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sanity 5 hours ago

> Notably this project was conceived by a backroom decision to dump the original Freenet development team's work,

This is a false narrative, from the Freenet FAQ[1]:

Why was Freenet rearchitected and rebranded?

In 2019, Ian began developing a successor to the original Freenet, internally named “Locutus.” This redesign was a ground-up reimagining, incorporating lessons learned from the original Freenet and addressing modern challenges. The original Freenet, although groundbreaking, was built for an earlier era.

This isn’t the first time Freenet has undergone significant changes. Around 2005, we transitioned from version 0.5 to 0.7, which was a complete rewrite introducing “friend-to-friend” networking.

In March 2023, the original Freenet (developed from 2005 onwards) was spun off into an independent project called “Hyphanet” under its existing maintainers. Concurrently, “Locutus” was rebranded as “Freenet,” also known as “Freenet 2023,” to signal this new direction and focus. The rearchitected Freenet is faster, more flexible, and better equipped to offer a robust, decentralized alternative to the increasingly centralized web.

To ease the transition the old freenetproject.org domain was redirected to hyphanet’s website, while the recently acquired freenet.org domain was used for the new architecture.

It is important to note that the maintainers of the original Freenet did not agree with the decision to rearchitect and rebrand. However, as the architect of the Freenet Project, and after over a year of debate, Ian felt this was the necessary path forward to ensure the project’s continued relevance and success in a world far different than when he designed the previous architecture.

> The new "Freenet" does not have anonymity as a design goal anymore,

Because the new Freenet will have a menu of anonymity options rather than committing to a one-size-fits-all approach, while also addressing the issue of illegal content[2].

[1] https://freenet.org/about/faq/#why-was-freenet-rearchitected...

[2] https://freenet.org/about/faq/#how-does-freenet-handle-harmf...

qcl820DV34 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> and after over a year of debate

There was no "year of debate".

You came to the mailing list and announced it for the first time as a finalized decision already,

without any prior debate with the original team.

The "board" you cited as the body which allegedly discussed it did neither join the mailing list discussion,

nor were you willing to hand out their contact info.

It's all public for anyone to see on the mailing list archive:

https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...

https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/

kstrauser 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

WTF. These are some of the first things I clicked through on that page:

- https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5534...

- https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5534...

Gee, I can't imagine how that mailing list could ever be toxic.

foobarian 20 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Lol. It's like Linus but crunchier

sanity 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Not sure what you mean but I stand by every word I said in that thread.

outside2344 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

A wise boss of mine, after reading a set of threads that I wrote like this, asked me to go think for a day on the difference between "being right" and "being effective."

Some of the things you say in these threads might be "right" but I can assure you that many of them are not effective, which is counterproductive to the goal you are trying to achieve.

sanity 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I prefer to say what I believe to be true rather than live in fear of how people looking to take offense might misconstrue something.

A culture where people are expected to constantly self-censor to avoid bad-faith interpretations is unhealthy and corrosive.

angoragoats 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I, for one, don’t think I’ve misconstrued anything — you’ve shown exactly who you are relatively clearly in those posts.

sanity 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Sure, then just avoid me and I'll avoid you and we'll both be happier.

angoragoats an hour ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

sanity an hour ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]
[deleted]
subscribed an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If you think this is a correct communication style for someone who thinks they're a leader, I suggest getting an assistant to write your correspondence, or maybe some socialisation bootcamp.

This is grim.

If you stand by it I'd say good.... luck, yeah, good luck, you're singlehandedly the gravest enemy of the project.

sanity an hour ago | parent [-]

Yes, I stand by what I wrote. I'm not going to pretend otherwise because someone dug up an old mailing list post.

If you think a specific statement was wrong, harmful, or dishonest, then explain why. I'll wait.

angoragoats 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Holy shit. I’m a long-time admirer of freenet and you just single handedly destroyed any positive view of the project I may have held. Get a fucking grip and seek help if you can’t.

sanity 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Sounds like you should get out more.

angoragoats 2 hours ago | parent [-]

What? I don’t understand.

DaSHacka 23 minutes ago | parent [-]

He's telling you to go and touch grass

sanity 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> There was no "year of debate".

Incorrect, I raised the issue with the lead maintainer over a year prior to that announcement.

> You came to the mailing list and declared it as a finalized decision.

As the project's architect I'm entitled to make decisions about the project's future direction.

> It's all public for anyone to see on the mailing list archive:

> https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...

I stand by every word I said in that mailing list thread.

qcl820DV34 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Incorrect, I raised the issue with the lead maintainer over a year prior to that announcement.

The previous lead maintainer, Steve, voiced their frustration with your decision here:

https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...

To which you sent a brash reply, which sounds like you don't know Steve's position in the community:

https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...

To which the current lead maintainer, Arne, said he agrees with the sentiment of Steve:

https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...

So if you discussed this with Arne for a year, then why does he agree with the frustration of Steve?

And even if the discussion with Arne happened, it still was a backroom decision:

Two people are not representative on a project with plenty of developers and an active community.

> As the project's architect I'm entitled to make decisions about the project's future direction.

A sense of entitlement is not a leadership quality.

A leadership quality would be to admit a mistake:

That repurposing the name was not only bad for the original project,

but also for the new one (because these discussions will haunt it forever),

and to then rename the new project to a fresh name which no other software used before.

sanity 4 hours ago | parent [-]

As the FAQ explains, the existing maintainers didn't agree with my decision, but I stand by it - particularly in light of the fact that we now have a working decentralized group chat on the new Freenet, something that the old architecture could never have supported.

Whether or not it was the right decision will be determined by the outcomes, which so far are promising, because we have a working network that does things that the old architecture could never do.

abno525 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

For anyone confused, link is cited badly and mail did not get deleted.

https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...

itsthecourier 2 hours ago | parent [-]

seems freenet is not free after all, maybe a rebrand to ianet would be more appropriate

5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]
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dminik 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> This is a false narrative, from the Freenet FAQ[1]:

I'm sorry, but nothing following that even comes close to proving that it's a false narrative. Quite the opposite actually.

thih9 4 hours ago | parent [-]

To be fair, I see some goodwill, e.g.:

> To ease the transition the old freenetproject.org domain was redirected to hyphanet’s website, while the recently acquired freenet.org domain was used for the new architecture.

So in that aspect it seems more user friendly than a hard fork.