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People still use IRC. You can't run your own server and talk to people on other servers without a load of work, you cannot do any kind of encryption, file trans
by jeroenhd 3mo ago
People still use IRC. You can't run your own server and talk to people on other servers without a load of work, you cannot do any kind of encryption, file transfers (images?) are a privacy nightmare if they work at all, web clients need a proxy. Authentication doesn't really exist. Messages disappear if you disconnect and reconnect unless you set up an additional server that will make it seem like you're always connected.
The protocol was written for a different age. If you're going with old-and-proven tech, XMPP is a much better jumping-off point than IRC. Everything that made it simple and easy to use back in the day, makes it hard to use in a modern setting.
- pitchlatte 3mo agoXMPP, then. it’s the continually inventing new protocols (insert XKCD comic) that i’m protesting against.
- jeroenhd 3mo agoYou can't build a modern messenger equivalent on IRC. You need a new protocol. "New" is relative of course, XMPP is 27 years old. Still, XMPP lacks official support for something as basic as "I want to log in on a new device and see the old, encrypted messages that are on my other devices". IRC itself is a reinvention of `talk` and BBSware. For as long as there will be new use cases, there will be new protocols.