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I've been using IRC again recently after a long break. I've been struggling to pick a client. I'm on Debian+KDE so I've been using Konversation, but it crashes

I've been using IRC again recently after a long break. I've been struggling to pick a client. I'm on Debian+KDE so I've been using Konversation, but it crashes after a couple hours (so I dont see conversations until I restart it). I've been pleased to see that IRC still has community. There's something that makes IRC feel safe that I didn't get when I tried Discord.

Retr0id 2y ago
I use https://thelounge.chat/ https://thelounge.chat/, it requires self-hosting somewhere, but it gives you a discord-like experience.
- sva_ 2y ago
  That's pretty neat. But it doesn't seem to work as a bouncer keeping the messages when you're offline? edit: nvm, it does
  - mhils 2y ago
    It does. It also optionally supports notifications if someone messages you while you have all tabs closed (using https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Notification https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Notificatio...).
  - baumschubser 2y ago
    I think it does. On the start page they state "Always connected. Remain connected to IRC servers while you are offline. Forget about bouncers. Resume where you left off on any device." and in their docs they say "For an optimal experience, The Lounge must be installed on a server that runs 24/7." So I guess you just let that server running and it serves you the client as well as keeping you logged in in IRC.
- drdo 2y ago
  I've used thelounge for a while but I'm baffled by how slow searching is.
- myself248 2y ago
  TheLounge is fantastic. I've got it on a pi in the basement on a battery, and I just VPN into home from anywhere. Been running 3-ish years I think. It works surprisingly well from mobile browsers, too.
  - HumblyTossed 2y ago
    > I've got it on a pi in the basement on a battery, and I just VPN into home from anywhere. Been running 3-ish years I think. That's a _really_ good battery!
    - universa1 2y ago
      or maybe he just put it on top of the battery? ;-)
    - myself248 2y ago
      Yeah, that's an oversimplification. It's a rack with a bunch of ports to plug in whatever 12-volt batteries aren't currently in use elsewhere. So when I retire one from the car, or a solar experiment, or replace a whole pile of 'em from a UPS and most are kaput but a few are still viable, they all end up on that rack, in parallel. (With fuses and stuff, of course. And I precharge each battery so it closely matches the float voltage before plugging it in.) Presently I think there's like 30-40 amp-hours worth of lead and lithium sitting there, all charged by a little Meanwell RS-25-12 or something. I don't exactly remember, but the photo looks familiar. (25 watts at 12 volts tweaked up to 13.85 volts, so, roughly 2 amps.) That powers the cable modem, wifi router, service pi, and a RIPE ATLAS probe. The first two eat 12-ish volts and have SMPS input stages so they're not picky about the -ish, so they just run directly from the battery rail. The latter two have DC-DC converters feeding them (the venerable MC34063 or something similar). Combined, their draw is just shy of an amp at 12 volts, so the rack with its current fleet of batteries can run several days with no AC input. Realistically if power fails, I usually start the generator after just a few hours, so the batteries never actually drain much. If I can find a good place to mount a solar panel that doesn't annoy the landlord, I might be able to unplug the Mean Well and run it independently indefinitely.
- chadsix 2y ago
  And you can self host it on your own computer with 1-click [1] [1] https://github.com/ipv6rslimited/cloudseeder https://github.com/ipv6rslimited/cloudseeder
nj5rq 2y ago
I currently use ERC, the GNU Emacs IRC client. Obviously, if you are not using Emacs already, you should not use it, so I recommend irssi. Pretty easy to configure, and with lots of options.
- coldpie 2y ago
  Irssi was good, but Weechat has completely surpassed it.
  - e12e 2y ago
    And it has (had?) a decent slack plugin so you can avoid running slack...
Numerlor 2y ago
I like the UI quassel offers; they also have a server for better integration over znc but I've never tried that
evbogue 2y ago
I suggest irssi with tmux for the authentic experience.
- aaronmdjones 2y ago
  I'm more of a WeeChat in tmux guy myself.
- a-french-anon 2y ago
  https://git.causal.agency/catgirl/ https://git.causal.agency/catgirl/ for some suckless credits.
- perlgeek 2y ago
  The authentic experience is irssi in screen, tmux is quite new in comparison (2015 maybe?)
  - throwaway3306a 2y ago
    2007... Not as traditional but still very authentic to many - our whole channel used it back then.
  - maxdamantus 2y ago
    I have a self-built binary at ~/bin/tmux-old dated 2012-09-19, so that provides an upper bound of when I switched from screen. (And to this day I'm still using tmux + irssi)
- mediumsmart 2y ago
  I vote for weechat in vterm in emacs for plausible deniability
jetbalsa 2y ago
I've been using IRCCloud for my IRC since it has very good mobile support and acts like a bouncer as well
- mrweasel 2y ago
  That's what I've been using for work for a while now. It's is really good, though I feel like IRC loses a bit of it's charm, running the client in a browser. Privately I'm using chat.sr.ht, which is also really good, but with less features than IRCCloud, but I can also easily connect to backend bouncer using irssi. If you're only in one or two channels, Irssi is okay, but when you have a need to be in multiple channels it get a little rough finding good clients.
sho_hn 2y ago
Hi! I used to work on Konversation back in the day. When a KDE app crashes it pops up an error reporting notification or dialog. Did you file a bug via this or do you have the debug info from this dialog saved? Happy to take a look whether I can fix this for you.
anfogoat 2y ago
Funnily enough, the linked page shows The Lounge IRC channel among the ten most populous on Libera. (The Lounge is similar to IRCCloud but self-hosted.) https://github.com/thelounge/thelounge https://github.com/thelounge/thelounge
Svip 2y ago
I use irssi in a screen with a Discord plugin to Bitlbee, so I can connect to Discord using IRC. I'm sure WeeChat or tmux are fine, but I am not reconfiguring my setup again. It's been working for over a decade now.
benoliver999 2y ago
If you are into TUI stuff I can recommend Senpai https://git.sr.ht/~delthas/senpai/ https://git.sr.ht/~delthas/senpai/ - it's pretty much how I like to configure weechat and irrsi etc but out of the box. There's also a new-ish IRC bouncer out there that's a lot simpler than ZNC, soju https://codeberg.org/emersion/soju https://codeberg.org/emersion/soju
- guilherme-puida 2y ago
  I use senpai+soju+gamja and they all work very well together.
  - benoliver999 2y ago
    Yeah it's a ton of quality of life upgrades that stack up to make quite a modern experience on IRC (as modern as possible...)
LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVIrc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVIrc https://github.com/kvirc/KVIrc https://github.com/kvirc/KVIrc https://www.kvirc.net/ https://www.kvirc.net/ ...or anything else, really. But since you're on KDE, and this integrates well, it seems preferrable. I remember a similar experience like yours eons ago. Koversation sucked. KVirc didn't. Can't compare to now, because I won't touch contemporary KDE with a ten foot pole, but KVirc still doesn't suck, whereever I'm running it. OTOH Hexchat doesn't, either. Have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_IRC_clients https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_IRC_clients test 'em, pick one.
kqr 2y ago
I see a lot of recommendations for Irssi and I have to throw in a suggestion to replace Irssi: WeeChat. It can be configured to look and feel very similar to Irssi, but - it uses more sensible defaults, - it is actively maintained, - judging by the list in TFA it has twice the number of users, and - it is built on better practises making extension etc. easier. (That said, if you're not interested in a text-based interface, The Lounge does look really good. But I've never tried myself.)
- pavel_lishin 2y ago
  The last time I used irc, WeeChat was also my client of choice, having also migrated over from irssi.
- pferde 2y ago
  For the record, irssi is still actively maintained and developed, but it is understaffed, and has a lot of technical debt standing in the way of some new features.
- RGamma 2y ago
  Weechat via screen/tmux or bouncer is quite pleasant.
RF_Savage 2y ago
For a desktop client hexchat/xchat works fine, imo.
- TonyTrapp 2y ago
  Important to note that HexChat was discontinued a few months ago though, and it seems like there's no official follow-up project yet (even though several people have forked it to add their own experiments and fixes).
Barrin92 2y ago
I've been using https://github.com/squidowl/halloy https://github.com/squidowl/halloy for a while. simple and very snappy.
- tbeseda 2y ago
  +1 for halloy. Very snappy but it does seem to bog when there is a huge buffer to scroll.

Retr0id 2y ago

I use https://thelounge.chat/ https://thelounge.chat/, it requires self-hosting somewhere, but it gives you a discord-like experience.

sva_ 2y ago
That's pretty neat. But it doesn't seem to work as a bouncer keeping the messages when you're offline? edit: nvm, it does
- mhils 2y ago
  It does. It also optionally supports notifications if someone messages you while you have all tabs closed (using https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Notification https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Notificatio...).
- baumschubser 2y ago
  I think it does. On the start page they state "Always connected. Remain connected to IRC servers while you are offline. Forget about bouncers. Resume where you left off on any device." and in their docs they say "For an optimal experience, The Lounge must be installed on a server that runs 24/7." So I guess you just let that server running and it serves you the client as well as keeping you logged in in IRC.
drdo 2y ago
I've used thelounge for a while but I'm baffled by how slow searching is.
myself248 2y ago
TheLounge is fantastic. I've got it on a pi in the basement on a battery, and I just VPN into home from anywhere. Been running 3-ish years I think. It works surprisingly well from mobile browsers, too.
- HumblyTossed 2y ago
  > I've got it on a pi in the basement on a battery, and I just VPN into home from anywhere. Been running 3-ish years I think. That's a _really_ good battery!
  - universa1 2y ago
    or maybe he just put it on top of the battery? ;-)
  - myself248 2y ago
    Yeah, that's an oversimplification. It's a rack with a bunch of ports to plug in whatever 12-volt batteries aren't currently in use elsewhere. So when I retire one from the car, or a solar experiment, or replace a whole pile of 'em from a UPS and most are kaput but a few are still viable, they all end up on that rack, in parallel. (With fuses and stuff, of course. And I precharge each battery so it closely matches the float voltage before plugging it in.) Presently I think there's like 30-40 amp-hours worth of lead and lithium sitting there, all charged by a little Meanwell RS-25-12 or something. I don't exactly remember, but the photo looks familiar. (25 watts at 12 volts tweaked up to 13.85 volts, so, roughly 2 amps.) That powers the cable modem, wifi router, service pi, and a RIPE ATLAS probe. The first two eat 12-ish volts and have SMPS input stages so they're not picky about the -ish, so they just run directly from the battery rail. The latter two have DC-DC converters feeding them (the venerable MC34063 or something similar). Combined, their draw is just shy of an amp at 12 volts, so the rack with its current fleet of batteries can run several days with no AC input. Realistically if power fails, I usually start the generator after just a few hours, so the batteries never actually drain much. If I can find a good place to mount a solar panel that doesn't annoy the landlord, I might be able to unplug the Mean Well and run it independently indefinitely.
chadsix 2y ago
And you can self host it on your own computer with 1-click [1] [1] https://github.com/ipv6rslimited/cloudseeder https://github.com/ipv6rslimited/cloudseeder

nj5rq 2y ago

I currently use ERC, the GNU Emacs IRC client. Obviously, if you are not using Emacs already, you should not use it, so I recommend irssi. Pretty easy to configure, and with lots of options.

coldpie 2y ago
Irssi was good, but Weechat has completely surpassed it.
- e12e 2y ago
  And it has (had?) a decent slack plugin so you can avoid running slack...

Numerlor 2y ago

I like the UI quassel offers; they also have a server for better integration over znc but I've never tried that

evbogue 2y ago

I suggest irssi with tmux for the authentic experience.

aaronmdjones 2y ago
I'm more of a WeeChat in tmux guy myself.
a-french-anon 2y ago
https://git.causal.agency/catgirl/ https://git.causal.agency/catgirl/ for some suckless credits.
perlgeek 2y ago
The authentic experience is irssi in screen, tmux is quite new in comparison (2015 maybe?)
- throwaway3306a 2y ago
  2007... Not as traditional but still very authentic to many - our whole channel used it back then.
- maxdamantus 2y ago
  I have a self-built binary at ~/bin/tmux-old dated 2012-09-19, so that provides an upper bound of when I switched from screen. (And to this day I'm still using tmux + irssi)
mediumsmart 2y ago
I vote for weechat in vterm in emacs for plausible deniability

jetbalsa 2y ago

I've been using IRCCloud for my IRC since it has very good mobile support and acts like a bouncer as well

mrweasel 2y ago
That's what I've been using for work for a while now. It's is really good, though I feel like IRC loses a bit of it's charm, running the client in a browser. Privately I'm using chat.sr.ht, which is also really good, but with less features than IRCCloud, but I can also easily connect to backend bouncer using irssi. If you're only in one or two channels, Irssi is okay, but when you have a need to be in multiple channels it get a little rough finding good clients.

sho_hn 2y ago

Hi! I used to work on Konversation back in the day. When a KDE app crashes it pops up an error reporting notification or dialog. Did you file a bug via this or do you have the debug info from this dialog saved? Happy to take a look whether I can fix this for you.

anfogoat 2y ago

Funnily enough, the linked page shows The Lounge IRC channel among the ten most populous on Libera. (The Lounge is similar to IRCCloud but self-hosted.) https://github.com/thelounge/thelounge https://github.com/thelounge/thelounge

Svip 2y ago

I use irssi in a screen with a Discord plugin to Bitlbee, so I can connect to Discord using IRC. I'm sure WeeChat or tmux are fine, but I am not reconfiguring my setup again. It's been working for over a decade now.

benoliver999 2y ago

If you are into TUI stuff I can recommend Senpai https://git.sr.ht/~delthas/senpai/ https://git.sr.ht/~delthas/senpai/ - it's pretty much how I like to configure weechat and irrsi etc but out of the box. There's also a new-ish IRC bouncer out there that's a lot simpler than ZNC, soju https://codeberg.org/emersion/soju https://codeberg.org/emersion/soju

guilherme-puida 2y ago
I use senpai+soju+gamja and they all work very well together.
- benoliver999 2y ago
  Yeah it's a ton of quality of life upgrades that stack up to make quite a modern experience on IRC (as modern as possible...)

LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVIrc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVIrc https://github.com/kvirc/KVIrc https://github.com/kvirc/KVIrc https://www.kvirc.net/ https://www.kvirc.net/ ...or anything else, really. But since you're on KDE, and this integrates well, it seems preferrable. I remember a similar experience like yours eons ago. Koversation sucked. KVirc didn't. Can't compare to now, because I won't touch contemporary KDE with a ten foot pole, but KVirc still doesn't suck, whereever I'm running it. OTOH Hexchat doesn't, either. Have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_IRC_clients https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_IRC_clients test 'em, pick one.

kqr 2y ago

I see a lot of recommendations for Irssi and I have to throw in a suggestion to replace Irssi: WeeChat. It can be configured to look and feel very similar to Irssi, but - it uses more sensible defaults, - it is actively maintained, - judging by the list in TFA it has twice the number of users, and - it is built on better practises making extension etc. easier. (That said, if you're not interested in a text-based interface, The Lounge does look really good. But I've never tried myself.)

pavel_lishin 2y ago
The last time I used irc, WeeChat was also my client of choice, having also migrated over from irssi.
pferde 2y ago
For the record, irssi is still actively maintained and developed, but it is understaffed, and has a lot of technical debt standing in the way of some new features.
RGamma 2y ago
Weechat via screen/tmux or bouncer is quite pleasant.

RF_Savage 2y ago

For a desktop client hexchat/xchat works fine, imo.

TonyTrapp 2y ago
Important to note that HexChat was discontinued a few months ago though, and it seems like there's no official follow-up project yet (even though several people have forked it to add their own experiments and fixes).

Barrin92 2y ago

I've been using https://github.com/squidowl/halloy https://github.com/squidowl/halloy for a while. simple and very snappy.

tbeseda 2y ago
+1 for halloy. Very snappy but it does seem to bog when there is a huge buffer to scroll.