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The current drama around Freenode is completely disproportionate to what its importance in 2021 is. Sure, IRC was huge back in the day. Today it isn't.

by slver 5y ago

c0l0 5y ago
That's just like, your opinion, man. The tens of thousands of users that migrated to other networks feel differently about the matter.
- WJW 5y ago
  Tens of thousands of users is not actually that large these days for a worldwide chat app though? I don't know exactly how many concurrent users apps like Slack or Discord have, but I'm willing to bet it's at least two orders of magnitude more than ten thousand. Let's not even compare it to the real giants like Whatsapp and WeChat.
  - toyg 5y ago
    Most of those Discord and Slack users are nontechnical and not the target for a developer-focused IRC network. It's like discussing IDEs and then saying "but I bet many more people just use Notepad to write quick notes".
    - slver 5y ago
      IRC is not developer minded
mlang23 5y ago
You are pretty young, right? IRC is still the only group chat technology that I use semi-regularily. Slack, Discord, Matrix, FooBar, and the next yet unnamed hype can very well stay where they are. I dont care.
- slver 5y ago
  > You are pretty young, right? No. > IRC is still the only group chat technology that I use semi-regularily. Slack, Discord, Matrix, FooBar, and the next yet unnamed hype can very well stay where they are. I dont care. I don't understand why when I make a statement about the overall state of something, there's always this one guy who replies "oh yeah, you're wrong because I something, something". I understand every person is a universe and to them their PoV is the only thing that matters, but we need to be a little less egocentric when analyzing overall trends. I didn't claim there's not a single person using Freenode in this thread. In fact I've also used IRC from time to time recently. And I can compare how it was 30 years ago and how it is today. Today, it doesn't matter. The regulars who were there decades ago are still there and literally using IRC to their last day on Earth. And the rest have largely moved on. And thing is, the regulars don't make a self-sufficient community on their own. You can be all like "them kids and their Slack, Discord, etc." all you like and these services DO have short half-life. What you fail to realize is that IRC is not an exception.
  - grayhatter 5y ago
    So does that make email the only exception? What about HTTP? or FTP (now sftp)? Are they exceptions too, or maybe they're not actually the same, and are just base protocols?
    - slver 5y ago
      There are exceptions and probably in a parallel universe IRC is all the rage with very few changes. I think the issue is that HTTP and the web platform are so flexible, that we've stopped evolving dedicated protocols and just slap everything on HTTP and then eventually use mobile and desktop apps to cover the rest. This also allows companies to build walled gardens where you register with them, they provide the service, and they control it. Which obviously has a strong investment/monetization incentive, compared to an open protocol like IRC.
  - mlang23 5y ago
    To me, IRC is an exception because it has no inherent accessibility problems, like all the modern chat platforms have. Here is an experiment: Find a blind person and make them join your favourite discord or slack channel. Make them participate for real. Not just login and logout again. Now, do the same experiment with IRC. 10 years ago, this phenomenon was called digital divide. These days, people like you call it the inevitable future.
3np 5y ago
You're free to not engage with content you find irrelevant to you. You're not in a position to judge what is relevant for others.

The current drama around Freenode is completely disproportionate to what its importance in 2021 is. Sure, IRC was huge back in the day. Today it isn't.

by slver 5y ago

The current drama around Freenode is completely disproportionate to what its importance in 2021 is. Sure, IRC was huge back in the day. Today it isn't.

c0l0 5y ago

That's just like, your opinion, man. The tens of thousands of users that migrated to other networks feel differently about the matter.

WJW 5y ago
Tens of thousands of users is not actually that large these days for a worldwide chat app though? I don't know exactly how many concurrent users apps like Slack or Discord have, but I'm willing to bet it's at least two orders of magnitude more than ten thousand. Let's not even compare it to the real giants like Whatsapp and WeChat.
- toyg 5y ago
  Most of those Discord and Slack users are nontechnical and not the target for a developer-focused IRC network. It's like discussing IDEs and then saying "but I bet many more people just use Notepad to write quick notes".
  - slver 5y ago
    IRC is not developer minded

mlang23 5y ago

You are pretty young, right? IRC is still the only group chat technology that I use semi-regularily. Slack, Discord, Matrix, FooBar, and the next yet unnamed hype can very well stay where they are. I dont care.

slver 5y ago
> You are pretty young, right? No. > IRC is still the only group chat technology that I use semi-regularily. Slack, Discord, Matrix, FooBar, and the next yet unnamed hype can very well stay where they are. I dont care. I don't understand why when I make a statement about the overall state of something, there's always this one guy who replies "oh yeah, you're wrong because I something, something". I understand every person is a universe and to them their PoV is the only thing that matters, but we need to be a little less egocentric when analyzing overall trends. I didn't claim there's not a single person using Freenode in this thread. In fact I've also used IRC from time to time recently. And I can compare how it was 30 years ago and how it is today. Today, it doesn't matter. The regulars who were there decades ago are still there and literally using IRC to their last day on Earth. And the rest have largely moved on. And thing is, the regulars don't make a self-sufficient community on their own. You can be all like "them kids and their Slack, Discord, etc." all you like and these services DO have short half-life. What you fail to realize is that IRC is not an exception.
- grayhatter 5y ago
  So does that make email the only exception? What about HTTP? or FTP (now sftp)? Are they exceptions too, or maybe they're not actually the same, and are just base protocols?
  - slver 5y ago
    There are exceptions and probably in a parallel universe IRC is all the rage with very few changes. I think the issue is that HTTP and the web platform are so flexible, that we've stopped evolving dedicated protocols and just slap everything on HTTP and then eventually use mobile and desktop apps to cover the rest. This also allows companies to build walled gardens where you register with them, they provide the service, and they control it. Which obviously has a strong investment/monetization incentive, compared to an open protocol like IRC.
- mlang23 5y ago
  To me, IRC is an exception because it has no inherent accessibility problems, like all the modern chat platforms have. Here is an experiment: Find a blind person and make them join your favourite discord or slack channel. Make them participate for real. Not just login and logout again. Now, do the same experiment with IRC. 10 years ago, this phenomenon was called digital divide. These days, people like you call it the inevitable future.

3np 5y ago

You're free to not engage with content you find irrelevant to you. You're not in a position to judge what is relevant for others.