Internet Relay Chat in 2022

90s social networking

In a bout of nostalgia I got thinking about IRC. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) started three decades ago in 1988, well before messaging services, apps and social networks. A much younger version of myself spent hours on IRC talking to people I’d never meet, learning about the Internet, cyber security, and other life enlightening lessons.

My IRC network

The nostalgia was strong. After poking around a few IRC networks that remain online today I set about creating my own. Running an IRC server was something I’d done often, back in the day, and I was happy to find the setup quick and easy in 2022.

I’d love you to jump on and say hello! Visit the chat web-interface or connect an IRC client to irc.xoo.sh, port 6697 using TLS. I’ll see you there :-)

IRC clients

Perhaps like me, you’re a child of the 90s who still remembers being slapped with a trout? Then you might like to run a desktop client and you’ll be glad to know some old favourites are still in development, some 30 years later! mIRC runs swell on an old Windows computer, and irssi is still going strong in the terminal.

I should mention there are heaps of IRC apps for iOS and Android. I’ll let you find one that works for you.

Your IRC network

I appreciate this nerdy endeavour is in decline so I haven’t gone to the effort to document my setup. However, I’m happy to share the details if you’re interested - just let me know!