GalaxyNet
is an established IRC network that has been in existence since
May 18, 1996. GalaxyNet offers a variety of services for its
users, including Nickname services (NS), Channel services (Q),
and Memo services (MS). The GalaxyNet staff is always available
to give assistance to users whenever they need it. GalaxyNet
strives to keep the network running as smoothly as possible,
with fewer splits and minimum lag. To this date, GalaxyNet's
maximum user record stands at over 25086. GalaxyNet is governed
by a network policy. This policy gives the users, opers, and
administrators a guideline to follow. This policy constitutes
the rules of operation on GalaxyNet.
The
three original servers that founded GalaxyNet were once
on NewNet together. They had been led to believe that
NewNet was going to be a democratic net where everyone,
including users, had a say. The future GalaxyNet admins
quickly found out that the admin of the main hub was intent
on running the whole show. There were two events that
occurred that precipitated them leaving NewNet. The first
release of the NewNet ircd included special code, that
contained a necessary compilation definition (#define
ADMIN_HAS_A_CLUE). If it wasn't added before compiling,
any oper command would wallop "!irc.gymnet.com! CL00BIE
Alert - Admin hasn't a clue" or something to that effect.
Most admins had long ago read the ircd documentation and
didn't bother with re-reading the etiquette file, and
many were badly embarrassed by the wallops. It was clearly
an attempt to humiliate people and show 'who's the boss'.
The final straw was when the admin decided irc.xxedgexx.com
should be delinked. At the time, irc.txdirect.net was
the only other NewNet hub. When one of the admins refused
to remove the C/N lines for xxedgexx, he found his server
L: lined until he conformed with the orders of the main
hub admin. Mark-ATL and Shmoe delinked sometime Saturday
night and Gawyn joined them the next day. So GalaxyNet was formed on May 18, 1996, and consisted
of irc.telluric.com, irc.xxedgexx.com, and irc.gymnet.com.
Mark-ATL organized the birth of GalaxyNet and is therefore
considered the founder. The name 'GalaxyNet' was selected
after several debates and discussions for the new IRC
network. In the end, it came down to a choice between
RebelNet and GalaxyNet.
With
the good times, there also came the bad. GalaxyNet started
facing several problems once it became a medium size network.
In December there were problems with the opers and admins,
and things were starting to get out of hand. The GalaxyNet
policy that was in place at the time tied Net-Com's hands
a good deal of the time. Winternet, a former server, decided
unilaterally that absolutely no one but Winternet opers
were to deal with anyone on their server. It was an untenable
situation. Reptile of Winternet and Brian of Phantasy
began an apparent power play to control GalaxyNet and
policy. They were upset by a new 5 oper limit that had
been recently passed. Reptile began an argument with Mark-ATL,
in which he became totally enraged, calling Mark-ATL a
dictator and dalby an '18 year old brat.' At this time
Mark-ATL decided that any further investment of time and
hardware in GalaxyNet was no longer worth it and killed
Q (GalaxyNet's Channel bot). A few moments later, Atlanta.*
and Gymnet.* were juped by an unknown person. At this
point, everyone was frustrated and wanted to start a new
network. If it hadn't been for the hard and strong commitment
of dave_s, of Macon.*, and MLong, of Charlotte.*, GalaxyNet
probably would have died that day. They hounded Mark-ATL
until he agreed to relink, and then convinced the admins
to relink their servers to Atlanta.*. Dave and Mike served
as the interim Net-Com and retired when the new, larger
Net-Com was elected.
After
this incident, the GalaxyNet policy was re written to
allow Net-Com more sweeping power to enforce it's decisions.
CService became a committee appointed by Net-Com, rather
than an elected body itself. Many lessons were learned
through these times, which brought the network closer
togethter at the end. Since then PRcom and VFcom have
been added to aide users in their quest for a fun safe
place to chat.
In
January of 2002, power cliques again threatened GalaxyNet.
This time, though, the problems were seen well in advance,
and steps were taken by several administrators - the "Founders"
of GalaxyNet - to stabilize the network. On February 3,
2002, the network was officially "dissolved" by Mark-ATL,
and a new policy, with further safeguards against disruptive
servers and admins, was placed in effect. Several servers
were forcibly removed from the network, though all but
one were allowed to return once they agreed to the new
policy. A few servers decided they could not live with
the new policy and delinked, as well, but overall, GalaxyNet
survived this crisis with no apparent disruption to the
users.
Galaxynet
is now considered to be one of the top 10 largest IRC
networks in the world. With it's well written policy,
dedicated server admins and IRCops, and faithful users,
it's future is endless.
