Do you still use IRC? reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2021-06-21 18:52 I love me some retro computing and playing around with BBS's has been a lot of fun. Another text based retro experience I enjoy a lot is using IRC and I was wondering if some of you guys do too ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- wndrbr3d · 2021-06-21 18:58 All Discord these days. Majority of IRC channels I was in for the past \~25 years are now either dead, full of idling bots/shells, or completely moved to Discord. IRCloud gave it a couple years life for me since I could easily hop on IRC from any mobile device... but even then I was logging in from my phone to see nobody was online/no activity ;) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HernBurford · 2021-06-21 19:06 Very much this. Every now and then I get the itch to hop back onto IRC. I'll re-download a client, find a server and then every channel I get to is nothing but idle. At least there are USENET newsgroups and Fidonet echos that are still active. Those can be fun to hop into for the old-school text-based experience. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- notbleep · 2021-06-21 19:18 The only channels I still use are just places that stubborn old friends hang out. It isn't as useful a place for meeting people as it was a couple decades ago. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PhotoJim99 · 2021-06-21 19:24 I'm still in lots of IRC channels. Just this morning I got some advice about how to build a new kernel for an old SPARCstation running a modern release of NetBSD. I don't mind Discord, but I find it a lot easier to channel surf in text-based IRC clients like irssi. I often right-click/mark-as-read whole Discord servers instead of looking in the channels, because it's a lot of work. On IRC, I can do it quickly and easily with alt-key combos without lifting my fingers from the keyboard. (I don't chat much on a phone. I type too fast and I'm not patient enough.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cecil4029 · 2021-06-21 20:25 Only for ebooks 🙂 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gozarc · 2021-06-21 20:37 I'm only on IRC. Discord can't be used on my retro machines. :-) I've tried Discord, but they are usually a hectic interchange of users trying to use an instant messaging medium as a forum. This spirals into creating a channel for every little thing in the hope that your message will be seen. Plus, Weechat > than the Discord client. As for using IRC from every device, it's pretty easy to launch Weechat on a VPS somewhere, and then use the Glowing-bear client for a gui interface and on your phone. Then you build up to using a bouncer like ZNC and getting notifications of highlights and queries through Telegram. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mccobsta · 2021-06-21 21:11 Irc is still pretty alive and has more lighter clients than discord ---------------------------------------------------------------------- izzo34 · 2021-06-21 21:49 Never left irc. Still on it today ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EamonnMR · 2021-06-21 22:43 There's been some absolutely glorious drama on Freenode recently. If there isn't an /r/hobbydrama post yet someone should write one. The new owner torpedo'd the service repeatedly. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- euphraties247 · 2021-06-21 23:48 Sadly yes. Honestly discord is better as much as I hate new stuff. It’s far easier to share files and the history thing is swell. There is major drama going on between the collapse of freenode and the rise of libera ? Anyway I got kicked from freenet and had my channel seized like so many. Then everything got nuked. IRC would be better self hosted but like email it becomes a full time job, and I honestly don’t have the time for it ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2021-06-22 03:32 [removed] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scrutinizer80 · 2021-06-22 06:12 I don't get the constant comparison to Discord. Discord is a close gated commercial company, they're more like Facebook than IRC. IRC is an open standard that's being used by a variety of networks for literally decades. I've been on IRC since the 90's and still am. Mostly on Libera nowadays. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scrutinizer80 · 2021-06-22 06:20 You obviously haven't been to the right channels. IRC is very much alive. :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- euphraties247 · 2021-06-22 09:57 I still dont get it. pay money to sponsor something, then evict the userbase? Like they didn't even charge money before driving so many away, then the channel hijackings and then it was just my ID that got banned they reset the entire database. WTF!? * buy network * annoy users * reset database * ???? * profit?! I don't get it for a second. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- wndrbr3d · 2021-06-22 10:11 I personally feel Discord is a much better communication platform. Exact same capabilities as IRC, and then some (voice chat, video chat, mobile access, etc.) As a platform it’s vastly superior to IRC, but I agree with your thoughts on the underlying tech/companies in general. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gozarc · 2021-06-22 10:55 It's not that Discord isn't a good platform for communication, it's because way too many people don't understand the ephemeral nature of instant messaging. Too many times I see Discord being used as a replacement for a forum, and in that role it fails. Now let me scuttle back to Usenet... :-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2021-06-22 10:55 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2021-06-22 12:21 Indeed. For example #truth on Rizon is very active. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dperry324 · 2021-06-22 13:16 Oddly enough, BBS's and IRC have merged into MRC, which is Multi-Relay Chat. BBSes now incorporate an IRC like chat amongst each other. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2021-06-23 08:42 I'm not a fan of Discord, but I still love old school IRC. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- goodstudyskyup · 2021-06-24 12:57 My pi zero w is an irc machine! I spent ages getting irssi configured to work exactly the way I like things to work. Looks cool and works well. I spend most of my time in a handful of snoonet channels which coincide with my hobbies and are surpringly active. These include: "#tea" "#writerchat" "#cycling" And for bants and linux questions #linuxmasterrace I really liked freenode for it's channels on electrical engineering, linux, and others. Rizon has some fun chats. I'm really mixed on discord. Eats my battery like pre millennium americans are mcdonald's. And my system resources as well. It's nifty for sharing files and great for keeping my extended friend group connected. And in my current country of residence I need a vpn for it (and reddit too). Pros and cons. I still love irc and I love only using a terminal when possible for anything ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kamitsuruyoshi · 2021-07-30 13:15 I use it from time to time, mainly on devices not capable of using newer messenger applications. Or using BBS as it's fun. My friend has a Discord-IRC gateway and it's fun to use. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- digitlman · 2021-08-08 06:42 Yes, irc.synchro.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jonblaze02302 · 2021-08-08 16:50 I actually have a ircd server setup just never got around to using it but Im always out on freenode or efnet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- deepend_tilde · 2021-10-09 02:16 IRC is home. Discord and others are just big dumpster fires. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3G6A5W338E · 2021-11-08 18:02 Yes, I still do. There's still no real replacement. I also use Matrix (with Element), but the experience isn't the same.