About
RetroNode was founded by a group of like-minded volunteers and former fellow members of ##goodolddays - a freenode channel dedicated to the subject of retro computing. We left freenode of our own accord in 2020, which is shortly before the takeover/sell-out and migration of the core freenode staff along with most of the projects to Libera.Chat. Meanwhile, freenode itself became a rather amorphous, zombie-like network which no longer seemed to live up to the original idea of Open Projects Network and was/is practically history. We decided to join neither and create our own network instead.Incidentally, the reasons for leaving freenode are our almost unanimous discontent with freenode policies as to limited freedom of speech (the usual irony) and occasional abuse of ircop power, which, sadly, is a common practice across older IRC networks. Otherwise, we do appreciate the concept of a universal tech support network, which is why we tried to come up with something similar, but a little less 1984-esque and more rooted in retro stuff as the name clearly suggests. We are not strictly retro-centric, though, and are no less welcoming of mainstream and general topics.
It is fairly easy to get affiliated with us. We don't do no elections, interviews and contests. We shun elitism and bureaucracy and we see RetroNode as a community, not a business center. Therefore, you help us, we help you, simple as that. We are open to everyone except for abusers, of course.
For the record, none of us are a part of the former freenode staff nor were we ever affiliated with them in any wise.
Big thanks go to FoxBlack without whom none of this would be made possible.
The official network opening date is Sep 1, 2023, which is when this homepage finally came around.