Meh, a binary protocol would've been more efficient in every way, I don't think they really prioritized efficiency. It would've also been simpler for implemente

Meh, a binary protocol would've been more efficient in every way, I don't think they really prioritized efficiency. It would've also been simpler for implementers, but there was a time when people thought text-based protocols were good for some reason. They're usually not, and getting the supposed "benefit" of the protocol being human-readable at a glance is trivial to do by just having a code path that turns the binary one into a human-readable one, in whatever shape you want, so you don't have to make your base protocol shitty just because you want human-readability. Complaining about IRC in 2024 is bleh, by the way. The protocol is what it is, you've had a long time to get over it and if you were late to the party you need to realize that yes, there are tons of old protocols that are pretty badly designed, welcome to the world. IRC as a way of public chatting (and maybe even more so running a closed chat) is still somehow among the best we have and personally I'd prefer it if Slack, Microsoft Teams and Discord died completely for "Hey, we've set up a place to talk about this work/event/hobby thing!".