IRCNow

Project Priorities

Software Freedom

  • All network software must be functional using only open source protocols. There must be no requirements to use proprietary or 3rd party protocols.
  • For example, we must not require the use of Telegram, Signal, Facebook, Discord, WhatsApp, LINE, Facebook Messenger, Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Docs, Gmail, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, Google App Engine, Google FireBase. The app must work without using any of these apps or protocols.
  • All software that is endorsed or distributed to end users must use only open source software. There must be no requirement to use proprietary software.
  • For example, we must not require customers install Zoom, Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac, Apple iPhone, Google Android, Google Play, Apple App Store.
  • All software and content must be released into either the public domain or using a similarly permissive license such as the IRCNow license or the 2-clause BSD license. There must not be any copyrighted content that forbids redistribution, modification, or usage.
  • Server infrastructure must be obtained from companies that respect Christian speech (or support free speech) and will only terminate services under a legal court order.

Software Guidelines

  • Always follow open standards that are in wide use
  • Achieve tight integration with the OpenBSD operating system
  • Prefer software that is native to the OpenBSD ecosystem: perl, C, korn shell
  • Prefer software that come with OpenBSD or are written by OpenBSD developers: opensmtpd, openhttpd, unbound, nsd, acme-client, tmux
  • Afterwards, prefer software that is endorsed by the suckless project
  • Avoid unnecessary, 3rd-party dependencies
  • Prefer software that has a long history of being reliable and stable
  • Prefer permissive, 2-clause BSD or MIT license over the GPL
  • Follow the UNIX philosophy: do one thing and do it well, use text as an interface
  • Prefer software that has been better tested
  • Prefer software with better documentation
  • Only use software where we can easily audit and fork the code

Privacy

  • Minimize collection of user data except as needed for security
  • Do not sell data to 3rd parties
  • Allow anonymity so long as it does not harm security

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