Writing a proposal to IT for an IRC server. reddit / irc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TesticleTophat · 2012-06-12 18:36 This isn't related to IRC directly, but I want some knowledgeable people to offer some input regarding IRC technology. I work for a large corporation and I would like to write a proposal to IT to implement an internal IRC server for communication between staff. Most will say "fat chance" or "don't bother" because why would a major corporation implement new technologies based on a request by 1 or a few individuals? But I am adamant about taking risks and believe in going big, so why not try? Currently, we use Microsoft Office Communicator which is pretty good but when it comes to setting up group conferences, it sucks. Anyway, this is my first major proposal. Do you think you guys could check my facts, perhaps offer some arguments, or anything else that might help this proposal? I don't want to give false claims, but rather emphasize the pros of the technology and convince IT to implement the server(s). Some of the readers may not be tech savvy, so I would also like to keep it simple. I am no expert with IRC, but I have used it for about 10 years so I am familiar with it from the user side. Here's what I have so far: https://www.dropbox.com/s/08zaqgjyk5wym4g/IRC.pdf [edit] Thanks everyone, great suggestions! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2012-06-12 18:55 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- meeb · 2012-06-12 20:13 One of the first iterations of the Microsoft Backoffice Server actually contained a (slightly weird) IRC server as its communication platform some years ago, since replaced with some Live-integrated annoying popup thing. DCC file sharing is probably not a point to push, it would also likely require a local firewall policy update to function. I would stress that it's free and support is not really required, also remember that your network guys probably very well know all about IRC :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- panda_burgers · 2012-06-12 21:20 You assert that it's secure, but to my knowledge it only supports SSL. That means you'd have to rely on something like NickServ to verify your users (which is probably too clunky if there are any laypeople in your company). I think a proposal like this might be more convincing if you compare it to, say Jabber, which supports secure authentication, typing notification and more reliable transfers and show IRC wins. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2012-06-12 21:20 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- livejamie · 2012-06-12 21:53 They'd probably go for something like [Campfire](http://campfirenow.com/), [HipChat](https://www.hipchat.com/), [Yammer](https://www.yammer.com/), [Grove](https://grove.io/) or [Talker](http://talkerapp.com/). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TesticleTophat · 2012-06-12 23:04 I agree and I didn't want to focus on file sharing but want it to be known that it's a possibility. Free is good, companies like free. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TesticleTophat · 2012-06-12 23:06 Yeah, NickServ shouldn't be a problem since it's internal and everyone is authenticated on the network. The only issue would be one employee posing as another, but NickServ should fix that. Perhaps the admins could set up the nicks for everyone, so they just auto-login with their client. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TesticleTophat · 2012-06-12 23:08 Great suggestions! I'll note these as alternative ideas. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- idealevil · 2012-06-12 23:50 This would be easily accomplished using ssl certs and setting up nickserv to authenticate people via their cert fingerprint. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tobsn · 2012-06-13 02:06 no serious IT admin will approve that. it's all plain text, there is no per client auth etc. you'd better off, more secure, using one of those new web corp. chat services over https. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- digividual · 2012-06-13 05:49 I would say that hosting a file server inside of IRC for any corporation is a bad idea. In fact its even worse than just setting up a file server. You would version control, audit tracking, security etc in a file repository these days, hopefully with the ability to add some workflow around documents approvals etc. For source code it should reside in a code repository like Git, Subversion, TFS etc. Having been a heavy IRC user back in the days, I am often annoyed a how things that have appropriate technical solutions are reimplemented over http. However I think for office meetings and communications IRC is not appropriate unless its a software development company filled with eager nerds. Id hate to explain to pointy haired bosses, project managers and others how we have IRC now and how to use it. IRC is a multi to multi discreet form of communication, (but you can do single to many or any other subset). Microsoft Lync, can include integration with a VOIP phone systems and many more fancy features, but at its core (as with most im programs) you can easily see who is available, start a group conversation, video conferencing, file transfer, and all the rest. The biggest thing is that even non IT users have probably been exposed to one IM program or another, and thus its a UI that is intuitive for them to use without spending budgets on training them. (I am not saying that Lync or Messenger doesn't have faults. Sometimes getting a video conference started is like pulling teeth). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- coolsilver · 2012-06-13 06:21 Our office upgraded to Lync. Everyone hates it. My PC was never pushed the upgrade. Woo! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AltReality · 2012-06-13 07:07 It's not cheap, but the new MS Lync is a pretty decent IM system... Group chats... Interfaces with outlook (2010) and sharepoint... It's a pretty cool system.. You should check it out. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- KsaRedFX · 2012-06-13 14:35 as a user of SSL Cert files, i agree with this. on the Snoonet IRC network i've got a SSL cert that logs me in before i'm fully connected to the network, no password typing required. Setting ENFORCE to ON with Nickserv is something i recommend for all the users as well edit: grammar ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AltReality · 2012-06-13 17:12 Why do they hate it? Compared to Office Communicator it's the bee's knees! :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ump721 · 2012-06-13 17:55 We have IRC and Yammer at work. All I have to say is *fuck* Yammer. For us it turned into an internal Twitter and rarely helped. IRC has completely taken over as our form of group chat. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2012-06-13 18:27 To save you time: NO. I also have the t-shirt ---------------------------------------------------------------------- coolsilver · 2012-06-13 19:40 It is different. As you should know users complain about anything ---------------------------------------------------------------------- faghat · 2012-06-14 22:35 There are server passwords that you can use... pre configure an IRC client to auth to it automatically maybe? But then again that would really be the same as using NickServ/restricted.. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2012-06-22 05:37 Here's one argument you could potentially use. Facebook uses IRC for their internal communication. Facebook is a pretty successful company, is it not? (Granted, what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another, heh) Just read the .pdf and I like what I read. I definitely agree with 1 server being able to support thousands of connections because well it's true. For example, a server running UnrealIRCd (not sure if it's the same for all ircd so I will just specify Unreal) can support 10,000 connections on just 512MB of RAM (though 1 Gig is recommended) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ivosaurus · 2012-07-09 01:05 You can serve IRC over SSL only and only allow registered accounts through SASL, if you really want to be finicky? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tekn0viking · 2012-07-25 14:12 I'm an senior systems admin, and implemented IRC for our office. InspIRCD w/ SSL communication. Also, you can enable LDAPAUTH modules for ldap authentication. This will only allow users with LDAP/AD credentials to connect, so you can essentially open it up to the world and users can connect from home as well. One thing i'd reccomend about ldapauth is to have the username identifier be their ident/username rather than their nickname. If the user authentication is based upon the nickname, and a user leaves their laptop on and connected to irc at work, they won't be able to connect at home since the nickname is already in use and can't authenticate. Using the ident/username option allows a user to make their nickname whatever and still connect with the ident field being their username authentication. edit: however, that being said, we are looking into hipchat as a replacement since it would make our lives easier going 3rd party SAAS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tobsn · 2012-07-25 15:34 edit: <- yep. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- neocharles · 2012-10-28 23:06 Curious how this went for you ...