How does IRC work on mobile these days? Last time I used IRC seriously, I had to get off the train because I was chatting more on mobile than not and the mobile clients were basically un-serviceable (IIRC, protocol is too chatty and stateful for reliable connection on a device continuously changing its physical network connection).
Like in past days. If you have a working OS (ie not iOS) you can use it fine. Otherwise use Lounge or something similar.
I was using Android and the experience was not good. Disconnects every time I put my phone in my pocket.
Once they've burnt it to the ground, they'll have a blank slate. It looks like they're trying to make a job board for channers…? It might work; I'm confused enough to think I'm missing something. If others feel that same confusion, Lee's Freenode might be able to get some venture capital.
IRC is not exactly booming. Those who have fled during this exodus will probably not return. And trying to get people who don't already use IRC on board will be even more difficult.
They probably won't return. They're certainly not going to return to Freenode, though.
IRC doesn't need to boom. The communities matter; IRC is just a protocol.
As a flourishing community of the interwebs maybe, just maybe. IRC as a tool is certainly not dead. Former IRCOP.
How does IRC work on mobile these days? Last time I used IRC seriously, I had to get off the train because I was chatting more on mobile than not and the mobile clients were basically un-serviceable (IIRC, protocol is too chatty and stateful for reliable connection on a device continuously changing its physical network connection).
Irccloud is a popular and easy to use client with a good mobile interface.
I use weechat, with the glowing-bear frontend on both desktop and mobile.
In both cases, the mobile interface is a frontend for something else instead of being an actual irc client.
That's sort of my question. What's the end goal for Freenode? They're burning the network to the ground. Is there some positive outcome for them here that I'm missing?
Once they've burnt it to the ground, they'll have a blank slate. It looks like they're trying to make a job board for channers…? It might work; I'm confused enough to think I'm missing something. If others feel that same confusion, Lee's Freenode might be able to get some venture capital.
> job board for channers
I'd have thought real names and chan culture's extreme NSFWness would get on incredibly badly.
Freenode is kind of like that nightclub that stopped being cool, stopped having good music and began watering down the drinks. Everyone's gone to the new place. Basically the same crew running it.
Why doesn't the new Freenode staff just shut down the IRC servers? That would be a lot less work than killing off each channel individually.
That's sort of my question. What's the end goal for Freenode? They're burning the network to the ground. Is there some positive outcome for them here that I'm missing?
The thing is, most people will just stay, and the freak behind Freenode will have numbers to back up his claims, that his "community" is strong. Who knows how many of those users just keep running irssi in screen or have it configured on bouncer, checking it once a year when they need to ask question. Maybe over long time, the numbers will shift. But most people just don't care about the platform they chat through.
I'm glad someone else in the comments posted this link: https://netsplit.de/networks/top10.php which clearly indicates freenode is tanking and libera is matching it but upwards. In a month it'll be overtaken; I think there may be a lot of inertia from people who have a load of irc channels open but don't actively interact with it, as well as old webpages pointing to the freenode servers. But it's a matter of time, no…
Yeah. I had one or two channels that took some time moving, but this morning my last one moved, so I've finally logged off Freenode for the first time in about 15 years. In a few more weeks/months, pretty much the only "users" left will be IRC proxies that someone forgot about.