I'm using a similar setup and for similar reasons, particularly for XMPP, but finding it hard to recommend to others because of the awkward bits involved (and b

I'm using a similar setup and for similar reasons, particularly for XMPP, but finding it hard to recommend to others because of the awkward bits involved (and because not everyone uses/prefers Emacs, of course). It's mostly okay for basic textual messages over a stable connection, though even then an IRC client is likely to split outgoing messages assuming an IRC message length limit. But when it comes to anything more advanced (e.g., file transfer), less visible (e.g., proper connection closing), or requiring a more advanced UI, it leads to compromises at multiple stages: similarly to just bridging protocols in general, but with addition of bitlbee/libpurple API restrictions. Sometimes I wonder whether the situation would be better with specialized CLI IM clients running inside Emacs's shell mode: it works well for telnet MUDs, at least.