@clacke Yes. That isn't only true of #Discord, by the way. I used to see projects nearly devoid of documentation, but they'd push you to #IRC. And same for #Matrix or #XMPP MUCs.
I use IRC, but if I need info (a config setting, the setup process, etc) some questions recur and should be documented so they don't clog up the channel. Others occur so rarely that only one or two people know a fix. Those especially need to go into the documentation. Not just because of "truck factor", but because even those people can forget if there is a long enough time between the question recurring.
I don't recall there being a search feature, but even if there were, posts don't get their own addressable URIs, so it isn't possible to link that answer as a reference in a public Q&A/FAQ.
So it has almost all the negatives of #IRC, but with a central corporate operator that is incentivized to block external solutions to those negatives. At least with IRC, there are externally operated bouncers and loggers that help solve many of its issues.
@aab Good to see that @gijs is getting connected. I used to add people I had seen in the #IRC channel (and the connected #XMPP MUC) as contacts, to help extend the network. I should probably get back to that.
(It helps if I spell people's usernames correctly.)
@aab Good to see that @gis@post.hillenius.net is getting connected. I used to add people I had seen in the #IRC channel (and the connected #XMPP MUC) as contacts, to help extend the network. I should probably get back to that.
A #VPN provider that I used shut down without much notice (in fact, the only way I found out was that I visited their site months later, trying to figure out why I hadn't been able to connect).
The #hotel I was using had a local provider that blocked #Fediverse instances (including Mastodon.Social), #Diaspora, #XMPP, #IRC, and a certain mail provider that I still use. They did not block: #Facebook, #Twitter, #GMail, or Outlook / #Hotmail
Because I couldn't connect to the VPN, I discovered how many perfectly normal sites were blocked because they weren't on the top 100 list. I went downstairs and informed the front desk that I would be leaving their establishment because of their blocking.
I received a phone call from their networking vendor, who logged into their router and proxy and turned off filtering on a list of about 25 sites they'd blocked.
But the point is, the hotel and its provider cannot be trusted not to fsck with your data. Always use a VPN.
It seems that #Freenode registered Libera dot net in order to trick people into using their #IRC network instead of #Libera.Chat's network.
Such scumbags. If you're still using Freenode, what are you waiting for? About the only thing they haven't done yet is publicly expose the identities of IRC users.
> Any limitation of range of civil discussion on a topic annoys me. It's information suppression. Fascism pretending to have manners
Not wanting to join the conversation, but anyone that has a spouse knows there are some things you cannot say if you want to continue having a good relationship (or perhaps having any relationship at all). The exception is when one party bullies and controls the other party so thoroughly that they fear not that the other party will escape, ending the relationship.
I'm no longer there ( #Freenode ), having moved to the #LiberaChat, #OFTC, and #Rizon #IRC networks. Thus, I do not know whether the rumored "coronavirus is a hoax" / "vaccines kill" and racism is a major part of Freenode's remaining membership.
channels -- over 20K ... Why would someone let their channel remain there, given recent history?
servers over 20 ... if I was an organization sponsoring a server, I would talk to OFTC, LiberaChat, Rizon, and maybe a couple of other major #IRC networks to decide which network to move the sponsorship to.
#FSF and #GNU #IRC channels to leave #Freenode. It was supposed to be an orderly transition with officially sponsored channels to be replaced with unofficial '##channelname' channels, but Freenode seized those channels suddenly.
Later on, they changed server software without transferring the user & channel databases, so every user and project choosing to remain there had to re-create from scratch.
Pretty overwhelmingly against remaining on #Freenode. Seems pretty scattered on whether to choose #LiberaChat, #OFTC, some other #IRC network, or self-host.
You can move to #LiberaChat, to #OFTC, to #Rizon, etc. Or use #Matrix or an #XMPP MUC instead of IRC. Just don't "wait and see" and be surprised when your channel is targeted.
You can move to #LiberaChat, to #OFTC, to #Rizon, etc. Or use #Matrix or an #XMPP MUC instead of IRC. Just don't "wait and see" and be surprised when your channel is targeted.
Checking, I found this:
* Freenode account: closed.
* OFTC account: still open, but since I had no IRC client installed, no idea what channels / rooms I used to use.
* Rizon account: still open, but no idea what channels / rooms I used to use.
* LiberaChat account: newly created.
I haven't ever really been a fan of IRC. I couldn't stand it at all until I started using #SILC several years back. (I haven't used that in at least 3-4 years. I should take a look at it, again. When I quit using it, the channels I used on the main silcnet.org network were mostly very quiet.)