Chris š š§Anyone still on IRC? Iām idling around here most of the time: https://bnet.eu.org/
OldCoderI've spent much of my time since Spring 2012 in #IRC. It's where I met some of my most important associates. However, I've largely kept to my own network, CoderNet, since mid-2017.
FWIW: I was involved as a bystander in the self-destruction of #Freenode and I haven't gone back to either of the offshoots since then.
I do spend some time in EdgyNet, the gamedev network that is run by Edgy McEdge aka Stella Valkyrie. I've known Edgy for about 8 years and I try to offer support.
I used to run an active 60-person channel in Freenode. Things change. These days, there is very little random discussion in my network or EdgyNet. However, IRC in general remains the go-to for simple, lightweight, and secure text chat [ provided that secure mode is used ].
In IRC, there is no corporation that believes it owns you, that focuses on selling flashy add-ons, and that relays everything which is said to other corporations and to the government.
The protocol is super-light. High-school students used to revel in making their very own IRC bots. It's also easy to add IRC support to game worlds and to keep an eye on the worlds that way.
One IRC issue is that a bouncer is helpful. Enter "bip". I run a tweaked "bip" setup and it works fine. For people who want a web gateway, I run TheLounge.
The remaining part is the question of the IRC client. For Linux and Windows, there's #HexChat, irssi, and weechat. Or just a web browser if an IRC network includes TheLounge. For Android, there's Revolution IRC. I don't have an iOS device, so I can't comment on that.
In short, IRC is great. If you'd like to talk to me in real-time, my network is presently:
Network name: CoderNet
IRC host: irc.oldcoder.org
IRC classic port: 6667
IRC secure port: 6697
Web gateway: irc.minetest.org
It isn't essential to join a channel, but if you make it into the network, try:
/join #ventures
To ping me, try:
/msg OldCoder Hello
I'm online 24 hours, some days, subtracting intermittent sleep, errands, or trips to different cities. The errands typically take two hours and the trips typically take a full day.
Illustration: GenAI. A deity offers IRC, the simple and sensible #FOSS chat system, to the viewer.
FWIW: I was involved as a bystander in the self-destruction of #Freenode and I haven't gone back to either of the offshoots since then.
I do spend some time in EdgyNet, the gamedev network that is run by Edgy McEdge aka Stella Valkyrie. I've known Edgy for about 8 years and I try to offer support.
I used to run an active 60-person channel in Freenode. Things change. These days, there is very little random discussion in my network or EdgyNet. However, IRC in general remains the go-to for simple, lightweight, and secure text chat [ provided that secure mode is used ].
In IRC, there is no corporation that believes it owns you, that focuses on selling flashy add-ons, and that relays everything which is said to other corporations and to the government.
The protocol is super-light. High-school students used to revel in making their very own IRC bots. It's also easy to add IRC support to game worlds and to keep an eye on the worlds that way.
One IRC issue is that a bouncer is helpful. Enter "bip". I run a tweaked "bip" setup and it works fine. For people who want a web gateway, I run TheLounge.
The remaining part is the question of the IRC client. For Linux and Windows, there's #HexChat, irssi, and weechat. Or just a web browser if an IRC network includes TheLounge. For Android, there's Revolution IRC. I don't have an iOS device, so I can't comment on that.
In short, IRC is great. If you'd like to talk to me in real-time, my network is presently:
Network name: CoderNet
IRC host: irc.oldcoder.org
IRC classic port: 6667
IRC secure port: 6697
Web gateway: irc.minetest.org
It isn't essential to join a channel, but if you make it into the network, try:
/join #ventures
To ping me, try:
/msg OldCoder Hello
I'm online 24 hours, some days, subtracting intermittent sleep, errands, or trips to different cities. The errands typically take two hours and the trips typically take a full day.
Illustration: GenAI. A deity offers IRC, the simple and sensible #FOSS chat system, to the viewer.
Are you using actual IRC, i.e., irc.oldcoder.org, or the web gateway, i.e., irc.minetest.org and TheLounge ?
TheLounge can exhibit cert errors, but it shouldn't happen with actual IRC. Actual IRC does need the client to enable "Accept invalid certs". Right now, I'm not seeing an issue with either, but I'll look closer.
TheLounge can exhibit cert errors, but it shouldn't happen with actual IRC. Actual IRC does need the client to enable "Accept invalid certs". Right now, I'm not seeing an issue with either, but I'll look closer.
P.S. As promised, I'm here at 2:00am. :-)
Iām using IRC, yes, also here, the cert is expired:
Issuer: C = US, O = Let's Encrypt, CN = E6
Validity
Not Before: Jun 24 09:32:36 2025 GMT
Not After : Sep 22 09:32:35 2025 GMT
Subject: CN = irc.oldcoder.org
Thank you. Interestingly, I and others in my network aren't seeing the expiration. It might be a DNS issue. Allow a few minutes for review.
May I ask to confirm that nslookup irc.oldcoder.org presently shows the following?
Name: irc.oldcoder.org
Address: 142.171.132.221
Name: irc.oldcoder.org
Address: 142.171.132.221
data0@cr I'm still on IRCnet (EFnet previously), still hanging out with many people I met there in the 90s, many of whom I've met in real life too over the years. We all took a little break in the (early) naughts and returned eventually.