it was almost a masterclass on how not to do it

all he had to do was change the top level administration and keep quiet for a few months, at which point he could have implemented his changes slowly

He is not right in the head, that's pretty clear from all that he's said and done. What I mean to say is that someone sane could've handled it well. iirc freenode was already "taken over" by the guy who sold it to rasengan years ago and nobody noticed.

Yeah. When the first reports of problems a-brewing were coming out, I mostly ignored them as dumb Internet drama that would blow over. Then the channel take-overs started happening...