I do wonder why the Libera staff didn't kick off the network with a copy of the Freenode user/channel database. Perhaps the Freenode legal entity has a claim to it?
Fundamentally there was no viable way to get permission from the freenode user base for that in a way that was morally acceptable.
(I'm sure there were legal reasons too but I don't believe the question ever got as far as that being relevant)
It would save both staff and users a lot of time from having to re-register accounts, channels, and projects/communities.
> if the users aren't connecting to the network?
I don't understand this part, sorry.