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Show HN: IRC for GMail Apps

63 points by alagu 15y ago

katik 15y ago
Super da.. Great work! Keep going..
masnick 15y ago
It looks like this uses a chat server on alagu.net (https://github.com/alagu/gmail-irc/blob/master/chrome_extension/script.js#L99 https://github.com/alagu/gmail-irc/blob/master/chrome_extens...) but presumably you could run your own server as it appears to be a fork of https://github.com/chrismatthieu/CHATS.iO https://github.com/chrismatthieu/CHATS.iO.
- alagu 15y ago
  Yes, it is just a modification of http://chats.io/ http://chats.io/ running on my domain.
  - kcbanner 15y ago
    I would suggest making it clear to users that the chats run through an external server.
cbs 15y ago
I don't get it. What does this do other than move a tool from being a 1st class gui member to relegating it to inside of gmail?
- alagu 15y ago
  - It saves the trouble of setting up your own irc server & asking your colleagues to log in to irc client everyday. - It is inside Gmail and the entire server is specific to your domain. So you could create permanent (or) throw away chat rooms of specific context ( #devteam, #ops, #qa, #yournewfeature) - GMail doesn't offer chats on email threads, this is an alternative to it.
  - cbs 15y ago
    >asking your colleagues to log in to irc client everyday So I'll ask them to keep gmail open all the time instead? If only there were a single program that was unquestionably open all the time when they were using their computers that housed other programs. One that, like you do with gmail, could be set up to start a chat client when started. Oh well, I can always dream.
madmaze 15y ago
I wish this wouldnt need a chrome extension, but otherwise its pretty sweet!
mnml_ 15y ago
With a few more features, that could be a great alternative to campfire.
jokull 15y ago
I think HipChat is hard to beat in this area. We've been testing it at work, and early thoughts are very positive. They have native (Adobe Air, but much better than what I'm used to), mobile and web clients covered, some IRC-like commands and a cool @mention notification system.
iamdave 15y ago
I'm not seeing much of a problem being solved here, but the implementation seems pretty nice.
- alagu 15y ago
  I wasn't able to find Skype/IRC like chat-room for my company (gmail) account. So I built this. Hipchat seems to be an option but it doesn't integrate with GMail.
twodayslate 15y ago
Chrome only? Why not Firefox?
drv 15y ago
"IRC" is a bit of a misnomer; it looks like it's web sockets connecting to a custom server, unless I missed something.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- alagu 15y ago
  Yes, IRC is a misnomer. It supports a limited set of IRC commands. But IRC is an easy term for hackers to relate the usecase.
- armored 15y ago
  Sure it's not IRC per se, but it is persistent chat based on topic, much like IRC.
abraham 15y ago
> Your data on all websites > Your tabs and browsing activity Why does the extension need this level of access in Chrome?

63 points by alagu 15y ago

katik 15y ago

Super da.. Great work! Keep going..

It looks like this uses a chat server on alagu.net (https://github.com/alagu/gmail-irc/blob/master/chrome_extension/script.js#L99 https://github.com/alagu/gmail-irc/blob/master/chrome_extens...) but presumably you could run your own server as it appears to be a fork of https://github.com/chrismatthieu/CHATS.iO https://github.com/chrismatthieu/CHATS.iO.

alagu 15y ago
Yes, it is just a modification of http://chats.io/ http://chats.io/ running on my domain.
- kcbanner 15y ago
  I would suggest making it clear to users that the chats run through an external server.

cbs 15y ago

I don't get it. What does this do other than move a tool from being a 1st class gui member to relegating it to inside of gmail?

alagu 15y ago
- It saves the trouble of setting up your own irc server & asking your colleagues to log in to irc client everyday. - It is inside Gmail and the entire server is specific to your domain. So you could create permanent (or) throw away chat rooms of specific context ( #devteam, #ops, #qa, #yournewfeature) - GMail doesn't offer chats on email threads, this is an alternative to it.
- cbs 15y ago
  >asking your colleagues to log in to irc client everyday So I'll ask them to keep gmail open all the time instead? If only there were a single program that was unquestionably open all the time when they were using their computers that housed other programs. One that, like you do with gmail, could be set up to start a chat client when started. Oh well, I can always dream.

madmaze 15y ago

I wish this wouldnt need a chrome extension, but otherwise its pretty sweet!

mnml_ 15y ago

With a few more features, that could be a great alternative to campfire.

jokull 15y ago

I think HipChat is hard to beat in this area. We've been testing it at work, and early thoughts are very positive. They have native (Adobe Air, but much better than what I'm used to), mobile and web clients covered, some IRC-like commands and a cool @mention notification system.

iamdave 15y ago

I'm not seeing much of a problem being solved here, but the implementation seems pretty nice.

alagu 15y ago
I wasn't able to find Skype/IRC like chat-room for my company (gmail) account. So I built this. Hipchat seems to be an option but it doesn't integrate with GMail.

twodayslate 15y ago

Chrome only? Why not Firefox?

drv 15y ago

"IRC" is a bit of a misnomer; it looks like it's web sockets connecting to a custom server, unless I missed something.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
alagu 15y ago
Yes, IRC is a misnomer. It supports a limited set of IRC commands. But IRC is an easy term for hackers to relate the usecase.
armored 15y ago
Sure it's not IRC per se, but it is persistent chat based on topic, much like IRC.

abraham 15y ago

> Your data on all websites > Your tabs and browsing activity Why does the extension need this level of access in Chrome?