[Python-il] Fwd: [svlug] Freenode

[Shai Berger]

While Freenode is indeed a noble goal to donate to, the fundraising campaign 
discussed in this message has concluded in success[1] four days before the 
date of Mr. Bowman's message.

Thought it was worth a mention,
	Shai.

[1] http://blog.freenode.net/2009/03/update-on-the-pdpc-20082009-donation-
campaign-success/

On Sunday 19 April 2009, Shlomi Fish wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Grant Bowman <grantbow at gmail.com>
> Date: Sat, Mar 28, 2009 at 7:56 PM
> Subject: [svlug] Freenode
> To: grantbow at gmail.com
>
>
> I will try to keep this brief and to the point.  This message has been
> cross posted to several lists which will explain why you might get
> more than one copy.  I hope you find it informative too.  Send all
> flames to me, not to the lists.
>
> I'm taking off the other hats I wear for a moment to ask for you or
> your company's support of Freenode [1] (technically the Peer-Directed
> Projects Center or PDPC) now based in the United Kingdom.  For those
> that don't know, Freenode is an IRC [2] network supporting Open Source
> and Free Software communities globally.  Another PDPC activity is the
> annual FOSSCON conference in the fall.  PDPC is specifically [3]
> raising funds in order to be recognized by the UK as an official
> charitable organization.  This status has many benefits, however they
> need to raise a certain amount of money by March, 2009.  There are
> just a few days left in the fundraising campaign.
>
> Canonical Ltd. (the company created by Mark Shuttleworth that drives
> Ubuntu Linux) has graciously stepped forward to provide dollar for
> dollar matching, magnifying the impact of your donations to PDPC.  The
> fund raising goal has almost been reached but your contribution is
> needed.  Brainstorming by the PDPC board of directors for how to use
> any funds not used for operations includes hosting live conference
> events in Europe and the US, extending current services and improving
> the reliability of the freenode network by hosting a few of their own
> hubs and backup systems.  Freenode is growing rapidly [4] supporting
> up to 57,000 concurrent users up from a maximum of about 40,000 18
> months ago.
>
> Some people may not be aware that IRC is used by a huge array of Open
> Source and Free Software projects.  The list of groups [5] Freenode
> works with is truly impressive.  I feel it is not at all hyperbole to
> say that the work done over freenode and OFTC [6] are the real-time
> backbone of open source collaboration throughout the world,  Coders
> use the IRC network to develop applications used by millions of people
> every day and provide *end user support*.  If you use any open source
> software you may be an indirect beneficiary of the services Freenode
> provides.  I encourage those who are interested to try launching an
> IRC client such as Pidgin [7] and see for yourself.  You won't be
> sorry you did.
>
> While I have used Freenode for many years, this year I too became a
> contributor for the first time.  For a one time contribution
> http://freenode.net/pdpc_donations.shtml of as little as $8 you can
> join me in supporting supporting Freenode and the many Open Source
> projects they serve.
>
> Thanks for your consideration,
>
> --
> -- Grant Bowman                                   <grantbow at gmail.com>
>
>
> [1] http://freenode.net/pdpc_donations.shtml
>    http://fosscon.org/about/
>
> [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat is a form of
> group instant messaging first used in 1988.  Related sites include
> http://www.irchelp.org/ and http://www.irc.org/
>
> [3] http://blog.freenode.net/2008/10/fundraising-for-charity-status/
>    http://blog.freenode.net/2009/03/20082009-fundraiser-campaign-update/
>
> [4] http://freenode.net/history.shtml also
> http://searchirc.com/network/Freenode
>
> [5] http://freenode.net/primary_groups.shtml include the Apache
> Software Foundation, Canonical Ltd (Ubuntu), Creative Commons
> Corporation, Free Software Foundation (GNU Project), Mozilla
> Foundation (Firefox), MySQL AB, NetBSD Foundation, Open Darwin
> Foundation (Apple builds OSX using Darwin), OpenOffice.org, Red Hat,
> Inc. & the World Wide Web Consortium among others.
>
> [6] OFTC is a a similar but much smaller IRC network.  See "Freenode
> and OFTC IRC networks buddy up", May 2007
> http://www.linux.com/articles/62098 also
> http://searchirc.com/network/OFTC
>
> [7] http://pidgin.im is an IRC client that runs on Windows, Mac and
> Linux formerly named Gaim.  http://www.mirc.com/ is also popular on
> the Windows platform.
>
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