Bonum Certa Men Certa

Using Web-based IRC for Your Communities, Projects and Professional/Personal Circles, Using Free/Libre Software at Every Level (From Server to Client)

Video download link | md5sum f74008f7cf1e47ae7c5263f0c19cad82



Kiwi IRC logoSummary: The entry barrier of IRC is extremely low thanks in part to Web-based clients; in this spontaneous video I explain some of the work I did last night, some of the work our sysadmin has been doing lately, and how anybody can leverage IRC to create online communities (or "chatrooms") that are based entirely around Free software and will hopefully (some time soon) be more decentralised, which means less/lowered risk of getting cut off for business reasons, unpopular opinions and so on

IRC is widely misunderstood because of its age. One journalist mocked us some months ago for using IRC -- a shallow ad hominem attack relying on a shallow "appeal to novelty" (like all this "smart" and "clown" stuff). IRC is IRC. It's still evolving (e.g. IRCv3). It's a protocol, not a company or an application. There are many IRC implementations (same for Gemini) and they generally are compatible owing to the protocols, both at the server side and the client side. Think of E-mail for an analogy! IRC has been around for so long because it is robust to disruption (no single point of failure) and geeks can appreciate that. They have a better understanding of why IRC is better. One needn't be a geek to know how to use it. We think that lots of people out there are missing out if they don't adopt IRC; a lot of IRC's rejection boils down to misconception or a lack of awareness. So we intend to do a lot more videos on the subject and emphasise the strengths of IRC. Not just strengths on a technical level but also freedom aspects of IRC. There's nobody controlling the thing! No masters, no slaves. Sure, within a given network there can be a hierarchy, but there are lots of independent networks and many projects/implementations, so no single developer can act like a dictator (in Mastodon they have been having issues to that effect, but Fediverse has other compatible implementations, such as Pleroma).



"...a lot of IRC's rejection boils down to misconception or a lack of awareness."The video above focuses on Kiwi IRC, which unfortunately outsourced the code to Microsoft's prison (GitHub). Kiwi IRC can be installed locally or accessed through a third party (including Kiwi IRC itself) and it can be turned into a widget, accessible in a variety of ways. The level of control over the Web end and the back end is up to the configurator. It's always possible to change as one goes along. I like Kiwi IRC for reasons explained in the video and it is still improving every day (daily commits and bugfixes). I tried several of its counterparts and they're nowhere near as good. Mibbit isn't too bad, but the licence isn't on par (Apache-2.0 licensed for Kiwi IRC and KiwiChat NextClient is licensed GPLv3 or later; it's still active, last commit 28 days ago). I tried a number of alternatives, even at code level, but nothing comes even close to Kiwi IRC. In terms of features and looks (themes are nice, but the functionality is a lot more important than just gloss).

The governments told me to take down that user; The governments told me to take down that channel; The governments told me to take down the whole network; But I control the whole network, so I told them where to go...Suffice to say, many who watch the video already know IRC and many people have already used native (locally installed) IRC clients, so the video does not cover any of that. If the goal is to make IRC more widely accessible to a lot more people, Kiwi IRC isn't a bad way. It can be embedded in one's site, even hosted in one's own server.

When it comes to IRC, so far one main barrier to entry was laziness, e.g. being too lazy to install something (Slack has a Web client). An obstacle being the client/user-end application having to be installed, configured, and generally understood (for the settings to be put in place correctly) can be gradually removed with Web-based interfaces; the client is the browser itself. Yes, widgets make access a lot easier as one needs to supply nothing but a Web address.

To set up channels, no technical knowledge is required either. There are already many open networks -- networks that welcome additional channels. Here's a list of the top 100 IRC networks (by number of online/simultaneous users). Imagine a world where we have millions of channels, spread across thousands/millions of servers with billions of users (who can communicate across networks). It would certainly liberate communications and communities from thought-policing oligopolies. It's definitely something to strive for. It's a technical problem as much as it is a political/policy problem.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Generation Chaff - Phase V: Censorship of Dissent (Painted as Harassment or Terrorism)
Censorship is all around us now
Generation Chaff - Phase IV: Apps Only Few Companies Decide On
Tools are being collectively confiscated, under the premise or false prospect of "security"
Why We Support Richard Stallman and You Probably Should Too
It's not about being "Richard Stallman fan", it is about maintaining the right to hold positions (on technology) like his
Some Large German Media Covers Richard Stallman's Talks in Germany Earlier This Week
LLM-based chatbots are just "bullshit generators" (as he has long called them)
Trouble in Red Hat/IBM and a Retreat to Ponzi Economics in Search of Wall Street Market Heist
Would you invest your life savings in this kind of crap?
Who Asked Software in the Public Interest (SPI) for a Refund? ($100,000, Resulting in Losses of $267,201 in 12 Months, Highest-Ever Losses)
The IRS does not reveal who or what's tied to this refund (or the cause/reason)
 
Coping With the Site Going More Mainstream
Fame is no laughing matter
They Never 'Put Down' Corporations
There are "pests" that are traded in Wall Street
21 Pages in Less Than 7 Hours is No Joking Matter
We've become a lot more effective and efficient
Correct Information is a Valued Asset in the Age of Slopfarms and Public Relations (PR) or Spin
Publishing suppressed facts is never easy
The Register MS Continues to Bag Money to Promote a Ponzi Scheme, Even Money From China
Today in the front page
analytics.usa.gov: The Only Supported Version of Windows (This Past Week) is Only Used by About 13.9% of People in the US, the Home Base of Windows
Even Vista 7 is still used more
Rust is Very Secure
If only Rust itself is secure
Who Will be Held Accountable for Breaking Ubuntu by Imposing Rust on Otherwise-Functional Programs, in Effect Replacing GNU With Proprietary Microsoft (GitHub)?
they're practical people who merely point out that a bunch of buffoons not only ruin Ubuntu but also every future distro based on Ubuntu
Generation Chaff - Phase VIII: In Summary
Like "Science" with a capital "S", what we see here commercial interests usurping everything
Generation Chaff - Phase VII: Curtailing Alternative Media
There was always an obligation - a collective duty of sorts - to uphold independent journalism
Generation Chaff - Phase VI: Centralisation of Information (X, Cheetok/Fentanylware)
Would you trust information when controlled by such people?
Generation Chaff - Phase III: Slop and Plagiarism
A lot of the current so-called 'economy' is built upon false valuations
Generation Chaff - Phase II: "Cloud", Blockchains and Other Hype
For those of us who turned down those propositions there was a struggle; we needed to justify not having skinnerboxes or "social" accounts in some site run by a private company
Generation Chaff - Phase I: Social Control Media
IRC predates the Web
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 23, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 23, 2025
More Clues Shed on Collapse of Microsoft XBox
XBox is basically circling down the drain as Microsoft implements 2-3 waves of layoffs each month
'Vibe Coding' Doesn't Work
In a lot of ways, so-called 'Vibe Coding' is already considered vapourware or a passing fad promoted in the media by managers who try to justify mass layoffs, especially ridding companies of "very expensive" software engineers
Links 24/10/2025: Microsoft's Killing of XBox Connected to Revenue/Profit Problems, "How Elon Musk Ruined Twitter"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/10/2025: 86,400 Seconds and "Society's Task"
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Google News and Slopfarms That Relay Nonsense From LLMs
Google News, which once prioritised or used to care about provenance and quality, is feeding slopfarms
Links 23/10/2025: More Health Concerns Over Dumb Chatbots (LLMs) and "Talking Cars" as Latest Buzz
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/10/2025: Daylight Savings Time and Duration Shorthand
Links for the day
Links 23/10/2025: LLM 'Hallucinations' (Defects) in Practical Code 'Generation', China Becomes More Economically and Technologically Independent
Links for the day
Linux Foundation Uses LLM Slop to Promote Microsoft in Linux.com (Again), Rendering It a Linux-Hostile Slopfarm
Openwashing with slop by "Linux.com Editorial Staff", which basically seems to be a bot
Links 23/10/2025: Windows TCO Galore and "The Internet Is Going to Break Again"
Links for the day
Social engineering attack: Debian voted to trick you on binary blobs
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Techrights Will Always Stand for Women's Rights
We even invest money - personal savings that it - in our principles
Certified Lawyers Should Know Better (Than to Intimidate Us With Man Who Drives on Motorcycle Through a Really Bad Storm Between Distant Cities, Then Collects Photos of Our Home)
Mentioning someone was in prison for bad things isn't a crime, it's a public service
The "AI" (Slop) Bubble is Already Imploding
"ChatGPT Usage Has Peaked and Is Now Declining, New Data Finds"
The So-called "Sexy" Buckets (AI, Quantum) Cannot Save IBM From Reality, Shares Tank
"No matter how much financial hocus-pocus they use to reclassify revenues to land in the "sexy" buckets (AI, Quantum), it still smells old and musty - just like this company."
Paul Krugman is Wrong About the Scope of Mass Layoffs in the United States
A few years ago society was accelerating its journey towards feudalism, boosted by COVID-19
Links 23/10/2025: Proprietary Blunders and CISA's Latest Disclosure of Holes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/10/2025: Fast Past (F1), 99.9% Uptime
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Slopwatch: Google News is Promoting Fake 'Articles' About Fake Xubuntu, Fake Articles About Replacing Windows With GNU/Linux
The quality of the Web deteriorates and unless someone cleans up the mess, real sites will lose an incentive to produce anything
When "AI Layoffs" Mean Layoffs Due to the "AI" Bubble Popping
many people that are laid off by Microsoft claim to be specialists in "AI"
Mysterious grant forfeited, $100,000 from Software in the Public Interest accounts 2023
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Evidence: bullying, student union behaviour: Armijn Hemel's FSFE resignation
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Evidence: psychological abuse, stalking, Galia Mancheva, Susanne Eiswirt ignored by FSFE judgment for Matthias Kirschner
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Helping FSFE scam victims and conference organisers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Nigerian fraud in FSFE constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Worrying and Amusing Stories of "Clown Computing" Gone Awry
Many of these disasters could be avoided
Links 22/10/2025: Amazon Plans to Replace Workers With Robotics, AWS and Clown Computing in General Ridiculed
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/10/2025: Niri Completely Changes Multitasking and Overview of Diff-ers
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2025: Study on Misinformation by Slop and Heavily Debt-Sabbled Microsoft OpenAI (ClosedSlop) Uses "Browser" as Gimmick/Distraction
Links for the day
They've Already Spent Close to a Million Dollars on Lawyers and Sent Us About 50 KG of Legal Papers (Sponsored by Mysterious Third Party) to Try to Censor Techrights, Without Success
They try to overcompensate with sheer volume for a lack of solid, clear arguments (we are the victims here)
12 Months Ago the 'Hulk Hogan of UEFI' Officially Went 'Tag-Team'
We're actually sort of flattered or proud that such despicable people are so desperate to censor us
"Cloud Computing" Was Always a Joke, But This Week Was the Punchline
Maybe stop following tech trends and fashions
"Cloud Computing" Does Not Mean Safety
Fault tolerance is related to the notion of software freedom
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 21, 2025
The Fall of Windows: From Something to Nothing
Of course Microsoft will pretend everything is fine and "just trust the hey hi" (AI)