Financial Incentive for IRC reddit / irc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- masturkiller · 2022-01-06 19:58 Curious. I use IRC but I've always wondered what is the financial incentive for someone aside from someone who creates a client such as mIRC or IRCCloud. What kind of money is in this? I mean if you invest so much time, like say you own/operate [https://libera.chat](https://libera.chat) or DalNet or whatever who supports that? I mean someone is paying for the server and the upkeep takes man hours. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rickcarlino · 2022-01-06 20:21 It would be the same incentive (usually non-financial) that drives other non-profit computing projects such as FOSS software. They could very well just enjoy the community interaction or have a non-financial need for IRC services. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CabinRumors · 2022-01-06 20:51 There's a sort of well known copypasta on EFnet about this subject. In response to calls to "fix shit net" because of rampant DDoS abuse, an IRCop once said "nobody cares to 'fix shit net' as it's revenue negative... lucky people even run shitty servers at all! if you wanna donate some GRE DDoS mitigation services, step up." So, as you can see, it's only through the kindness of oppers and server providers hearts that we're even able to chat on IRC at all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- masturkiller · 2022-01-06 20:55 That's what I thought. IRC exists only by the kindness of people who are willing to donate their free time and equipment to sustain the infrastructure. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- skizzerz1 · 2022-01-06 21:08 Mostly just a lot of people donating time as volunteers (opers, developers, etc.) or infrastructure for various reasons. Maybe it's because they enjoyed being on IRC 30 years ago and want to keep things going for a new generation. Maybe it's because they see value in the community there. Or some other reason entirely, but when it comes to hosting/running a network very few are in it to make money because there isn't really money to be made. As a personal anecdote, the reason I became an oper on a network was because I was using it for well over a decade and felt that it was a good way to give back to something that ended up being fairly impactful in my life. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scriminal · 2022-01-06 21:44 just like any hobby. people enjoy something and put time into it. sometimes you get really lucky and are able to talk your boss into donating things to your hobby too :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bob_newhart · 2022-01-07 00:17 As a teenager I dreamed of being an efnet oper. I thought they were so cool and was fatuated with being one. I’m so glad I discovered irc early in my internet journey. I discovered and learned so much about technology and networks that has been invaluable as an adult. I haven’t used irc in about 10 yrs though. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mruishy · 2022-01-07 03:05 There really isn't a financial incentive at all. I would say the extreme overwhelming majority of them are having their bills floated by someone who just loves the community. People who believe that their time/resources versus the enjoyment they get out of the community is worth it. (In reality though, the financial side of it isn't too expensive, it's more of a timesuck/stress thing that takes the biggest burden) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Final_Savings · 2022-01-07 03:55 Even the largest servers probably don’t take that much money to run, compared with other web applications. Since it’s all text tcp packets getting sent around and most servers don’t save messages at all. I’m not an expert or have any inside knowledge. But from my experience even the largest like libera don’t have donation links or anything. As far as I know they’re just funded by a one or a few people as a hobby of sorts. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- foxbones · 2022-01-07 05:56 This was many years ago but Google's NOC still used IRC for notifications and handoffs. It can fit very specific niches when it comes to scripting, notifications, security, etc for local networks. Honestly I'd prefer to use it over Slack, Teams, etc, but I'm someone who started using IRC in the 90s. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- skizzerz1 · 2022-01-07 07:02 Libera didn’t even have a bank account until somewhat recently so they couldn’t accept monetary donations. Now that they do, that may change, although none of the specifics have really been decided yet. Even then, you’re correct in that there really aren’t that many expenditures. Pretty much all of the servers come from the handful of sponsors credited on the libera website, so what’s left is just minor things like the domain registration. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- l0c0dantes · 2022-01-07 17:52 There is no money in IRC. People find it fun to keep them running. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7yearlurkernowposter · 2022-01-07 17:55 The Incentive is knowing you have a longer e-penis. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thischildslife · 2022-01-22 16:28 efnet is still where the 'cool kids' are. ;) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- deepend_tilde · 2022-03-09 03:01 It’s the concept called people do things that enjoy even if it costs them money to do them. It’s not about making money generally. And in 2022 I doubt you could easily find a sponsor for such an endeavour. I spend upwards of 200 per month to host irc and other free services for people because I enjoy it.