I was thinking of Freenode when I wrote that. The changeover process is using a different server - the client doesn't change and nor does the protocol. The switch from Discord will be a lot more disruptive. Everyone needs to find a new client and the protocol will be different. Ie, the entire ecosystem burns instead of one minor component like a DNS hostname.

And that is the upside of OSS. When Freenode caused people trouble they all just walked calmly to a new server. Case closed. Little of value was lost.