Landfill (IRC Channel)
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#Landfill (irc://irc.freenode.net/#landfill ) is an IRC channel located on the FreeNode IRC network from 2005 to the present and originally located on the ChatJunkies IRC network. It is notably distinguished from most of FreeNode's other channels by the fact that #landfill engages primarily in social discourse, juxtaposed to the predominately technical/support-oriented channels found on the network. The channel was founded at an uncertain date in the summer of 2004 by disgruntled channel-goers of #xchat, the default join channel used by the X-Chat IRC client for Linux, who sought to create a distinguished environment of intellectual discourse that they felt was not present during the #xchat IRC experience.
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[edit] History
Landfill was founded on an uncertain date in August of 2004 (most community members postulate August 8th as the exact date, though no surviving record remains) as a branch off of the #xchat community located on the ChatJunkies IRC Network. Some of its original members still frequent the channel today and its history lives on via the oral traditional as well as extensive logs kept by various channel-goers as well as channel bots. As the channel was originally made of members who had frequented the #xchat channel there is a legacy of "bad blood" between some of #xchat's community leaders and those of #landfill. Most notably, the channel operator, X, was seen as a leader of campaigns of hatred against the #landfill community in its early days and even in as recently as Fall of 2006. Despite these attempts to dismember the channel, it has survived and within a few weeks of its creation began to garner support. New members found their way to the channel and it grew at a healthful pace. However, due to the nature of the ChatJunkies network, #landfill's founding members were eventually banned from the network via several glines which have been condemned by #landfill channel-goers, staff, and others as being unfounded and against server policy.[1] In the summer of 2005 the channel moved from ChatJunkies to the popular FreeNode IRC network, where it remains today. Currently, the channel maintains a base of well-rounded individuals, ranging from Ph.D.s to high school students. Throughout its legacy the channel has pushed for an environment of equity and liberty and to these ends has made several enemies who have been black-listed from the channel for attempting to usurp the channel's primary foundations.
[edit] Philosophy
As a central piece of the channel's foundation, #landfill has fostered an environment of equity at all levels and it is its philosophy that perhaps most sets it apart from other IRC channels. Discussion regularly relates to current events and especially politics with a special interest and focus on history. Frequently #landfill's members will wittingly make cross-comparisons of current events to those of historical prominence and importance and have taken it upon themselves to be well-informed and in touch with the world at an international level.
This is accompanied by a unique, witty flair that the channel has developed over time between its social relationships. Its members regularly relate current affairs to each other in comical, often satirical, discourse that is generally well-informed and plays off sometimes complex and deep connections and is usually intended to make some kind of refined statement about the broader landscape of the discourse. This is a brand of intellectual discourse sometimes thought to not be intellectualism at all, but simply crass humor, similar in form, but perhaps not as extreme to comedic discourses such as Borat.
Perhaps the broader philosophy of the channel is best exemplified by a humanistic perception of the world. With idealistic standards, morals, and ethics. It has become a place of awareness; either in raising awareness or in understanding what it is. Such progressive thought has led to a strong concentration of liberal people, who have come to the channel seeking a place of free expression and discourse.
[edit] Naming Conventions
The channel's name is a loose reference to the Gorillaz song "Happy Landfill." Its use is based on lyrical conventions in the song that were intended to represent and express some of the social and political concerns channel-goers felt. The title, as well as the broader lyrical structuring, convey a largely sardonic message that many at the time felt appropriate for the channel's general themes and ideologies. It is also a reference to the postulated (by members of the channel) fate of those who express dissent and deviance within many of today's social and political structures.
