I think the author is talking more about running a public community with mostly strangers. I also run my own IRC server, but I would hardly call it an IRC netwo

I think the author is talking more about running a public community with mostly strangers. I also run my own IRC server, but I would hardly call it an IRC network because it's just me and a few close friends. The author is clearly talking about something on a different scale and purpose than a privately owned and operated server.