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

When the Microsoft Aggressors Rely on Several Law Firms ('Attack Dogs', 'Guns for Hire'), Not Just One, Lawyering Up Against Techrights (Acting on Behalf of Americans Against UK Publishers)
From serving customers at some restaurant he has moved on to bullying people with demand letters
Polygamy, from Catholic Synod on Synodality to Social Control Media & Debian CyberPolygamy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Only a Third of or 1 in 3 Web-Connected Devices is a Desktop or Laptop, According to statCounter
we can expect Android to widen its lead
 
Gemini Links 24/06/2025: ftpd on FreeBSD and Online Small Web Magazine
Links for the day
Google News Does Great Harm by Promoting Slopfarms as Legitimate News Sites
Slopfarms are sites which are 100% LLM slop
Links 24/06/2025: Trouble at "Open" "AI" and ‘Siarhei is Free’
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/06/2025: Stimulants and Subscription Costs for DRM
Links for the day
Links 24/06/2025: OpenAI [sic] May Soon Die (Too Much Debt) and Social Control Media Accused of Being Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda Amplifier
Links for the day
Nirbheek Chauhan in Planet GNOME Explains Why Wayland Pushers Are Losing
"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."
The Days Are Getting Shorter, the First Half of 2025 is Almost Over
We're gratified to see significant increase in traffic and also positive feedback on the work we do
Turning GNU/Linux Into a Political Football
X (not the site) is Free software
X Server Still Works for Many People
A lot of people will grow suspicious of Wayland boosters/pushers if they persist and insist on using these tactics
Exactly a Week Ago "BetaNews Staff" Said "Betanews Is Growing Alongside You". Since Then Every Article (All by "Camila Nogueira") Has Been LLM Slop.
BetaNews is basically a slopfarm
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 23, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 23, 2025
The "Tarzan Effect" in Compilers and Software
What happens when you forcibly make things 'work', either by hacks or by disregarding warnings (like those that compilers tend to issue)?
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: Mass Tourism, Hair Love, and Google Gemini as a Googlebomb
Links for the day
Law Firm Burgess Mee Does Not Fully Deny Participating in Abusive Litigation for Serial Strangler From Microsoft
I am not unfamiliar with these tactics
The Modus Operandi of Wayland Pushers: Make It Political
do what I say or you're a nazi...
Links 23/06/2025: RFE/RL Contributor Vladyslav Yesypenko Released, Recording Industry Cutbacks
Links for the day
Brett Wilson LLP Solicitors (M): Over 99.9% of Our E-mail is Self-Marketing, We Send You 3.5MB E-mails for Less Than 1KB of Text
Why would tech people entrust legal matters to such people?
Peter Moon's (Computerworld) Interview With Richard Stallman
Stallman: If you want freedom don't follow Linus Torvalds
At What Point Does Outsourcing Constitute Malpractice?
Brett Wilson LLP's new staff page is misleading
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sailing to GNU/Linux, According to statCounter
countries in that region will quickly learn the price of neglecting digital sovereignty
From Do Your Own Research to Do Your Own Search
The Web is full of garbage; search engines amplify this garbage
More People Moving to Geminispace?
at age 6+ Gemini Protocol seems to have gained some maturity and it seems like more people use it
Permutation in LLMs Does, Inevitably, Change Meanings and Therefore LLMs Cannot Properly Rephrase or Summarise Texts
LLMs lack actual grasp or comprehension of what they spew out
Links 23/06/2025: Many Security Breaches, Population Declines
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: "America at the Crossroads" and OpenWRT Surgery
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 22, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 22, 2025
Pure Dove
Different means different, and sometimes those who "deviate" from "the norm" have a point
Censorship is a Sign of Weakness Which Invites More Censorship Attempts
revolutionaries don't succumb to pressure from bullies
Why It's Unlikely That LLM Slop Will Dominate the Web in the Long Run
Slopfarms will eventually perish (they have no actual value) and "survivors" on the Web will be sites that never depended on search engines and social control media
GNU/Linux in Argentina Now Measured Near 5%
Like in central Europe, they must be seeing an increasingly hostile US
BetaNews is Fake News, Composed by LLM Slop
nothing in BetaNews is written by humans anymore
Links 22/06/2025: Giving Up on Smartphones and 'Jaws' at 50
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Furniture Construction and Bubble for Comments
Links for the day
Links 22/06/2025: Windows TCO Tales and YouTube Getting More Hostile to Users
Links for the day
The FSF Board and FSF Beard
So the FSF's Board has grown
Law Firms Facing the Consequences for Patently Abusive Litigation on Behalf of Microsoft Employees Who Got Arrested for Strangulation and Had Done Even Worse Things
Having spent 1.5 years bullying me with patronising letters on behalf of Microsofters, last week they got served a massive bill and, in effect, lost the Hearing
New Report From the EPO's Staff Representatives in The Hague (LSCTH) Reveals Many Unsolved Issues
Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) wrote to staff just before the weekend
LLMs Breaking Everything
Computing and the Net became a playground for scammers and "bros", like people who "invented" fake currencies and also try to tell us that LLMs spewing out things will have some real value
Links 22/06/2025: More Slop Lawsuits (Copyrights) and "America’s Oligarch Problem"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Gigantic Toolchest and Annoying Bots
Links for the day