{{Use Oxford spelling|date=May 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Short description|IRC network}} {{Infobox IRC network | name = Libera Chat | image = 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|30,879}} | users_date = 10 July 2025 | average_channels = {{IRC NQNS link|Libera.Chat|22,713}} | channels_date = 10 July 2025 | average_servers = | servers_date = | main_content = Only free and open source software (FOSS) projects are permitted, offtopic discussion allowed in channels starting with "##" }}
'''Libera Chat''', stylized as '''Libera.Chat''', is an IRC network for free and open-source software projects. Libera Chat prohibits VPN and Tor access for unregistered users. Registration requires a real IP address and a verified email. 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, 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}} 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.<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|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 === 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 FrOSCon, Fedora, Ubuntu, 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 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:Organisations based in Sweden