This email from the replicant list includes more information on the
   reasons for leaving freenode, if others don't know
   ---------- Forwarded message ---------
   Subject: [Replicant] The IRC situation and Freenode hostile takeover
   Hi,
   In order to enable more people to more easily get in touch with the
   Replicant community and to be more inclusive, over time we bridged
   the #replicant channel on Freenode with #replicant channels on other
   networks (OFTC and hackint), some of which are more welcoming to
   anonymous users. There is more background information about that in our
   wiki[1].
   Since then Freenode has been victim of a hostile takeover according to
   their former volunteer staff[2]. Thanks to the work of people from that
   former staff, Freenode was forked into Libera.Chat, so it's relatively
   simple for users to migrate to Libera.Chat (after registering, the
   configuration is quite similar to Freenode. For instance it supports
   SASL too).
   So I think that we need to migrate over to other IRC networks due to
   the risk of having a hostile entity seeing so much data going through
   it
   (IP address, emails, statements from people, connecting hours, etc).
   I also don't know the motives behind the take over, but if it is for
   commercial interest, if we let it become profitable it could set a
   dangerous precedent where people and companies could raise funds
   and invest in the destruction of crucial FLOSS infrastructure.
   Given the risk (which seem to be very high given the retaliation
   against projects migrating to Libera.Chat)[3], I think it's urgent to
   migrate away from Freenode.
   We are in the process of closing the Freenode channel completely and
   stop bridging it with other channels, but we probably also need to give
   a little bit of time to let people migrate to other networks.
   Would one week be enough? Two weeks?
   To do that migration, the people still connected through Freenode need
   to quit the #replicant channel on freenode (/part will do that for
   instance) and connect to #replicant through other IRC networks like
   Libera.Chat[4], OFTC[5], or hackint[6].
   Since many other free software and open source projects are migrating
   too, the effort to connect (and register if you want/need) to other
   networks will also enable you to more easily get in touch with them.
   References:
   -----------
   [1][1]https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/CommunityAnd
   Contact#IRC
   [2][2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenode#Ownership_change_and_confl
   ict
   [3][3]https://www.gentoo.org/news/2021/05/26/gentoo-freenode-channels-h
   ijacked.htm
   [4][4]https://libera.chat/guides
   [5][5]https://oftc.net/
   [6][6]https://hackint.org/connect
   _______________________________________________
   Replicant mailing list
   [7]Replicant@osuosl.org
   [8]https://lists.osuosl.org/mailman/listinfo/replicant

References

   1. https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/CommunityAndContact#IRC
   2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenode#Ownership_change_and_conflict
   3. https://www.gentoo.org/news/2021/05/26/gentoo-freenode-channels-hijacked.htm
   4. https://libera.chat/guides
   5. https://oftc.net/
   6. https://hackint.org/connect
   7. mailto:Replicant@osuosl.org
   8. https://lists.osuosl.org/mailman/listinfo/replicant