Off and on I've used it for technical discussions, questions, etc, around various open source projects. I've shut down all my IRC servers. Most folks moved to Discord or Slack.
I haven't gotten into Discord yet. Isn't it a pain that there are so many Discord servers and you can't just have one server with all the channels (ala Freenode)?
It is normal to be connected to multiple servers at once, and the UI makes it easy to keep track of them.
As the other commenter said, it is much better to think of each server as a channel. A Discord server is typically dedicated to a single topic or organization. My old World of Warcraft guild has a Discord server. On that server, you'll have separate channels for general chat, announcements, and several voice channels for groups.
Colloquy. Desktop version more or less hasn't been touched in 8 years, and it remains the best Mac client. Also has an iOS version that is more recently maintained.
Freenode is still pretty active. I self-host an instance of The Lounge[0], which basically acts like an IRC bouncer + an account system to easily get friends/coworkers to use IRC.
I primarily use it for giving/getting help on technologies and open-source projects that I'm using.
While Freenode may not compete with Facebook, it's still pretty huge :)
There are 99 users and 84066 invisible on 32 servers
36 IRC Operators online
16 unknown connection(s)
53438 channels formed
I have 5185 clients and 1 servers
5185 5972 Current local users 5185, max 5972
84165 94773 Current global users 84165, max 94773
Highest connection count: 5973 (5972 clients) (476397 connections received)
I do! I have 91 windows open in my current irssi session. I think only 50 of those are actual channels and the other half is active or dead queries between people.
I use have slack for some group of friends, but I have been less active after they removed the IRC bridge. I try to avoid Discord.
IRC is also used for my core group of friends, some of them I got over when we started University together as I couldn't stand Facebook messenger. A lot of time is also spent on various open-source projects, mainly Arch Linux but also security related channels and misc projects.
You want to see one of the most fascinating uses of IRC in a focused, dedicated community let me introduce you to the player group known as the "Fuel Rats" of Elite:Dangerous[1]. They use IRC for far more than just a hub to congregate and socialize, 100% of their actual dispatch operations are planned, coordinated and excuted on IRC.
If you run out of "fuel" in game, and you need a Fuel Rat to come rescue you, you do it in IRC. Dispatch talks to you in their IRC channel, other dispatchers are communicating in NOTAM[2] like notation with pilots out 'rescuing' other players.
No, these are actual In-Real-Life-People. Maybe parent got their dates a wee bit wrong.
When I started playing Elite:Dangerous (circa release date 2014?) I ran out of fuel in a system I couldn't refuel in (wrong type of sun or something like that)...and so was stuck. The only way out was to self destruct.
After some googling I discovered the Fuel Rats on Reddit and then their IRC channel. So as per their S.O.P. I put out a call for assistance on their IRC channel and within 10-15 mins or so one of their crew appeared in-system and refuelled me. I don't like to abuse the word "awesome", but these folks were awesome. They were like the AA or RAC of the galaxy :)
The service is entirely free, in game and out of game. Fuel Rat 'rescuers' (or just 'fuel rats,' there might be a better term they use) do it for the fun of it. It's an amazing example of emergent gameplay.
I've been saved once or twice by fuel rats. The process is fantastic and seeing the dispatchers in action is fascinating. After they refuel you, they give you a little talk and help you avoid running out of fuel again.
"Right when Elite:Dangerous was coming out, I had just quit a 3-year stint of playing World of Warcraft ... When Frontier decided to add a feature to the July 2015 release, consisting of a refuelling limpet/probe that could be used to transfer fuel to someone who was out, I had a brain-flash and did a posting announcing that I was starting an organization called “The Fuel Rats” who would undertake to rescue people in-game who ran out of fuel. And, The Fuel Rats were an unexpected success ..."
You did say up to 2013. I know a lot of games that were heavily IRC based in coordination, but move on to either Slack or Discord around 2015. Though the link suggests it's still IRC main.
I think another good example of IRC usage was the channel for kimchi and its associated tools. It's a GUI for libvirtd but the interesting part is that they used to hold daily standups in IRC.
Just like we do today in Webex Teams for example.
I personally never liked the transition to web based chat because IRC was a lot more information dense than any web chat can be.
Being able to paste inline code doesn't sell it for me since there are pastebins you can host on prem easily.
Put me into the "they should move to Discord" crowd.
The hardest part of using their (really good) services was having to use IRC. If they'd used Discord, I'd hop into a server effortlessly. Instead, I had to navigate the byzantine vagaries of terrible UX while running out of oxygen. D:
This is 100% just how you feel, and it's not based on facts. IRC clients come in many varieties and the basic functionality matches Discord in ease of use.
Depends little bit, what you want. I don't like irssi too much, but for something over gnu screen or tmux this is pretty usable for longer sessions, collecting channel conversations (so, poor man bouncer + client setup).
HexChat is decent Linux or Windows client. When I used Windows, I liked mIRC, this was (and probably is) very versatile. I have seen customisations where you don't even feel that mIRC is used.
I am logged into several channels 24/7, in one (with a close group of friends) pretty much without a break since about 1999. I also frequent some channels with technical topics.
IRC appeals to me by its simplicicy, just like good old plain text email does. It is a great design that has outlived many of the better, more colourful or more modern alternatives, and will continue to do so.
Like everywhere on the internet there is a resident braggart, a few weirdos and a few ever silent lurkers in every channel, but after 20+ years on this medium my mental filters are well honed.
Yes I use it all the time especially when I'm learning a new thing or researching a strange behaviour of a program. I prefer much better the freedom to ask/discuss anything and the fast ask/reply/clarify cycle of IRC than fe stackoverflow with its strict rules.
Freenode has channels with people that are very helpful and friendly. Some channels I am frequent and would recommend: #django, #elixir-lang, #kotlin, #android-dev. I also visit (and get help) #mysql and #postgresql.
Actually I wanted to write a blog post to urge people to learn about and visit IRC, but I hope that this HN thread will suffice...
I will try these. Some of the ones that interest me seem to have a ton of people but such little chatter. IRC still reminds me of the days of AIM where people congregated online. People are always "online" with their phones these days so it's nice to use IRC to get that "online community" feel.
I pay for and use irccloud. You can probably use a VPN on top of that if you dont want even then to have your IP. You can also setup a connection bouncer on a server. Basically you tell it what ircd to connect to and it connects to it for you masking your IP. This is what IRCCloud does under the hood tbh.
Additionally: you may request a cloak which hides your IP address, useful if you are to visit any dubious channels. on Freenode f.e. you simply ask an operator at the main channel for one and you have it.
Secondly you could also setup a Digital Ocean droplet (server) with an IRC client and ssh into that.
Why would you want to do this? For me IRC is mostly synonymous to technichal discussion on freenode. And my quasselcore runs on cheap rented machine in the cloud. So I honestly fail to see the risk with revealing that IPv4 address, even if it is a public one.
I have not measured whether that machine receives more port scanning than any other, because honestly I did not think that any port scanner would work just through a list of IRC users. Even after thinking of it, it sounds unlikely.
Yes probably you are right. What I forgot to add on my comment is probably the most important IRC fact: That IRC is a totally and completely open protocol; anybody can create his own client or server and either join the existing IRC networks or create his own.
Actually, even if you don't have an IRC client you can right now just telnet to irc.freenode.com port 6667 and enter a couple of commands to join a channel and see the discussion: http://protofusion.org/wordpress/2009/08/irc-via-telnet/
The fact that IRC is an open protocol is of course what makes it "non-trending". You can't easily monetize from IRC and you can't hide the data of IRC behind closed gardens. Everything is there in the open.
Yeah I'm well aware, it's just that for all purposes except when thinking about data privacy etc., IRC is dominated by slack and even discord. Yeah, there are some curmudgeons who'll say "But I can't use discord from a shell!" or whatever, but that's not really meaningful
All the time. Easily the best forum I’ve found for asking a quick question on occasion. Not every community is super lively but there’s some good ones and it’s nice to see the regulars after all these years.
And it’s nice that after a while just by taking a break and checking the conversation out, you’ll start answering people’s questions too. Always nice to help someone out.
Freenode will always have a place in my heart and an open window on my desktop.
Absolutely. Every time I want to learn about a new tech or have questions about an open source project, my first port of call is freenode. I've had some excellent help and discussions, even in the last couple of months.
Yes -- though my company is looking to move away from it sometime soon (sadly?), so my use will decrease. It won't disappear entirely, at least for now, as there are other uses outside the company's control.
Absolutely. Freenode is still running strong, and is probably the best place for live support for a ton of open source projects and Linux distros.
I've tried various other popular chat options (like Discord and Telegram) and have been really frustrated by some of their limitations -- particularly in regards to logging, where afaik there's no way to get the logs off their servers and on to my own machine for archiving, offline browsing/searching, advanced regex searches, etc. There's also no way to get the logs if you're not logged in, or if you ever lose access to the servers for some reason.
Discoverability on these alternate chat platforms is also really poor. At least on IRC I could always try typing in a channel like #gentoo or #linux or #debian or #ocaml or #scheme or #lisp or #emacs or #vim, etc, and have a pretty good chance of these subject-related channels existing. On Discord and Telegram, I have to find a link to the channel somehow or get invited. Which is great for private channels, but for channels that you want anyone with an interest in the subject to join, it's simply awful.
That said, they do have some advantages, like integrated images, video, and audio.. and if you need those features, then vanilla IRC certainly isn't good enough. But for me, who does 99.9% of my chatting in plain text, those other features are very rarely necessary and IRC suits my needs just fine. Also, with IRC one could at least always post links to external image/video/audio hosting sites, if you wanted to share that sort of media... which, again, is good enough for me most of the time. In fact, things like videos and images poping up all over the place on chat platforms like Telegram and Discord are just annoying most of the time anyway.
Tech support, guidance on opening bug reports, etc. There are some projects where there's not an open forum to post questions, but opening an issue or filing a bug report will immediately get your head bitten off by an angry dev unless you've read X number of docs, combed through closed issues to make sure it hasn't been asked previously, reproduced the issue, provided a GDB stacktrace of the issue occurring, etc.
IRC support channels can provide some immediate front-line support and allow you to ask basic questions without being told to go die in a fire.
Yes! I'm an active IRC user for professional open source work (and personal projects) for the last 10-ish years. And still going strong.
What many people say IRC "lack" in comparison with Slack (or whatever new-fangled tool of the day is) are its strengths. What I value in IRC: lack of clutter, simplicity, bloat-freeness, open standard, and not least of all, blazing fast, among others.
Sure, IRC has its limitations, and is not suitable in certain scenarios. But is still shines brightly when it comes to distraction-free, text-based communication.
I also hope Matrix takes off. I have been using riot.im for some time to check if it could replace the many chat applications one is forced to use these days (FBMessenger, Slack, Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, etc).
It does have its quirks but I'm finding the ability of having e2e-encrypted chat with multiple parties in a way I can move across devices quite useful. It also does support some more modern features like sharing pictures, files, and emojis without major issues.
Yes. I co-run a small, quirky IRC network/channel. We welcome all peoples who enjoy fun and discussing programming/hardware/technical stuff. Details here https://irc.darwin.network/
334 comments
[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 294 ms ] threadIt is normal to be connected to multiple servers at once, and the UI makes it easy to keep track of them.
As the other commenter said, it is much better to think of each server as a channel. A Discord server is typically dedicated to a single topic or organization. My old World of Warcraft guild has a Discord server. On that server, you'll have separate channels for general chat, announcements, and several voice channels for groups.
I primarily use it for giving/getting help on technologies and open-source projects that I'm using.
[0] https://github.com/thelounge/thelounge
I use have slack for some group of friends, but I have been less active after they removed the IRC bridge. I try to avoid Discord.
IRC is also used for my core group of friends, some of them I got over when we started University together as I couldn't stand Facebook messenger. A lot of time is also spent on various open-source projects, mainly Arch Linux but also security related channels and misc projects.
If you run out of "fuel" in game, and you need a Fuel Rat to come rescue you, you do it in IRC. Dispatch talks to you in their IRC channel, other dispatchers are communicating in NOTAM[2] like notation with pilots out 'rescuing' other players.
It's amazing to behold.
[1] https://confluence.fuelrats.com/display/FRKB/Rescue+Standard...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOTAM
Disclosure: Fuel Rat 2010-2013, Retired.
https://www.elitedangerous.com
When was the origin of Fuel Rats in the franchise?
Have they existed since the first game was first released in 1984? Or only after IRC came around a few years later?
Very curious about the history of Fuel Rats in the game series, as well the history of technology these used to communicate.
No, these are actual In-Real-Life-People. Maybe parent got their dates a wee bit wrong.
When I started playing Elite:Dangerous (circa release date 2014?) I ran out of fuel in a system I couldn't refuel in (wrong type of sun or something like that)...and so was stuck. The only way out was to self destruct.
After some googling I discovered the Fuel Rats on Reddit and then their IRC channel. So as per their S.O.P. I put out a call for assistance on their IRC channel and within 10-15 mins or so one of their crew appeared in-system and refuelled me. I don't like to abuse the word "awesome", but these folks were awesome. They were like the AA or RAC of the galaxy :)
I've been saved once or twice by fuel rats. The process is fantastic and seeing the dispatchers in action is fascinating. After they refuel you, they give you a little talk and help you avoid running out of fuel again.
Just one of the greatest things I've ever heard of online.
"Right when Elite:Dangerous was coming out, I had just quit a 3-year stint of playing World of Warcraft ... When Frontier decided to add a feature to the July 2015 release, consisting of a refuelling limpet/probe that could be used to transfer fuel to someone who was out, I had a brain-flash and did a posting announcing that I was starting an organization called “The Fuel Rats” who would undertake to rescue people in-game who ran out of fuel. And, The Fuel Rats were an unexpected success ..."
Just like we do today in Webex Teams for example.
I personally never liked the transition to web based chat because IRC was a lot more information dense than any web chat can be.
Being able to paste inline code doesn't sell it for me since there are pastebins you can host on prem easily.
The hardest part of using their (really good) services was having to use IRC. If they'd used Discord, I'd hop into a server effortlessly. Instead, I had to navigate the byzantine vagaries of terrible UX while running out of oxygen. D:
IRC appeals to me by its simplicicy, just like good old plain text email does. It is a great design that has outlived many of the better, more colourful or more modern alternatives, and will continue to do so.
Like everywhere on the internet there is a resident braggart, a few weirdos and a few ever silent lurkers in every channel, but after 20+ years on this medium my mental filters are well honed.
Freenode has channels with people that are very helpful and friendly. Some channels I am frequent and would recommend: #django, #elixir-lang, #kotlin, #android-dev. I also visit (and get help) #mysql and #postgresql.
Actually I wanted to write a blog post to urge people to learn about and visit IRC, but I hope that this HN thread will suffice...
Try IRC and you won't regret it!
e.g. https://freenode.net/kb/answer/cloaks
Why would you want to do this? For me IRC is mostly synonymous to technichal discussion on freenode. And my quasselcore runs on cheap rented machine in the cloud. So I honestly fail to see the risk with revealing that IPv4 address, even if it is a public one.
I have not measured whether that machine receives more port scanning than any other, because honestly I did not think that any port scanner would work just through a list of IRC users. Even after thinking of it, it sounds unlikely.
Actually, even if you don't have an IRC client you can right now just telnet to irc.freenode.com port 6667 and enter a couple of commands to join a channel and see the discussion: http://protofusion.org/wordpress/2009/08/irc-via-telnet/
The fact that IRC is an open protocol is of course what makes it "non-trending". You can't easily monetize from IRC and you can't hide the data of IRC behind closed gardens. Everything is there in the open.
I don't use slack outside of work, but I always have the idea of using weechat more - for irc and/or other protocols.
https://github.com/wee-slack/wee-slack
And it’s nice that after a while just by taking a break and checking the conversation out, you’ll start answering people’s questions too. Always nice to help someone out.
Freenode will always have a place in my heart and an open window on my desktop.
I've tried various other popular chat options (like Discord and Telegram) and have been really frustrated by some of their limitations -- particularly in regards to logging, where afaik there's no way to get the logs off their servers and on to my own machine for archiving, offline browsing/searching, advanced regex searches, etc. There's also no way to get the logs if you're not logged in, or if you ever lose access to the servers for some reason.
Discoverability on these alternate chat platforms is also really poor. At least on IRC I could always try typing in a channel like #gentoo or #linux or #debian or #ocaml or #scheme or #lisp or #emacs or #vim, etc, and have a pretty good chance of these subject-related channels existing. On Discord and Telegram, I have to find a link to the channel somehow or get invited. Which is great for private channels, but for channels that you want anyone with an interest in the subject to join, it's simply awful.
That said, they do have some advantages, like integrated images, video, and audio.. and if you need those features, then vanilla IRC certainly isn't good enough. But for me, who does 99.9% of my chatting in plain text, those other features are very rarely necessary and IRC suits my needs just fine. Also, with IRC one could at least always post links to external image/video/audio hosting sites, if you wanted to share that sort of media... which, again, is good enough for me most of the time. In fact, things like videos and images poping up all over the place on chat platforms like Telegram and Discord are just annoying most of the time anyway.
IRC support channels can provide some immediate front-line support and allow you to ask basic questions without being told to go die in a fire.
What many people say IRC "lack" in comparison with Slack (or whatever new-fangled tool of the day is) are its strengths. What I value in IRC: lack of clutter, simplicity, bloat-freeness, open standard, and not least of all, blazing fast, among others.
Sure, IRC has its limitations, and is not suitable in certain scenarios. But is still shines brightly when it comes to distraction-free, text-based communication.
(I'm also hoping the Matrix protocol takes off.)
Obligatory XKCD reference:
https://xkcd.com/1782/ -- Team Chat
It does have its quirks but I'm finding the ability of having e2e-encrypted chat with multiple parties in a way I can move across devices quite useful. It also does support some more modern features like sharing pictures, files, and emojis without major issues.
Didn't bother to find and try a text-based client yet, although matrix does seem to have an IRC gateway (of course): https://matrix.org/docs/projects/as/irc-bridge.html