this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2024
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Is there something good to replace it?
It doesn't need a replacement. IRC is amazing the way it is, and Hexchat is a perfect example of "a finished product".
I agree as far as the feature set is concerned, but software unfortunately doesn't exist in a vacuum.
A vulnerability could be discovered that needs a fix.
The operating system could change in such a way that eventually leads to the software not functioning on later versions.
The encryption algorithms supported by the server could be updated, rendering the client unable to connect.
It might be a really long time before any of that happens, but without a maintainer, that could be the end.
That can be true for self-contained command line tools, but not for complex programs with actively development dependencies (especially anything dealing with networking or encryption). For example hexchat uses GTK2 which is likely to be removed from mainstream distro repos in the coming years because it has been obsolete for a long time. Also openssl which is known to change its API occasionally which means that anything that uses it needs to be updated to stay compatible.
This. Sometimes a software is just finished. IRC itself has not seen change in like... about all the time I remember.
@venia_sil @SomeBoyo @amaki @OsrsNeedsF2P
Is it different with XMPP?
Adoption relatively low but still in active development?
Maybe Matrix is the way forward.
I hope so, but the protocol seems to be complex by several order of magnitude.
I'm not familiar with either protocol - what is it that makes IRC so simple and Matrix complicated?
a lot of the complexity in matrix comes from it trying to make a robust platform where users on each server don't have to worry the other servers, beyond the ability to reach users on those servers.
Basically the way it works is that each server keeps a copy of all the important data in a channel/room, so that no matter which or how many other servers become unreachable, local users are unaffected beyond being unable to reach the users on those servers.
It's really nice and IMO absolutely worth the complexity, and it's not like most devs really have to worry about this as they can simply use a library to handle the details.
And as for clients, that remains pretty trivial to implement a basic shitty one like what most people's first experience is with IRC..
Weechat is the only other irc client I recommend
How are it's xdcc capabilities?
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