I'm trying to set up a client device that will remain connected to a
server that I can remotely log into
reddit / irc

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Worglorglestein · 2023-02-09 08:07

I'm not sure if that topic title is entirely clear... but my issue is
that I use IRC when working on computers, and I often need to restart
the machine that's running Hexchat. If I need to do a restart and have
any pending questions, I either need to just wait for a response, or
hope that no one gives any info while the computer is rebooting. It's
not a major issue, but it'd be nice to figure out a solution for
maintaining chat history.

My current thought is that I'd like to configure a raspberry pi to
always remain logged into my various channels. Then, I'd connect to
IRC via my rpi login. That way, I'd have a reliable history of
everything that's been said, and I wouldn't be constantly
connecting/disconnecting to channels.

I'm not sure exactly what this sort of setup would be called, but if
anyone could provide keywords/suggestions/wiki's/etc. relating to the
subject, it'd be appreciated!

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gondowana · 2023-02-09 08:23

You are looking for an irc bouncer. Checkout ZNC wiki as an example.
https://wiki.znc.in/ZNC

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carbolymer · 2023-02-09 09:15

My ux is better w/ Quassel than bouncers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quassel_IRC

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themacheteprincess · 2023-02-09 10:40

Nah just get a $4.99 VPS and install tmux you can do port knock SSH or
something and you're golden

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Thestarchypotat · 2023-02-09 12:14

you could probably use ssh and a virtual terminal

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trekkie1701c · 2023-02-09 17:18

As another self-hosted solution, I quite like TheLounge
(https://thelounge.chat)

I do actually run a ZNC as well for logging and configuration purposes
that TheLounge attaches to; you can store logs with TheLounge but my
ZNC has a web-based log viewer that's quite handy, and there's a few
backend things I like more with ZNC.

However, TheLounge has a good interface and stays connected all the
time.  In particular I like that it does URL previews and that it's
effectively the same client on mobile/desktop, and losing a connection
on mobile is considerably less annoying on TheLounge than it is on any
other mobile IRC client I've tried (I'm on so many networks that a lot
of them will just outright crash trying to reconnect that quickly).
And it does work well as an always online client and is relatively
easy to install/get started with.

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melodic-maybe23 · 2023-02-09 18:51

raspberry pis are actually sort of expensive now, can get more for
less money buying a rockpro64 sbc, cheap laptop, or used desktop

your idea was good, there's no advantage to using a VPS for IRC.  It
just adds extra latency and less privacy

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Mandelvolt · 2023-02-09 21:57

+1 for ZNC, does exactly what you are looking for.

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Expensive-Ad-7678 · 2023-02-22 10:41

Another option is to have a console client (as irssi or weechat) and
use screen on your rpi.

If you want to keep using hexchat, weechat allows to work as relay so
you can connect hexchat to it rather than directly to IRC.