I like IRC, and I'd like to use it more, but it all depends on the community. Back when I was getting to grips with .NET, the #csharp channel was invaluable in

I like IRC, and I'd like to use it more, but it all depends on the community. Back when I was getting to grips with .NET, the #csharp channel was invaluable in getting immediate technical help. They were the ones that introduced me to LINQ, Hangfire, and reverse proxying with nginx. Despite also being an avid Stack Overflow user at the time, #csharp was a far more approachable place, and I'll always be thankful for their support. Nearly two years ago I picked up Ruby, but sadly the IRC communities around Ruby and Rails seem pretty dead, especially compared to Slack. I'm sure it's mostly lurkers, but I've always preferred to see lively IRC channels, where you could jump in at any point and see technical discussion or just shooting the breeze. Sometimes, I'd just go to a channel to chat about my day, or about the tech scene where I am compared to where others live.