[Caml-list] Group registration on Freenode.net for #ocaml channels

[Caml-list] Group registration on Freenode.net for #ocaml channels

[Adrien Nader]

Hi,

Freenode is an IRC network which hosts at least the #ocaml and #ocaml-fr
channels (respectively 264 and 47 connectees currently). 

It has a long-standing policy of differentiating between channels
prefixed with one or two dashes:
- single-dash channels are "official" and can only exist if they are
  backed by a group that has been registered at freenode,
- double-dash channels can be registered freely.

Registering channels is a requirement for channel management. There are
currently a few operators (including myself) but some operations are
impossible to us because we don't have enough privileges.

Since the channels are single-dash with no matching group, we were told
we needed a group to change anything or had to migrate to e.g.  ##ocaml
and ##ocaml-fr. However, until recently, there was no way to register a
group and the situation was deadlocked because we didn't feel like
migrating either (migrations are really painful).

Now that group registration is possible again, I'm looking at the
process: http://freenode.net/groupreg . It's not legalese but it's
clearly not very entertaining.
The main takeaway is « Represents an official relationship between
freenode and your project or organisation. ». Everything else is a
consequence.

Is there a legal/formal entity that wants to establish that official
relationship with freenode? This doesn't imply managing the IRC channels
but only doing the registration and deciding who gets to actually manage
the IRC channels. If so, what should that contact email address be? If
not, can "we" register as an informal group?
[ Note that without any answer within 30 days, i.e. post-FOSDEM, I will
assume there is no interest from a formal entity to enter a relationship
with freenode and that we can register as an informal group ]

Thanks,

-- 
Adrien Nader

Re: [Caml-list] Group registration on Freenode.net for #ocaml channels

[Anil Madhavapeddy]

> On 5 Jan 2018, at 20:08, Adrien Nader <adrien@notk.org> wrote:
> 
> Now that group registration is possible again, I'm looking at the
> process: http://freenode.net/groupreg . It's not legalese but it's
> clearly not very entertaining.
> The main takeaway is « Represents an official relationship between
> freenode and your project or organisation. ». Everything else is a
> consequence.
> 
> Is there a legal/formal entity that wants to establish that official
> relationship with freenode? This doesn't imply managing the IRC channels
> but only doing the registration and deciding who gets to actually manage
> the IRC channels. If so, what should that contact email address be? If
> not, can "we" register as an informal group?
> [ Note that without any answer within 30 days, i.e. post-FOSDEM, I will
> assume there is no interest from a formal entity to enter a relationship
> with freenode and that we can register as an informal group ]

Dear Adrien,

Thanks for looking into this.  I think an ‘informal project-oriented group’
is most appropriate for a programming language community like ours
on Freenode.

Feel free to put me down as a contact if it helps.

regards,
Anil

Re: [Caml-list] Group registration on Freenode.net for #ocaml channels

[Adrien Nader]

Hi,

On Fri, Jan 05, 2018, Anil Madhavapeddy wrote:
> 
> > On 5 Jan 2018, at 20:08, Adrien Nader <adrien@notk.org> wrote:
> > 
> > Now that group registration is possible again, I'm looking at the
> > process: http://freenode.net/groupreg . It's not legalese but it's
> > clearly not very entertaining.
> > The main takeaway is « Represents an official relationship between
> > freenode and your project or organisation. ». Everything else is a
> > consequence.
> > 
> > Is there a legal/formal entity that wants to establish that official
> > relationship with freenode? This doesn't imply managing the IRC channels
> > but only doing the registration and deciding who gets to actually manage
> > the IRC channels. If so, what should that contact email address be? If
> > not, can "we" register as an informal group?
> > [ Note that without any answer within 30 days, i.e. post-FOSDEM, I will
> > assume there is no interest from a formal entity to enter a relationship
> > with freenode and that we can register as an informal group ]
> 
> Dear Adrien,
> 
> Thanks for looking into this.  I think an ‘informal project-oriented group’
> is most appropriate for a programming language community like ours
> on Freenode.
> 
> Feel free to put me down as a contact if it helps.

Thanks for the input.

If informal group is the option that is chosen, then I'll need at least
a few other people to add as contacts. If others want to be part of
that list, please drop me an e-mail or a message on IRC.

By the way, is there an "ocaml" trademark? I remember from years ago
that this was mentioned when discussing groups on freenode.

PS: I was told over IRC that I used "dash" everywhere in my email but I
meant "hash", the '#' character.

-- 
Adrien

Re: [Caml-list] Group registration on Freenode.net for #ocaml channels

[Adrien Nader]

Hi,

On Fri, Jan 05, 2018, Adrien Nader wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On Fri, Jan 05, 2018, Anil Madhavapeddy wrote:
> > 
> > > On 5 Jan 2018, at 20:08, Adrien Nader <adrien@notk.org> wrote:
> > > 
> > > Now that group registration is possible again, I'm looking at the
> > > process: http://freenode.net/groupreg . It's not legalese but it's
> > > clearly not very entertaining.
> > > The main takeaway is « Represents an official relationship between
> > > freenode and your project or organisation. ». Everything else is a
> > > consequence.
> > > 
> > > Is there a legal/formal entity that wants to establish that official
> > > relationship with freenode? This doesn't imply managing the IRC channels
> > > but only doing the registration and deciding who gets to actually manage
> > > the IRC channels. If so, what should that contact email address be? If
> > > not, can "we" register as an informal group?
> > > [ Note that without any answer within 30 days, i.e. post-FOSDEM, I will
> > > assume there is no interest from a formal entity to enter a relationship
> > > with freenode and that we can register as an informal group ]
> > 
> > Dear Adrien,
> > 
> > Thanks for looking into this.  I think an ‘informal project-oriented group’
> > is most appropriate for a programming language community like ours
> > on Freenode.
> > 
> > Feel free to put me down as a contact if it helps.
> 
> Thanks for the input.
> 
> If informal group is the option that is chosen, then I'll need at least
> a few other people to add as contacts. If others want to be part of
> that list, please drop me an e-mail or a message on IRC.
> 
> By the way, is there an "ocaml" trademark? I remember from years ago
> that this was mentioned when discussing groups on freenode.
> 
> PS: I was told over IRC that I used "dash" everywhere in my email but I
> meant "hash", the '#' character.

I've been busy with other things recently and I've lacked time to push
things further but I wanted to let everyone know I still intend to move
this forward. Moreover, several people have expressed interest in being
part of such a group and I think making the group registration won't be
an issue. :) 

-- 
Adrien