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Media Contact: Free Software Foundation
Bradley M. Kuhn <pr@fsf.org>
Phone:+1-617-542-5942

Media Contact: Peer-Directed Projects Center
Robert Levin <press@peerprojects.org>
Phone:+1-713-385-5652

GNU Project Will Use Freenode as Its Official IRC Network

Boston, Massachusetts, USA - Monday, August 26, 2002 - The Free Software Foundation is pleased to announce that, as of today, the GNU Project will begin using Freenode as its official IRC network. For years, this network has served as an unofficial IRC home to many GNU projects. Today, it becomes the official recommended IRC network for GNU packages.

Bradley M. Kuhn, executive director of the Free Software Foundation, pointed out: "The GNU Project has long sought an IRC network aligned with our strong stand for the principles of software freedom. We believe that Freenode, with its commitment to providing an innovative venue for Free Software developers and like-minded individuals to cooperate, fits the bill."

Robert Levin, president of Peer-Directed Projects Center, added: "We welcome the opportunity to work more closely with the Free Software Foundation. Licensing that preserves freedom is essential to the health and success of peer-directed projects. The Free Software Foundation's pivotal role in advocating software freedom makes it a valued contributor to the community."

To implement this official relationship, FSF has pointed irc.gnu.org directly to the irc.freenode.net server. FSF also hopes to later implement some process for automatic channel registration for GNU projects through its savannah.gnu.org project collaboration site.

About Freenode:

Freenode provides interactive services to peer-directed projects, which combine open, informal participation with broad licensing and wide distribution of creative output. Freenode serves such software-related projects as DotGNU, XFS, Subversion, Source Mage GNU/Linux, Schoolforge and GNU Enterprise, as well as support groups for FreeBSD, GNU/Linux and various software applications. Freenode, formerly Open Projects Net, is a service of Peer-Directed Projects Center, a Texas non-profit corporation.

About Free Software Foundation:

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software--particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants--and free documentation for free software. FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software. Their web site, located at http://www.gnu.org, is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. They are headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.

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Updated: $Date: 2002/09/05 21:08:50 $ $Author: 3diff $