There's no reason that a web-based chat cannot also have a "thick" client which works as IRC currently does. We can do both with a single service... the true

There's no reason that a web-based chat cannot also have a "thick" client which works as IRC currently does. We can do both with a single service... the true problem here is that IRC is long-forgotten by many, completely unknown by most, and those that remain remain because they have a strong attachment to IRC. That strong attachment will make driving a standard forward very difficult, because no two true IRC fans are going to have the same opinions on what a new version should look like. It's the true fans of open source stuff that hold open source stuff back the most.