11 votes

OFTC IRC network loses 20,000 users overnight

7 comments

  1. [4]
    Lexinonymous
    Link
    Title is modified for clarity, since "Something is Happening at OFTC" is awfully vague. It also appears that this is not due to shutting down a Matrix bridge, as was the case for libera.chat....

    Title is modified for clarity, since "Something is Happening at OFTC" is awfully vague. It also appears that this is not due to shutting down a Matrix bridge, as was the case for libera.chat.

    Perhaps there was a lot of bot traffic that was discovered and blocked? Or perhaps a country has blocked access to OFTC? Either way, it sounds like there's no concrete answers yet.

    14 votes
    1. [3]
      zod000
      Link Parent
      Wait, what happened with libera.chat? I am still on it, but the main channel I frequent has its own matrix bridge so I haven't had any issues.

      Wait, what happened with libera.chat? I am still on it, but the main channel I frequent has its own matrix bridge so I haven't had any issues.

      1 vote
      1. [2]
        Diff
        Link Parent
        There's a mention of the event in the article with links to more information about it... but I found the writing very stream-of-thought and difficult to digest. Here are official posts on the...

        There's a mention of the event in the article with links to more information about it... but I found the writing very stream-of-thought and difficult to digest. Here are official posts on the topic from Libera and Matrix:

        https://libera.chat/news/matrix-bridge-disabled-retrospective
        https://matrix.org/blog/2023/08/libera-bridge-disabled/

        6 votes
        1. zod000
          Link Parent
          Thanks, that first link was very informative. I guess the main channel I am in uses one of those third-party bridges mentioned in the article that was not affected.

          Thanks, that first link was very informative. I guess the main channel I am in uses one of those third-party bridges mentioned in the article that was not affected.

  2. Pistos
    Link
    I still use IRC to this day, and want to see it stay alive, but: is this really concrete news quite yet? Hoping for more substance soon.

    I still use IRC to this day, and want to see it stay alive, but: is this really concrete news quite yet? Hoping for more substance soon.

    4 votes
  3. [2]
    Nemoder
    Link
    This was posted back in July? I've not noticed any recent issues with the network.

    This was posted back in July? I've not noticed any recent issues with the network.

    2 votes
    1. Diff
      Link Parent
      Good catch, I didn't notice when I saw this post earlier. Looks like there have been some followups: A Total Lack of Transparency: Open and Free Technology Community (OFTC) Fails to Explain Why...

      Good catch, I didn't notice when I saw this post earlier. Looks like there have been some followups:

      A Total Lack of Transparency: Open and Free Technology Community (OFTC) Fails to Explain Why Over 60% of Users Are Gone (Since a Week Ago)
      OFTC Lost Almost Two Thirds of Its Users in 5 Weeks

      According to the first link,

      They queried clients repeatedly (for version-related information) and then loads of users got eliminated.

      Techrights seems to get pretty up in arms about the situation across these two (and one other) posts but with that bit of info it looks like a bot sweep or similar to me.

      3 votes