Can people explain what they like about IRC? I've often found the idea of having a community chat around some topic quite intriguing, but in practice when I've tried briefly joining such communities, I simply don't last long, as it doesn't grab my attention. Rooms tend to have tens or a hundred people joined, but saying nothing, until someone has a problem they want to talk about or question they want to ask, which i…
I may not be the common case, but I didn’t join IRC looking for a community. I primarily used it (and still do today) for help and collaboration — open source work and ##javascript /##math questions, usually. By being in the channels frequently enough you begin to figure out the community. Many channels also have off-topic variants for, well, off-topic discussion. Those will tend to be more like communities and not h…
Happy Birthday, Libera Chat
61–70 of 153 posts
Re: Happy Birthday, Libera Chat
#62Re: Happy Birthday, Libera Chat
#63Can people explain what they like about IRC? I've often found the idea of having a community chat around some topic quite intriguing, but in practice when I've tried briefly joining such communities, I simply don't last long, as it doesn't grab my attention. Rooms tend to have tens or a hundred people joined, but saying nothing, until someone has a problem they want to talk about or question they want to ask, which i…
Appreciate your thoughts on this topic. What are some things that would help keep your interest in a topical chat app? Is it strictly that you're uninterested in the content and so the discussion is boring? Or is the asynchronous/disjointed conversation more of an issue? > My reaction is always kind of, well, we're here in this reddit where there is already a community I think that misses the different ways people se…
I would say that perhaps, at least from what I've seen, it's often not really a discussion at all, but more like a question answering forum. I suppose what I like about HN/reddit style forums more, is that there is a "post", with a clear topic or article, and then people actually have a full, long discussion about it. Sometimes of varying quality, but it's at least full of threads where people react, people react to those reactions, etc. Whereas what I've seen on IRC is mostly just "how do I do x", and then some random short-lived arguments about how to do X better, or why are you doing X, etc. It doesn't seem to be a discussion but more like a problem solving brainstorm with a bunch of people who aren't stakeholders in whatever the original poster is talking about.
So, I'm not sure, but maybe the way the discussion in a link aggregator is specifically oriented around a "post" and clear topic is what makes it more engaging for me, rather than just a nebulous promise that "this channel is to discuss X.." followed by people just sitting there with not much to say about X.
But, maybe my take is completely wrong, and that's why I asked the question, maybe I've missed the very interesting and dynamic back-and-forth discussions and funny moments that attract and keep people engaged in a chat room. Maybe it's just a matter of being there long enough.
Re: Happy Birthday, Libera Chat
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
I may not be the common case, but I didn’t join IRC looking for a community. I primarily used it (and still do today) for help and collaboration — open source work and ##javascript /##math questions, usually. By being in the channels frequently enough you begin to figure out the community. Many channels also have off-topic variants for, well, off-topic discussion. Those will tend to be more like communities and not h…
Are the off-topic discussions more (or less?) engaging than the topical ones, for you? Just curious.
Re: Happy Birthday, Libera Chat
#65Re: Happy Birthday, Libera Chat
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Hello (do not) @buyvpnservice from (dirty) @Kape_com > I hope you’re enjoying the ride. > You are now at KAPUT, you are booked until the final destination, FUBAR. > Please fasten your seatbelts and return your tray table to its full upright and locked position. I'll be honest: I have absolutely no idea what this means. It's obvious the @buyvpnservice is meant to be a play on "buy VPN service", but everything else l…
Hello, thank you for taking the time to read. If you read my tweets since December 21, 2021 ( I worked for PIA VPN for 5 years before it was bought by Kape. They're scammers.
Given all the not-false-but-absolutely-misleading advertising I see/hear for VPN providers¹, I suspect they are all scammers or as near to as makes no odds.
[1] including in sponsored segments in the output of technical influenzas who don't help their reputation in my view by parroting the words themselves instead of letting the sponsor do it, or by being more choosy about exactly what they are willing to parrot
Re: Happy Birthday, Libera Chat
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
IRC as in the 1988 chat protocol, sure. IRC as a concept has never been healthier. Lots of alternatives, most proprietary, some libre, and more users than ever.
What are you basing this on? I'm not trying to be difficult, I have used IRC since the 90s and still use it. It's just the best format for chat imo. But my observation is also that it's dying slowly.
Is it? I'm not on it every day, but I don't really notice a change. Isn't it just that it isn't growing, at least not as much as the explosions of web-based, proprietary platforms like twitter or slack?
Re: Happy Birthday, Libera Chat
#68I see Bitcoin still has their official channel on Freenode[1]. I wonder if there are more projects still doing that. [1] https://bitcoin.org/en/community
There is some tug-of-war going on about that domain that's too stupid to even talk about. (As are all the stupid "what is true bitcoin???" debates of 2017-ish.)
The actual Bitcoin domain is https://bitcoincore.org and they link Libera there.
Re: Happy Birthday, Libera Chat
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This time, instead of this awful cycle of disempowerment of the people, it's time that the people of the world, together, plant the flag of the power of the people on the Internet. The internet changed everything and leveled the playing field. This cannot be taken away. By his own manifesto he wouldn't do that, and he wouldn't want to be a hypocrite.
"promises only bind those who believe them" - JL Gassee
Edit: googling it in French attributes it to Henri Queuille.
Re: Happy Birthday, Libera Chat
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are you basing this on? I'm not trying to be difficult, I have used IRC since the 90s and still use it. It's just the best format for chat imo. But my observation is also that it's dying slowly.
> But my observation is also that it's dying slowly. Is it? I'm not on it every day, but I don't really notice a change. Isn't it just that it isn't growing, at least not as much as the explosions of web-based, proprietary platforms like twitter or slack?
Me and my little group of hackers would also host our own, and link with other groups around the world.
I think it boils down to accessibility. Even back when I started certain people just couldn't handle the terminal clients so they used Xchat or Mirc. In school in Sweden IRC was actually often pronounced "mirck" because people would refer to the mirc client.
So when web chat came along, with mobile apps too, it just reaches a much wider audience.
So the ones who are left on IRC are old farts, and terminal junkies.