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Communications Programming IT Technology

IRC as a World-Changing Medium 236

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the tell-mom-you-are-changing-the-world dept.
khaladan writes "Wired has an interesting article titled Chat Room That Built the World that talks about the power of developers helping each other on IRC. The article covers the case of #winprog on EFnet, where people such Justin Frankel (creator of Winamp), John Johansen (DVD Jon), and Shawn Fanning (of Napster fame) have come to chat, hang out, and get help. Many from Microsoft visit the channel as well. Ben Knauss calls it 'innovation in its purest form, without ego, money or fame as its goal.'"
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IRC as a World-Changing Medium

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  • well, I doubt it will be like that anymore (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cwtrex ( 912286 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:34AM (#13931098) Journal
    I find that part of an IRC channel's culture is the people that attend it. Now that the channel has been advertised, do you think those people will continue to show up? More importantly do you think the quality of help will maintain? I believe that now it has been advertised, the quality of programming help will now decline. *crosses fingers hoping that isn't true*
    • Honestly, the people who you are worried about are likely to see this article and go visit the room for a day or two and then forget about it. So for the next few days it might not live up to the expectations portrayed, but give it a week o rso and I bet it will be back to normal.

    • Re:well, I doubt it will be like that anymore (Score:5, Insightful)

      by equex256 ( 927355 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:55AM (#13931176)

      problem is, most irc channels these days are full of kids that demand attention and instant help, as well as ops and regulars with overgrown egos and a distaste for even helping people who came to the channel after much research on their questions.

      this combination renders channels with a bad atmosphere and they end up wih a lot of idlers, and well aquinted regulars helping only each other. i find myself reading official documentation and using web forums. efnet as a programming institution is dead.

      i used to hang in #winprog (huhuhuUHUHUHuhuhUHU) as well as other programming channels on efnet. even if #winprog got on /. now, its been dead along with most other once-helpful chat channels for a time .

      • its been dead along with most other once-helpful chat channels for a time

        I've seen the dreaded Eternal September effect too, both on IRC and Usenet. There are still high quality channels on IRC, but they are usually invite only so unless you are already part of the community they can be hard to gain access to.
        • "I've seen the dreaded Eternal September effect too..."

          What is the dreaded eternal September effect?

          • Re:well, I doubt it will be like that anymore (Score:4, Informative)

            by mduell ( 72367 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @11:06AM (#13932673)
            September that never ended

                    All time since September 1993. One of the seasonal rhythms of the Usenet used to be the annual September influx of clueless newbies who, lacking any sense of netiquette, made a general nuisance of themselves. This coincided with people starting college, getting their first internet accounts, and plunging in without bothering to learn what was acceptable. These relatively small drafts of newbies could be assimilated within a few months. But in September 1993, AOL users became able to post to Usenet, nearly overwhelming the old-timers' capacity to acculturate them; to those who nostalgically recall the period before, this triggered an inexorable decline in the quality of discussions on newsgroups. Syn. eternal September.

            From the Jargon File

      • A large portion of everything sucks. :p

        That includes IRC. There are a lot of horrible, horrible IRC channels. There are also a few great IRC channels.

        The other day, I needed to figure out how to draw the smallest possible polygon that would contain several points (not homework -- massaging GPS data). So I went to a very good channel I knew about and asked. Turned out to be a "convex hull" problem, and that gave me enough information to google for a lib, sample code, and even a binary.

        World-cha

      • I've spent a good portion of the last couple of months working on an open source game, and the people who wrote the underlying library (ClanLib [clanlib.org]) have been extremely helpful in IRC. It's just a matter of finding the right channel.
      • problem is, most irc channels these days are full of kids that demand attention and instant help, as well as ops and regulars with overgrown egos and a distaste for even helping people who came to the channel after much research on their questions.
        yeah i'm an op in the main irc channel about a reasonablly well known windows ircd and we do try to help but it gets fucking annoying the sheer number of people who don't understand the basics of tcp/ip networking or configuring thier nat routers to port forward

      • Re:well, I doubt it will be like that anymore (Score:5, Funny)

        by Neph ( 5010 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @11:36AM (#13932956) Homepage
        What could possibly be more appropriate to illustrate this point than a bash quote from that very channel?

        http://bash.org/?2121 [bash.org]

        *** atnnn (atnnn@hv-hs-37-38.aei.ca) has joined #winprog
        <atnnn> hi
        <atnnn> what is the code for "+" on WM_KEYDOWN
        <Wy4tt> VK_RTM
        <atnnn> and minus?
        <Wy4tt> VK_RTFM
        <atnnn> i can't find it

      • speak for yourself - I find IRC immensely helpful, but you do bring up a valid point - use other mediums first.

        I usually try google and if that fails, I'll move on to IRC (though I tend to use freenode over efnet). #opengl, #macdev, #winprog, and #linux have all helped with questions I've had (yeah, I'm a jack-of-all trades developer, and true to form, master of none - though I can port quite well). The key I've found is asking a sensible question and not one that can be found by a simple search. Somethi
    • Now that it's been adverstised, expect an invasion of people with nicknames like IRuLeZ and 3liT3z, all of them in the age range 5 - 14 *sigh*
    • STOP JOINING THE FUCKING CHANNEL.
      It's enought that website get slashdotted, but lets leave the poor chan out of this, its getting impossible to talk:

      If you havn't been there before today: Leave it till tomorrow, hey!
    • Believe me, the quality of the programming help was never good. I've never met such a bunch of bastards in my whole life, all they ever did was flame anyone who came into the channel. I'm not really sure why they now seem to have got so famous all of a sudden.

    • Have you ever been to #linux on the undernet ? As a linux youngling back in the '90s using Redhat 5.0 on a Matrox Video card I was shuned, kicked, banned, slapped, put down. If i'm not mistaken the proper way to address a #linux op was to cower on the floor postrated, then back whispering, adoring them and showering them with compliments. But you dare not ask a question ohhh no ....

  • Just imagine! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jmcmunn ( 307798 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:37AM (#13931106)

    Imagine what John Johansen (and the others) could have done if they weren't "wasting time" chatting all day long!

    I'm not sure this would be much more effective than the countless forums out there dedicated to coding, but can honestly say I have never been in a coding chat room...anyone have a preference when it comes to finding help coding online?
    • Imagine what John Johansen (and the others) could have done if they weren't "wasting time" chatting all day long!

      Yes. If not for IRC all three of them would have become good consu^H^H^H^Hitizens and contributed to society, rather than encouraging theft on a massive scale. Clearly these channels should be shut down to protect us from this kind of online terrorism.

      -- Concerned Parents' League, not affiliated in any way to RIAA, honest.

    • Huhu (Score:2)

      by js3 ( 319268 )
      yea back in the day winprog was a good channel, I remember when justin was working on winamp and kept posting these strange questions about skins and stuff, it seemed like a silly little pet project at the time, until he sold out to AOL for big bucks. He used to drop by everyonce in a while after that. Shawn.. I remember when shawn came on asking about how to code a network app to share music and was laughed out of there. It seemed ridicilous, this guy couldn't even code! He sure showed us. DVD jon disappea

  • What would I do without IRC...? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Xshare ( 762241 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:38AM (#13931113) Homepage
    Well... aside from the obvious joke answer, I wouldn't have finished nearly as many projects as I have, spent much more time watching TV, and generally not worked as much as I have without IRC. Sure, I guess that makes me a nerd, but honestly, the type of community you can find on *certain* IRC channels (I'm hoping you know the type I'm talking about, I don't mean all the crappy warez channels and random chat channels) is about as helpful as anything else out there. I can almost always find my answer, regarding almost anything.
  • I believe that what is said here USED to be true. IRC was a great medium for exploring hobbies, and computing just happened to be one at some point in time. That is no longer true, and computing is not a hobby it is as necessary simply to function in the modern day world...

    Now, if you go into any particular IRC room... even a "tech" room... the noise level dwarfs the signal... go to #perl and you overhear people speaking of their cute little cat, go to #linux and everyone is asking how to re-install wind
    • I don't know where this article comes from but even in the late 90s [e.g. 97 and on] IRC was laregely bunk. The "best" rooms were always invite only private rooms. The rest were full of dialup junkies trying to get warez or bots annoying the fuck out of others.

      You can still have software development as a hobby though you are right that depending on the project you have to use some capitalism judgement here and there [e.g. I make a living by doing commercial support for my public domain software].

      The spiri

    • "Now, if you go into any particular IRC room... even a "tech" room... the noise level dwarfs the signal..."

      Sorry, but you just need to know where to go. And no, I'm not mentioning any channels on slashdot.

      Somewhat offtopic, I recently discovered the song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by a band called Green Day. It's not great or anything, but the title and some lyrics are strangely funny and appropriate. People who get the unintentional (?) joke may want to listen to it :-)

    • DISAGREE!

      Maybe in the larger none specific channels, but the ones I've visited reciently for support for some OSS have been first class.

      I had a problem reciently with the subversion server at work running out of random entropy (tho I didn't know this was the problem - just showed itself as people being unable to auth). The guys over at the subversion channel on Freenode helped me locate the problem (dodgy ebuild script for apr in Gentoo), and gave me a posible solution. (saved my neck that day, I ha
    • Now, if you go into any particular IRC room... even a "tech" room... the noise level dwarfs the signal...

      Or, as they always have, the people who want to have a high-signal conversation go somewhere quiet. I have little experience with the broader IRC, mostly for the reasons you cite. But for the past five or so years I've been active on a private network of technical people and the like, many of whom know each other in real life. There are no ops, no spam, and very little noise. Ask any question and so

  • This all well and good... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:43AM (#13931133)
    ...but how do I get ops?

  • What's the big deal with IRC? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by putko ( 753330 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:48AM (#13931148) Homepage Journal
    I thought all the power-ninjas just use netnews (nntp), not chat.

    Unix has "talk" -- but that was always pretty lame, right?

    I find chatrooms (like talk) to be a real waste of time -- the signal to noise ratio is very low. It takes a very long time to transfer any signifigant technical info.

    • Very frequent mistake. (Score:2)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Confusing signalto noise with relevance.

      Technical thinking can be a liability at times.

      Just picture someone mining: hours and hours of tiresome digging until a giant nugget comes up.

      This is _one_ of the reasons I favour anonymous posting.

      Many good comments are lost because they get a zero rating and are not read. Sometimes some jerk even qualifies an important remark as offtopic which makes me even need to browse at negative levels.

      I miss the earlier Slashdot days without karma when you made a joke and peop
    • I find chatrooms (like talk) to be a real waste of time -- the signal to noise ratio is very low. It takes a very long time to transfer any signifigant technical info.

      Not when the channel is organized, and the members know what their doing. You could easily +m the channel, let the person paste their code, and then let the +v's talk about it. Once that problem is solved, -m and let everyone have a say. Of course, this is only required if there is a lot of noise in the channel. Next person has a proble

  • A different way... (Score:4, Informative)

    by davecrusoe ( 861547 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:48AM (#13931150) Homepage
    I would have thought that the "world changing medium" would be that IRC services chat rooms both directly and indirectly (through its protocol), game servers (Tiberian Sun, etc. are now played through an IRC derivative), and plays host to countless other apps.

    So yep, it's a world changing medium, but man, the world its changed is so, so much larger than a single chat room.

    And oh -- it's probably landed some 1337 k1dz in jail. So it's changed their world, too.

  • Without ego? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Jouser ( 243992 )
    Many from Microsoft visit the channel as well. Ben Knauss calls it 'innovation in its purest form, without ego, money or fame as its goal.'"

    I think IRC is worse than ever. More and more jerks! People are so arrogant and far from being without ego. I think you need to be pretty well advanced in your skill-set in order to use IRC properly. Newbies be warned: you'll just be flamed on IRC if you ask for help.
    • I think IRC is worse than ever. More and more jerks! People are so arrogant and far from being without ego. I think you need to be pretty well advanced in your skill-set in order to use IRC properly. Newbies be warned: you'll just be flamed on IRC if you ask for help.

      The wonderful thing about IRC is that there are many networks out there, and many of the smaller ones have operators that are actually interested in helping you. I operate one, and I can tell you that we don't turn newbies away, nor will we tel
    • It really depends on:
      1. What the channel is (a eg on freenode -dev channel isn't the best place to ask newbie questions, #gimp isn't a good place to ask any questions, #python tends to be very forgiving of newbies, etc) and where it is
      2. The people on that channel (duh!)
      3. To an extent the topic you're interested in, since that seems to affect (1) and (2) rather strongly
      4. Your attitude and approach when asking for help
      5. How much effort you've put into finding out for yourself first
      6. How you respo
    • Forums, IRC, and online chatting in general are much like BBS'ing that preceded them. They are a collection of people. Yes, generally they are people of common interests but they are of differing personalities. Just as you have lamer noobs who come in an say, "My Linux is broken, what's wrong?" you have l33ts who say, "RTFM! I'm busy coding a script that will end world hunger!" In the middle, and where most people sit, there are folks who are willing to give details of their issue so they can get help and t
  • .....let's also not forget the massive Xchange of pr0n going on...

  • Woah (Score:5, Funny)

    by fussili ( 720463 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:49AM (#13931155)
    I can see it now:

    <SFanning> Hey.. I'm having a little trouble with these APIs.. Any of you guys willing to lend a hand?
    <wind00d33> slaps <napster> across the face with a large trout
    <haxxorman> slaps <napster> across the face with a large trout
    <carlie79> Heh.. Guys.. I'm so high right now...
    <Mj> So about my penis...
    <-- SFanning has quit (screw this...)

    • Re:Woah (Score:2, Funny)

      by Tim Browse ( 9263 )
      <SFanning> afk - lawsuit
  • Chat rooms cannot "build the world" without the http. Why hasn't this news been published on IRC? Because IRC cannot "build the world". The same argument can be used like "the messenger that built the world": the X developer talked with Y developer over (insert IM program here). Therefore that built the world. The people on that channel could have done a mailing list all the same. There is still need for HTTP to make it known..
    • Sure there is, but http is not real-time-multi-user-interactive. IRC fills that niche. IM fills the real-time-two-users-interactive, http forums and wikis the non-real-time-multi-user-interactive, email fills the non-real-time-two-users-non-interactive, mailing-lists or nntp fill the non-real-time-multi-user-non-interactive niche, ...

      You can not build everything just on one of those, you always need most of them at the same time to be efficient.
    • Yes.. the article is wrong on a technicality.. because it states "build the world" instead of "vitally important to the development of much software".. So, because it uses some sensationalist exaggeration to boost interest, HTTP is more deserving of that title..

      But then again.. http was made possible by computers - so computers built the world! Oh wait.. computers were made by man - so man built the world! oh wait.. man was evolved from monkeys.. so monkeys built the world! and then skip a few steps..

      the wo

  • We use irc at work (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Kalroth ( 696782 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:53AM (#13931167)
    At work we've got a semi-private irc channel where the majority of the developers and lead developers hang out.
    It's a simple way of communication and it excels in situations where not all people are in-house, especially in situations where I want to paste 12 lines of code/xml/etc. to a colleague and ask him if it'd work against his interface/service/etc.

    Just as long as people remember that it's a second form of communication, nothing can beat actually being physically present :)
    • So do we - we are an ISP that links up with 4 other ISPs, and together we have a fairly large regional network. All the tech guys hang out on an internal IRC server for easy communication. I just have a CTCP PAGE make my sound card buzz if someone needs to get my attention. It's nice for pasting configs, explaining commands, etc
    • yeah, that's all...

      We have been using IRC at my recommendation for many years now - quite successfully. To an extent where at one of the previous Siggraphs some of the reporters were almost more interested in our doing our communications that way than in our actual product! (oops)

      It's used for internal communications, communications with betatesters, support guys, etc. We're all over the globe, so in-person meetings are just unfeasible.
      It's also used for our clients as a live support medium - over any thir

  • irc w/out ego (Score:3, Insightful)

    by kubla2000 ( 218039 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:56AM (#13931186) Homepage
    irc w/out ego??? hahahahaha.
    • irc w/out ego??? hahahahaha.

      That was my first reaction as well. Clearly this was article was written by someone who has never, ever used IRC.

      Even helpful people on the net are often that way just to get the gratification of being an 'expert'. I should know...

  • IRC is nowadays usually blocked in the corporate firewalls since it's often used to control bot armies. At the same time it's one of the most usefull resources for quick help. It's often a good way to get directly in touch with developers of the f/oss software your using.

    What will they think of blocking next ? mailing lists ?

  • I read the title wrong (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    M0r3 leik a werd ch4ng1ng meidum!

  • IRC has its merits (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @07:59AM (#13931198)
    IRC, as far as I am concerned from having spent many a year on them helping others & learning as well, is a good place to learn & share ideas on things technical regarding computers imo!

    In fact, I spent a good portion of the mid to late 1990's there modding/adminning one on Dalnet in #Windows95 (a Win32 OS tech help channel that K. Mardem Bey endorsed as that network's "official Win32 OS help channel" or something like that, as its title & standing on that network).

    It was a good crew there initially, but like all things, nothing lasts forever - that channel no longer holds that designation for that IRC network afaik, but when it did it was a great place to go for tech help & just making friends with common interests.

    What did I get out of that experience?

    Well, MOSTLY, I personally learned a great deal on how Tcp/IP works, and that was because the #Linux channel would start "hack fights" with us weekly, w/out fail...

    Programming wasn't a "big topic" there, & I think I may have been only 1 of 2-3 coders that went there to THAT particular channel, so it wasn't something of note being discussed there a great deal.

    That end of things I learned on my own more & more as time passed, in coding.

    However, that channel was LOADED with network administrators & network security & forensics personell, & I took advantage of it, & learned from and WITH them, regularly.

    IRC helped me "round out" my skills in computers as far as I am concerned.

    IMO, a computer person today cannot just "be a coder" or "be a network administrator/tech/engineer" but, has to be most ALL of those things... yes, a "return to yesteryear/the old days" when the computer guy @ any particular shop wasn't a specialist in some particular area, but a jack-of-all-trades.

    You have to understand (to a decent degree @ least) most ALL of the particulars in computing today, in order to function & contribute as well as be marketeable in this field.

    The attacks by the #Linux channel I mention (mainly each time a new Win32 OS vulnerability turned up & they would exploit them) earlier on?

    That, in turn, taught me to start looking for various ways to seal off & secure Windows NT-based OS!

    That research on my end resulted in this article I put up for others for years to use in how to do so as well, securing their Windows NT-based (NT/2000/XP/Server 2003):

    http://www.avatar.demon.nl/APK.html [demon.nl]

    It works, enjoy the read... much of it came from researches based on being attacked on IRC, so good did come out of "the bad"...

    Anyhow - So, some good comes out of the bad (being attacked by the #Linux folks regularly & it was bad, one time resulting in my system actually being compromised - but, the guy who did it was nice enough to point out HOW he did it to me).

    I learned much as did my colleagues @ that channel over the years we spent there sharing our knowledge with one another.

    IRC is good stuff (or, used to be @ least), as a whole, & is a far faster medium than say, forums boards like this or email, mainly imo because it's in "realtime", & instantaneous information exchange, no waiting @ all (provided the folks you want to talk with are present that is).

    The only thing that bugs me nowadays about it is the dangers present on it, & they are there and real, so watch out what you get from others there via DCC transfers is all I can say!

    (DCC's typically not something to trust out there, & a vector for 'infectors' that is typically utilized, so watch what you get offered there... it could be a trojan horse, is all I can say).

    APK

  • It's so 80s (Score:3, Interesting)

    by LaughingCoder ( 914424 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @08:06AM (#13931227)
    I've used IRC in the past and I thought it was pretty good for what (and when) it was. However, it could have used some serious usability improvements. I found that, if you "lived" in IRC you got accustomed to its quirks, but if you used it intermittently there were startup pains each time as you got re-acquinted with its idiosyncracies. Now admittedly it's been awhile since I used it, but from what I recall it was: text based only, used this bizarre "so-and-so wants to chat with you" popup if they were sending you a file, had a built-in server list that kept getting out of date, and was very hostile to newbies. What would be cool is if something more usable like AIM (the horror!) could emerge. Maybe to get a screen name you would register your areas of expertise (C++, Image Processing, whatever) and then you might even have to answer a few quiz questions. That might keep out the riff-raff. Just a thought.

    • Re:It's so 80s (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Taladar ( 717494 )
      Half of the things you describe are client-specific (you probably used mirc which could really use some improvements), the other half is too tech-help-channel specific to be built into IRC itself. It would probably be better to implement something like that as a Service (a la Chanserv or Nickserv) on top of IRC.
    • Now admittedly it's been awhile since I used it, but from what I recall it was: text based only

      Exactly as it should be. What do you expect, a 3D environment like some sort of MMORPG?

      used this bizarre "so-and-so wants to chat with you" popup if they were sending you a file

      That sort of thing would depend on what client you were using, I imagine.

      had a built-in server list that kept getting out of date

      Well, people do move their servers. The main services will stay put, though.

      and was very hostile

  • Even the warez channels suck (assuming you can find something to download, you end up in a queue with about 5000 other people). At least with p2p, you can just leave it running and it will download eventually.
    Plus with p2p, you can pause it (and shut down the PC, reboot, close the program, whatever) and come back later and it will continue where you left off.

    Oh and does anyone know of an IRC client for windows that is open source and which has good DCC functionality including DCC resume?

  • #WinProg (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ilitirit ( 873234 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @08:32AM (#13931361)
    I remember using #WinProg a few years ago when I started learning Win32. Sure enough, it was a helpful resource, but at the time the regulars (not all though) were some of the most arrogant, egotistical (and in many cases, unhelpful) people I had ever come across.

    Typical conversations:
    [ilitirit] how do i check the class styles for a certain FOOBAR?
    [winprogger] learn to use Spy++, n00b
    [ilitirit] ok, where do i can get Spy++?
    [winprogger] AARGH!!! are you stupid or something? it's PART OF VS 98!!!
    [ilitirit] i'm using Borland's commandline compiler.
    [winprogger] ....

    [ilitirit] how do i create window without a titlebar?
    [winprogger] how do not run into tree and smash your nose?
    [ilitirit] ????
    [winprogger] YOU JUST DON'T DO IT!!! don't specify that it should have one!! sheesh. is everyone suddenly getting dumber or something?
    [ilitirit] erm... i don't think you can do that
    [winprogger] lol
    [winprogger] ...
    [winprogger] ok

    not too mention the countless "IT'S IN THE DAMN TUTORIAL FFS!!!" responses...

  • Class Distinction (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I've found that useful channels are few and far between. There are genuinely helpful people out there willing to assist you in a manner that no documentation could hope of. Yet, most tech channels I've visited are generally geared towards seasoned developers who wish to speak of new or old ground broken or some strange thing they've encountered. If you're not a seasoned developer, your question is likely to get a simple, thoughtless answer or a "rtfm." So, I feel there's been a shift in attitude from the ol

  • Without Ego??? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by EddyPearson ( 901263 )
    What do u mean "without ego" IRC is the most egocentric protocol on the net ;) Its all a bunch of geeks hanging out on chan with names like #null0r and #l33tkr3w trying to impress people who they don't know on the other side of the world, by tring to out-geek them in certain aspects, all the time ever chasing that elisive @ sign!

  • and it was a great place to score chicks (Score:3, Funny)

    by solfood ( 732657 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @08:37AM (#13931399)
    I "met" my wife on irc in 1993. It wasn't totally nerdy though because we were both on #drugs.

  • ...innovation in its purest form, without ego, money or fame as its goal.

    As anyone who has ever had to deal with 13 year old script kiddies sucking their way up to 499 ops status can vouch for, this isn't entirely true ;)

  • Every online community has problems, whether it be mailing lsts, forums, IRX, IM — the anonymity of the web leads to reflects humanity in its rawest form. That said, I've found IRC to be immesely useful, so long as I go to the right servers and channels. I don't spend all day on IRC, but I pop in now and then, when I have time to answer questions or when I've got a quetion of my own. I usually don't try IRC until I've Goggled for a solution. The best network is irc.freenode.net; I find efnet and oth

  • *Ahem* (Score:3, Insightful)

    by DNS-and-BIND ( 461968 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @09:00AM (#13931510) Homepage
    IRC does not have "chat rooms". AOL has chat rooms. IRC has channels.

  • IRC Is Powerful (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fire-eyes ( 522894 ) on Wednesday November 02, 2005 @09:01AM (#13931519) Homepage
    IRC certainly is a powerful communications medium. I first talked to a woman, who i later lived with for 3 years as my girlfriend, on IRC. She is the most important person in my life, though we are not currently together.

    This weekend, I am leaving to visit the Netherlands for a job opportunity. How did this happen? By mentioning I was looking for a job, while I was on IRC. Someone I had talked to for years knew his employer was looking for someone like me, and the rest is history.

    No doubt about it, IRC has changed my life in major ways.
  • There seem to be many posts claiming IRC is dead and useless. So what are the next mediums that will power technology for another 10 or 20 years? I see some references to google and yahoo, usenet, and web boards, what else? Where are nerds hanging out now? Wait, don't post it here, it will become instantly useless... :-)
  • ...IRC will always be thought of as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy".
  • Any time I start to believe in the goodness of humanity I just type /list into IRC. That always clears it right up.

  • IRC is great (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The people who are complaining about it here can only be people that never really put an effort into it.

    Like every online community, it takes a while for you to get used to its particular culture, the habits of its users, etc. Not to mention each channel (channels, not chatrooms, please) may have its own subculture. Once you manage to get through that, IRC has potential to be a great experience. Real time chat without the limitations of IM.

    What's different in IRC is that it's quite old; some channels have b
  • I quit my job a couple of weeks ago to try my hand at full-time Rails [rubyonrails.com] development (I was stuck in corporate ASP/SQL Server land for too long, with a nagging love for OS X...). I have found that #rubyonrails on freenet is "OK" for the most part, and I've already been able to help others on it as I slowly assimilate all of Ruby and Rails. I found an awesome chat client called Colloquy [colloquy.info] and I'm pretty much always on the channel lately.
  • IRC is _ALL_ about ego!
  • I remember going into the channel with nothing but a curiosity towards programming l33t apps in windows, and being drop kicked out the door so fast my bits got disoriented. You can't ask any simple questions like "How do I program MFC?" or "Can someone correct all my API calls?" without someone losing their cool. Meanies.


  • Ben Knauss calls it 'innovation in its purest form, without ego, money or fame as its goal.'

    Hey, wow, that sounds really neat! I could of sworn I've heard about something else like this before, though. I think it was called "open sores" or something like that. Some kid from Bork-a-Bisk-a-Bork land was working on some game called "Lunix", only he not only used IRC but this thing call Ooozenet, I think. Wonder if these #winprog guys have ever heard about any of that?

    (To the sarcastically impaired, no I

  • ... my signature is on topic. It's an ultra-customizable IRC client, it's open source (although WeArab Chat refuses to release source code for their changes, in flagrant violation of the GPL), and it'll run under WINE.
  • I have often used IRC as my brain substitute. You'll always find someone there to answer your questions on just about everything.

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