pouët.net

IRC couldn't be replaced by IM softwares or social networks until now. But why? Is it because it is far more easy to bring friends together? Is there anything else? IRC is an excellent place to exchange knowledge. Is IRC still being used ONLY for social (non-technical, I mean) purposes?

I've been thinking for years to create something that would still be in the same line of IRC and that could replace it. Has someone already attempted that? What would you like to add to IRC?

the reasons why irc is still superior:
1. easy to connect to
2. no account / authentication needed
3. public channels
4. decentralized
5. open protocol

yes. nothing. it just works. thread closed.

I may have a wrong impression, but to me it seems as IRC is something more for advanced users, and getting little media coverage (especially compared to Facebook - in Austria mainstream, not particularly computer-related magazines regularly feature cover stories about Facebook). I guess that among experts, the oldschool Internet services such as IRC, Telnet or Usenet are still used, while they are not that popular among the masses. (Though I am not sure if that also applies to Gopher.) A slightly larger audience is reached by means of web interfaces for IRC, Usenet & co. IRC is also used by some web-based bulletin boards for the built-in chat. Apparently it sufficiently serves the users' needs and is easy enough to implement and use.

You answered your own question!



IRC has been a birthplace of a lot of ideas used in the demoscene. I shall now commence and plug this 'demo' because it is exceedingly relevant!

With regards to 'replacing IRC', the old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" saying seems to have been the strongest driver of the IRC RFC over the last 20 years.

I guess the only thing standing 'in the way' of IRC these days is its weak infrastructure dependencies on clusters of hosts rather than a P2P distributed method.

I wouldn't really like the P2P model. Why? Frankly, for me at least, a lot of IRC identity starts with the network you attach and stick to - your 'home' network.

That's all i have to say :) kthxbai

it's awesome but Adok said a lot of interesting and true things :)

well basically what Gargaj said + irc is near-totally-forgotten/unknown by the masses so we can keep "our" small place of freedom and avoid the hordes of lamers from the "outside" world.

and also all the best irc client from each OS are perfect rulezerie software, you definitly can't compare the awesomness of a good irc client to those lame coal-power-plant who are IM client.

we don't need avatar, status with rotten animated-smiley or audio or webcam, no. we just want to chat :D

irc is retro! hipsters never heard of it! that's why they're not there!

deadlne once explained it nicely

(i myself have been on irc since 1995)

it's like ham radio

related vivid memory from one of the fmx festivals: we're talking to a hr person from one of the larger film companies there (can't remember which) and she seems interested in the scene, gloom is explaining how it works, and she asks "so how do you guys keep contact?" "oh, we're on irc." her eyes widen, "whaaaat? i havent been on irc since i was 18!"

I felt like irc is something with retro value. I mean, it's useful but everyone knows facebook and twitter and messenger today and when is the last time I heard some friend to connect to irc? Also, I have a very long time to login to irc and I still prefer communication by email.

For me as a shell user, I can connect to my running irc-session with any unix, mac or pc that is connected to the internet. And I have my channels there ready and my querys. All I need to do is either type 'ssh' or download putty.exe. And boom, I have irc.

In addition to what gargaj listed:
- Scales easily from desktops to mobiles phones and everything in between.
- No trojans
- No Ads
- Low bandwidth
- Fully customizeable

There is not a single IM solution that has all that, so why the hell change something that works and has a lot of people in it.

No one is forced to be on IRC, but still a lot of people are there. The numbers have spoken.

Just Works (tm)

... hence is sadly ripe for reinvention >.<

screen & irssi - the real thing.

mircwar!

@las: ho fuck, what a cool idea to use irssi into screen :D
T-101: nice use of irc too!

well, i have to think seriously to set up a server or rent to get access to a shell...

what's with all the backlog addiction?

IRC is definitely where the action is at...

@Gargaj backlog addiction! its a live screen play!

There's so much scene drama on IRC! its...hard not to... you know what? I was going to try and make a point but I think we all know where this is going to lead.

Try to stay organised in a group where on member is in .au, one in .gr, two in .uk and two in .us otherwise :)

Also, since I can't connect to ircnet servers easily and have to resort to .us servers only, it makes sense to try and maintain an active connection at all times.

Are there still active IRC demoscene or democoding channels? It's been a while since I fired up my client.

What T-101 said.
I really can't see a similar solution.
Since it's all text when it comes to "ssh&screen&irssi", even a shitty system has no issues displaying that stuff.
Plus thanks to bitlbee, a lot of the other protocols can be made to be IRC's bitch (using a "translator server" that eats IRC commands and pukes valid protocol xyz messaging, and the other way around.. Or how to best explain it :))

but wow! IRC!

If you look at the number, IRC is going down: ~0.7M global users now VS 1.1M in 2005

Still, IRC is f* alive, and it's a nice surprise to see some recent-cloudy startup use IRC as the core of their business:
- grove.io: cloud-hosted irc server - designed for team collaboration
- IRCcloud : cloud-hosted irc client / bouncer - by the tech guy beyond audioscrobbler/last.fm, it's quite nice, feel free to ping me (wullon@paradisia.net - @gatuingt) if you want an invit

ggn: email, google docs, etc :) there are alternatives. irc is a realtime medium, which kinda gets fucked if you're split over timezones anyway.

i always felt the idling clients are a bit of a waste, and most of the time deceiving too ("why are they not answering")

!

on my server i have screen+weechat+bitlbee. (wysiwtf)
on my android mobile i have yaaic (wysiotm)
on my desktopi have mirc. (arvenius)

at first it seems like a nice place to chat and to hang out but then 10 years are gone and you wonder where they went!

kids, stay away from irc.