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Discord and IRC are not competitors. Discord is just a product you choose to use or not. Discord Inc. runs the servers, and you use whatever software they app

Discord and IRC are not competitors. Discord is just a product you choose to use or not. Discord Inc. runs the servers, and you use whatever software they approve to connect. Using unapproved software could result in a ban from the service. IRC is a set of protocols to enable a federated service. You choose which server implementation you want to host, and your users choose from dozens of available clients, which all work together because of the relevant standards, to which everyone has access. The rest of your comment seems to be a comparison of Matrix, which is not IRC, and Discord. It's great that you've found a product you like, which suits your needs. Don't make the mistake of thinking IRC is competing with it, though. IRC will still be here long after Discord Inc. exits.

ilyt 4y ago
Those 3 product fill same function, chatting between people. Of course they are competitors, it's just IRC isn't competitive in normal people space. The fact IRC might or might not choose to compete doesn't mean it isn't one of choices people wanting chatting app consider.
Gigachad 4y ago
After seeing almost every single community I frequented on IRC move to Discord and some to Matrix over the last 10 years, I just don't agree that Discord is not competing. It's captured almost all of the users. IRC will always "exist" in the same way steam powered trains and analogue cameras exist. IRC certainly isn't relevant anymore.
charcircuit 4y ago
Discord and IRC are competitors. Where do you think the terms servers and channels came from? Just because IRC is losing to Discord badly you can't just retroactively redefine IRC as a chat service for people who want to use something with an open protocol.
phire 4y ago
The protocols might not be competitors. But that doesn't change the fact that Discord has been swallowing up almost every single community that either previously used IRC, or would have used IRC if it was created 10-20 years ago. The sad fact is that other than openness (in several senses of the word), Discord delivers a much better experience to the communities that use it. It preserves scroll back. It has a proper mobile app that reliably delivers notifications (I'm not aware of anyway to do this with IRC, other than a closed and paid service like IRC cloud). It has moderation tools. It has community building tools and ways to split off sub-conversations. It has platform wide anti-spam. It both embeds images and videos, and stores them. It is incredibly depressing watching communities die on IRC, either moving to discord, or being replaced by new communities on discord that serve the same role. Most of the ones still holding on are run by older people who have strong views on the importantness of openness. I actively support those communities staying on IRC. But at the same time, I use discord myself, and I understand why it's winning.
- lightedman 4y ago
  "It preserves scroll back." For limited definitions of 'preserves' if you aren't a paying user. "It has a proper mobile app that reliably delivers notifications" Not really, you can't tell who pinged you half the time (and this is a common complaint from most everyone in a discord server with 70+K members.) "It has moderation tools." Limited ones unless you get a bot to add in granularity (such as duration of moderation action.) I can think of a few HTTP chat sites from the late 90s that had better moderation for all users (and a reverse-ignore feature, which seems to have just disappeared from everyone's collective memory.) "It has platform wide anti-spam." Which more often than not takes my pictures of rocks and flags them as NSFW. Useless. "It both embeds images and videos, and stores them." This is about the one thing it does right. I should note IRC had video chat functionality with pIRCh98.
  - TheBrokenRail 4y ago
    > For limited definitions of 'preserves' if you aren't a paying user. What do you mean by this? I don't pay for Discord and I have never had any issues scrolling as far back as I want to. > Not really, you can't tell who pinged you half the time (and this is a common complaint from most everyone in a discord server with 70+K members.) Personally I have notifications disabled so I can't comment on that, but both the web client and the Android app have a specific view to list all past pings or replies. > Limited ones unless you get a bot to add in granularity (such as duration of moderation action.) I can think of a few HTTP chat sites from the late 90s that had better moderation for all users (and a reverse-ignore feature, which seems to have just disappeared from everyone's collective memory.) While limited, they are there by default and pretty convenient. And they're getting better.
    - lightedman 4y ago
      "What do you mean by this? I don't pay for Discord and I have never had any issues scrolling as far back as I want to." The servers need to be boosted to keep certain things like extended history preservation and what not available to the users of that server.

ilyt 4y ago

Those 3 product fill same function, chatting between people. Of course they are competitors, it's just IRC isn't competitive in normal people space. The fact IRC might or might not choose to compete doesn't mean it isn't one of choices people wanting chatting app consider.

Gigachad 4y ago

After seeing almost every single community I frequented on IRC move to Discord and some to Matrix over the last 10 years, I just don't agree that Discord is not competing. It's captured almost all of the users. IRC will always "exist" in the same way steam powered trains and analogue cameras exist. IRC certainly isn't relevant anymore.

charcircuit 4y ago

Discord and IRC are competitors. Where do you think the terms servers and channels came from? Just because IRC is losing to Discord badly you can't just retroactively redefine IRC as a chat service for people who want to use something with an open protocol.

phire 4y ago

The protocols might not be competitors. But that doesn't change the fact that Discord has been swallowing up almost every single community that either previously used IRC, or would have used IRC if it was created 10-20 years ago. The sad fact is that other than openness (in several senses of the word), Discord delivers a much better experience to the communities that use it. It preserves scroll back. It has a proper mobile app that reliably delivers notifications (I'm not aware of anyway to do this with IRC, other than a closed and paid service like IRC cloud). It has moderation tools. It has community building tools and ways to split off sub-conversations. It has platform wide anti-spam. It both embeds images and videos, and stores them. It is incredibly depressing watching communities die on IRC, either moving to discord, or being replaced by new communities on discord that serve the same role. Most of the ones still holding on are run by older people who have strong views on the importantness of openness. I actively support those communities staying on IRC. But at the same time, I use discord myself, and I understand why it's winning.

lightedman 4y ago
"It preserves scroll back." For limited definitions of 'preserves' if you aren't a paying user. "It has a proper mobile app that reliably delivers notifications" Not really, you can't tell who pinged you half the time (and this is a common complaint from most everyone in a discord server with 70+K members.) "It has moderation tools." Limited ones unless you get a bot to add in granularity (such as duration of moderation action.) I can think of a few HTTP chat sites from the late 90s that had better moderation for all users (and a reverse-ignore feature, which seems to have just disappeared from everyone's collective memory.) "It has platform wide anti-spam." Which more often than not takes my pictures of rocks and flags them as NSFW. Useless. "It both embeds images and videos, and stores them." This is about the one thing it does right. I should note IRC had video chat functionality with pIRCh98.
- TheBrokenRail 4y ago
  > For limited definitions of 'preserves' if you aren't a paying user. What do you mean by this? I don't pay for Discord and I have never had any issues scrolling as far back as I want to. > Not really, you can't tell who pinged you half the time (and this is a common complaint from most everyone in a discord server with 70+K members.) Personally I have notifications disabled so I can't comment on that, but both the web client and the Android app have a specific view to list all past pings or replies. > Limited ones unless you get a bot to add in granularity (such as duration of moderation action.) I can think of a few HTTP chat sites from the late 90s that had better moderation for all users (and a reverse-ignore feature, which seems to have just disappeared from everyone's collective memory.) While limited, they are there by default and pretty convenient. And they're getting better.
  - lightedman 4y ago
    "What do you mean by this? I don't pay for Discord and I have never had any issues scrolling as far back as I want to." The servers need to be boosted to keep certain things like extended history preservation and what not available to the users of that server.