EFnet (Eris Free Net)
loreops culturehacking
One of the oldest surviving IRC networks, formed in 1990 when a set of servers removed a machine called Eris that accepted connections from anyone - the name is short for Eris Free Net, and it is a policy stated as a network topology.
EFnet's defining choice is what it refuses to run: no central registration services, no ChanServ, no NickServ. Nicknames and channels belong to whoever is holding them right now, which produced decades of takeovers, bot wars and the culture of never leaving a channel empty. That austerity kept it the home of much of the old technical and underground community long after friendlier networks appeared, and it is why EFnet stories are mostly about conflict - the network's design assumes you can defend yourself.
Also known as: eris free net, eris, efnet irc