimedia]] have since moved their channels from Freenode to Libera Chat and to other IRC networks.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Major Internet Projects Are Leaving Freenode After Korean Prince 'Takeover'|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/major-internet-projects-are-leaving-freenode-after-korean-prince-takeover/ |first1=Lorenzo |last1=Franceschi-Bicchierai |access-date=2021-05-26|website=Vice |date=26 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Internet|Free and open-source software}}
* {{Official website|https://libera.chat/}}
{{IRC NQ|libera.chat}}

{{IRC networks}}

[[Category:Internet properties established in 2021]]
[[Category:IRC networks]]
[[Category:Free software projects]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Sweden]]