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dalnet? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:dalnet? (Score:2, Insightful)
Dalnet. Because you must logon before you can IRC (Score:2)
I have truble conecting to most of the networks on that list. Dalnet and Open Projects are the exceptions.
Isn't Slashnet part of Open Projects ?
Undernet WAS great... (Score:5, Insightful)
I remember being introduced to IRC by a friend on my dialup shell account at college. If I were just getting onto the net today I'm sure I'd get pushed into ICQ, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, etc. before ever learning what IRC was. It's a shame.
IRC _was_ great (Score:2, Insightful)
Sadly, those days are over, at least for for the big networks, my advice is to seek out a smaller network, appreciate the small size, and remember EFnet before the breakup, Undernet before the DoS attacks, back when they were not so big.
Re:Undernet WAS great... (Score:4, Insightful)
Now, first off, let me qualify that statment: check my post history. I'm not anti-corperate at all, in fact, I've even been known to stand up and defend Microsoft from time to time.
But I *am* a bit edgy about an entire communications network that is under one umbrella. With IRC, it's more or less "the wild". Or at least it is far more so than Yahoo! Chat is. In fact, Yahoo! is the best example here. They're not a krudgy corp, they're "fun" "new" "hip" whatever. They are (though it's rapidly becoming "were") like the Netscapes and Googles of the world.
But still it's slightly sad that people new to the internet are first turned on to a branded service like AIM. Or even one by a company as cool as Yahoo!
Now, don't get me wrong, I actualy use AIM and Yahoo! myself. But IRC has geek apeal.
On the internet, it seems like there is an old geek standard and a new and improved, but generally not as "geek cool" version.
Usenet : webbased discussion boards
IRC : AIM/Y!/ICQ/MSMessanger
FTP : Napster
To some extent, this is the same phycology that many prefer Linux over MS too. I'm not saying that's true for everybody, and I'm not saying it's the only reason one might prefer Linux. But c'mon, you've got to admit that a lot of people try it just to be a "cool geek" and stick it to the man.
There's just something inherently fun (in an elitist sort of way) about using an OS/chat protocall/discussion forum/file transfer widget/command line instead of GUI/whatever that you know most people would probably have no hope of (or just couldn't be bothered to) figuring out.
Re:Undernet WAS great... (Score:3, Insightful)
And client quality? AIM, ICQ, and MSN all have hordes of ads! Don't even get me started about how crappy ICQ is - buggy, memory hungry, etc. Not to mention the necessity that all clients be up to date, etc... At least with IRC you have a choice. mIRC, pIRCh, xchat, bitchX, epic - I'm sure the list goes on and on.
Re:Undernet WAS great... (Score:2)
You're obviously a child. Otherwise you'd know that ICQ was out for something around a good 6 months before AIM was even first implimented, with more features.
Either that or a b00b.
I mean n00b. Yes, n00b.
Re:Undernet WAS great... (Score:2)
Re:Undernet WAS great... (Score:2, Funny)
If you have an ftp client with natural language parser in it, do *not* type "get internet".
(You'd be in for a long wait...)
graspee
Theres always Squeaknet... (Score:2, Informative)
EFNet was good, but it's being DoSed constantly and servers have dropped like flies... IRC wars were kinda fun, but having your computer smurfed wasn't.
I guess theres good sides and bad sides to EFNet, but DALNet is well...too full of immature people for me.
Missing option (Score:3, Informative)
On the other hand, we cut you americans off (EFNet) some years ago because you were so damn annoying, so I'm actually glad you haven't found your way back yet.
It's gotten a lot less noisy without all the american kids around - I remember how it was like before the split;
- "YOOO A HOT BABE?!?! WANNA FUCK??!"
- "Oh like whoa? Yure unna dem yuuuropeans ??? !?! DOOOOOOOD!!!!! YOOO REEELY EKSIST DOOD????"
- "1m s0 31337, 1 g07 w4rez!!! 3y3 g0t ph0705h0p !!!!!! z3r0-d4y b17ch!!!!!"
Re:Missing option (Score:2, Funny)
General Comment (Score:5, Insightful)
IRC has a number of extremely friendly functions that can keep your poor eyes from seeing such sores as "h4x0r k1d5", "l4m3rz", and most importantly the "an0nym0u5 c0wardz" of IRC. These include
*may not be the same on your favorite server/network, but I'm fairly sure a similar option does exist.
EfNet and #linux (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:EfNet and #linux (Score:2, Funny)
Re:EfNet and #linux (Score:2)
Only problem with that is linux man pages are total ASS.
Linux/GNU needs to take a hint from *BSD on how to properly write a manpage.
C-X C-S
Re:EfNet and #linux (Score:2)
Linux man pages are the joke.
C-X C-X
sh0wt outz t0 my h0m1ez 1n #teabag!!!!!
#linux channels (Score:2)
Ask in normal, tech-oriented channels. Even channels about online gaming qualify. The chance to have someone get a look at you is practically 100% as long as you've done your homework (HOWTOs, google)
Re:#linux channels (Score:2)
Well at least they can grow out of it
Re:EfNet and #linux (Score:2)
On the flip side, it is rather annoying to be hounded by idiot users all the time. You get people coming in there saying stupid stuff like "how do I use mIRC on linux?" or "what mIRC client do you use for linux?" or Using stupid scripts for mIRC that colorize *everything.* Then on top of that every 30 minutes someone will ask "which distro should I use." I dunno. Every so often someone will say something funny. Unfortuantly, I can't sit around all day for 10 seconds of minor joy. =(
Re:EfNet and #linux (Score:2)
Someone else said it and they're absolutely right: Nowhere else will you find such an outright display of Small Penis Syndrome than in your typical IRC channel.
Re:EfNet and #linux (Score:2)
Re:EfNet and #linux (Score:2)
I'm not bitter at all actually, nor am I really berating the serious ops in the channel.
As for "ask[ing] the same uninformed question, over and over" Uhh.. welcome to a HELP channel mate. Expect a LOT of uninformed questions.
I'm not talking about the ass who comes into the channel and starts repeating their question every 5 seconds (sometimes more). They should be warned and then banned if it continues. I'm talking about the poor sap who asks something simple and quite 'noob' like and then gets booted with some snotty comment. It happens a lot in both of those channels and its sad.
Does it seem the least bit odd to anyone.... (Score:2, Troll)
Re:Does it seem the least bit odd to anyone.... (Score:2)
Mine isn't listed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mine isn't listed (Score:2)
Any change?
pfft IRC (Score:5, Insightful)
schlong-measuring-fest as much as IRC.
Case in point: Last time I was on I think EFNet
#Linux someone (with ops no less) decided what the channel needed was a bot named Sarah. Sarah would go out and kick people that swore. Say: "Damn it" *PLONK* You're kicked. Come back and ask "What the hell was that?" *PLONK* You're banned.
If you complained the bot owner would ban you. (In the interest of promoting dialog of course.)
So why did I go on IRC? I thought I'd take advantage of the wonderful "community" that "supports" Linux.
coaxial> I've got a problem with ESD. It says ALSA isn't installed. But XMMS and the like can use it no problem. Any ideas
*silence*
coaxial> Anyone use ALSA and ESD together?
[coaxial has been banned by @^freak: Your nick sucks.]
Ahh IRC [slashdot.org]
Re:pfft IRC (Score:5, Informative)
Re:openprojects.net (Score:2)
Re:pfft IRC (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:5, Insightful)
Ask a question on a newsgroup; get flamed.
Ask a question on IRC; get flamed.
Ask Slashdot? Get trolled and flamed.
Ask a question on Usenet? Get spammed, trolled, and flamed.
I think that we as a community need to make up our minds; do we want the newbies buying Windows, or running Linux? If we don't want the newbies running Linux, and we're not going to help them so they'll go away, then we need to stop lying to ourselves and them and admit that occasionally-helpful advice delivered politely is a step up from nothing but flames.
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:3, Insightful)
To get linux in the household, the childish/elitests need to keep their traps shut, and they need to let the friendly people do the talking. It only takes a little hand holding to get people used to linux, then they are off...
Remember... we all were newbies once...
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:2, Insightful)
Or, as Will Rogers put it:
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, I help newbies over at #linuxhelp on EFNET and there isn't much flaming. People do get frustrated at newbies that come in and demand instant help and then throw a fit if nobody knows the answer or wants to answer. That's the only time I've seen newbies flamed and I suspect that many of these loudmouths shouting about getting flamed by the "1337 d00dz" (and by the way, nobody who types like that is taken seriously, I don't know where you guys get this stuff...) are just these types of impatient whiners.
I guess the free IRC type of support suffers from the same drawbacks as free software. It will get done if it's an interesting problem, with a little extra effort thrown in if we're feeling generous. Sometimes it's a wonderful product, sometimes it just pisses people off...
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:2)
so, now i usually don't help someone unless i know them.
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:2)
Who put you in charge of the community ?
When someone asks a clueless question, I generally answer it, and tell them where the answer can be found. When they persist in not trying to look for the answers themselves, the flamethrower cranks up.
The community is all volunteers, and it values people who are willing to help themselves but need direction. It is intolerant, in general, of people looking for someone else to do their work for them.
Nullum gratuitum prandium.
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:3, Insightful)
Exactly; whereas Windows support is hand-holdingly tolerant of those people.
And as a result, 99.76% of the desktops aren't using Linux, and we run into hardware that doesn't support our OS (sometimes even if it says it does on the box), and we get stuck using Windows at work so we can use Microsoft Office and Lotus Notes and etc.
Why? Because that home user we're flaming when he just wants a little help is sometimes the PHB who makes the decision about what desktop OS some poor schulb of a fellow geek is going to be stuck using.
Being a dick to newbies doesn't help anybody; it doesn't even help you.
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:3, Interesting)
somelamer; how do i mount my cdrom??????!??
If he calls Microsoft's tech support line and asks that question for Windows, he'll only have to ask it once.
The drone on the phone will help him.
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:2)
If you'd asked that in half the Linux help venues, the answer would either have been stony silence, or "RTFM, fuckwad".
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:2)
Do you see the lameness in that though? You can find the some thing on Open Projects - #freebsd is a channel for freebsd people to yak, #freebsdhelp is for help. That makes absolutely no sense at all... It seems like a lot of the channels spun off channel _name + help once they started getting flooded with newbies. Of course they didn't realize perhaps they should do channel_name + chat or something similar and move themselves if they wanted to chat about something not related to channel_name. No, they brought out the brass balls of legend on IRC and just started directing people to the help channel. It's stupid. These people will never stop coming into the regular channel. But they were there first so their need to talk about star trek or who their fucking on #linux or whatever must come first...
Oh, and I agree about people coming in and demanding help. Obviously they are expecting too much... (funny thing though is they tend to get the long time regulars who join the channel to yak about something unrelated to the channel name extremely annoyed while other newbies there to help will point out that perhaps they are being rude and offer a potential solution - so back to my point, move the old cronies off somewhere else, not the newbies who don't know any better)
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:2)
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:3, Interesting)
What he does is say "I'm sorry, sir, this isn't the right line for that sort of question, but let me get that line for you." Then he transfers you, making sure there's somebody on the other end to help you before he lets you go. At least, that's how it happens with GOOD companies.
If you're in #freebsd and somebody asks a newbie question, instead of flaming him, how about you check #freebsdhelp real quick to see if anybody is logged on, then say "sorry, this isn't a help channel, but there are several people sitting in #freebsdhelp right now, and they'll be glad to help you."
Doesn't take any more of your time than flaming him.
Re:Propeller heads, all (Score:3, Insightful)
Exactly. So let's stop saying our support is better, because it isn't. It's more complete, but "better" is a much broader term than that.
Our references are better; our support isn't.
Re:pfft IRC (Score:2)
I'd have to go with Slashnet (Score:2, Interesting)
Slashnet? (Score:2, Informative)
Where's Slashnet? (Score:2, Interesting)
-OZ
Wedding Bells... (Score:5, Funny)
openprojects! (Score:5, Informative)
too bad though, that dal,ef and the others are the more prominant irc networks. Thats where people most likely are. And someday, someone stumbles across linux, and with high hopes and some frustration, they venture into #linux or something similar, ask a simple question, and will walk away wondering why they ever bothered trying it. Nobody find's out about openprojects until they're well immersed in the culture already. But we lose the chance to shine. Perhaps openprojects and any other useful irc servers/networks, should be prominantly made available to anyone installing linux for the first time. Print it in big bold letters on the box, on the first page, etc etc. Lots of people can find irc. Not many people will choose the right servers.
Lamer free/spam free/useful. What more could one ask.
-Restil
Linux help on EfNet. (Score:2)
FYI, If you run into #linux and are immediately banned it's probably because you don't have a proper 'ident' server running. Why in the world they do such a thing I don't know, and it's usually the reason newbies stumble into #linuxhelp after #linux and ask why they were banned.
chat.cnn.com ownZZ (Score:2, Funny)
Not DalNet, that's for sure... (Score:2, Funny)
An old-ish saying from an EFnet channel I frequent: "DalNet is like the Special Olympics of IRC. A lot of drooling, and everyone is a 'winner'."
What about smaller networks? (Score:4, Informative)
I know that there are a lot of networks like Starlink out there. People just go there and hang out with their friends. I think that there should have been an option for Smaller Networks. Well, I'm breaking the poll commandment of not complaining about missing options. Guess I'll get modded down and CowboyNeal will get to keep his vote.
--Josh
Do we really need IRC anymore? (Score:2)
Instant Messaging and "group chatting" (IRC) are fundamentally the same thing, and so a conferencing system over Jabber is a nice logical extension. The distribution doesn't appear to be quite the same as IRC though: one room can't span multiple servers AFAICT. Is that really necessary though?
Granted, conferencing is still in draft form, and most clients don't support it yet anyway, so perhaps I am asking the question early. Will we be needing IRC in the near future?
IRC has been around for quite awhile. What are the current problems in IRC? If any, how could they be resolved? Maybe now is a good time to pitch in ideas to the Jabber guys.
Re:Do we really need IRC anymore? (Score:2)
one room can't span multiple servers AFAICT. Is that really necessary though?
Well, it's certainly a big help if you want people from different locations to meet in a "room" from different points on the network.
I mean. It's kind of the whole point behind networking the servers in the first place.
For some reason, I smell marketing.
Are there no geeks here? (Score:3, Insightful)
quakenet.eu.org
I am disappointet...
Seconded (Score:3, Insightful)
The influx of CS-kiddies about a year ago has got Quakenet a little stumbling, but so far, we've recovered rather nicely, and have in fact been able to educate some of them into more mature behaviour...
Re:Seconded (Score:2)
Re:Are there no geeks here? (Score:2)
BTW, we changed our URL to http://www.quakenet.org/ after getting a US server.
Yarn (yarn@ball.of.yarn.org.uk) (United Kingdom) (irc/op)
name: Ian Clark
chan: #twilightzone @#moo #ukquake @#qd
serv: chat.uk.quakenet.org (Telehouse Docklands, Central London)
away: need bandwidth
oper: is a fluffy lumberjack
idle: 1h 41m 32s (signon.. 12/19/01 @ 12:48PM)
sign: 12/19/01 @ 12:48PM
chat.uk.quakenet.org (u2.10.10+lain(1...)
Network:
Users 52895(+22319) Servers: 52
Local:
Users 336 Servers: 1
Opers: 60(0.0%) Chans: 45488(~1.0u/c)
Eris Free Network (Score:4, Informative)
IRCnet (Score:2)
servers irc.leo.org, irc.uni-erlangen, and also a bunch of IPv6 enabled servers like irc.wanadoo.be and irc.belnet.be.
- Hubert
Lack of options ... (Score:2, Informative)
All right.
But please take a look at http://netsplit.de/networks/ [netsplit.de] and then wonder why there isn't the option to vote for the biggest network in this poll.
How about "Your Own Private Network"? (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm sure a fair few slashdot readers must take part in smaller, semi private irc networks. Be it one at work, one for the uni, among a few friends with hosted boxes / always on connections etc.
I'm always on the network for my Uni. Its much friendlier than the larger networks, we've got about 6 severs so its fairly fault tollerant, and its generally much nicer :)
So, surely it would've been interesting to see how many of the /. reader use other "small" networks, instead of the larger ones?
Re:How about "Your Own Private Network"? (Score:2)
ZiRC (Score:2)
Still more... (Score:3, Informative)
Planetarion -- now that it costs a trivial amount of money, the 1337 have 13F7.
OpenProjects... but (Score:2)
Otherwise, one of the better networks with a high signal/noise ratio.
IRC? IRC? Why in the old days.... (Score:2)
There was a VMS client, and a 4341 Client, and, as a college geek with no social skills and no life, I made friends in places I'd never heard of (like SUNY, which was, evidently, in some mystical place called New York.)
Ah, those were the days. Kids today just don't remember the glories of manually routing email from Bitnet to Arpanet, or trying to make the VMS port of "talk" work with Unix "talk."
Re:IRC? IRC? Why in the old days.... (Score:2, Funny)
Why we didn't even have 1's, just 0's. And we had to push the electrons manually to get them jumpstarted when the weather was cold, because we didn't have any of them fancy insulated wires you city boys have.
Let us not forget lilofree.net (Score:2, Informative)
<snip>
This server is part of lfnet, the Lilo Free Network. If you're /wall free irc'ing.
tired of lilo, the omnipresent ircop of the Open Projects
Network, park yourself here and enjoy
See http://www.lilofree.net [lilofree.net] for more details
IRC was good... (Score:2, Interesting)
MOZNET (Score:2)
No Anynet? (Score:2)
irrelevant? (Score:2)
This isn't a problem though. I think we created slashdot to get away from the lunacy of the once great havens and that we shall create another place eventually (there are already many great alternatives to
And as soon as we recognize their arrival we shall disappear again.
Suddenly I realize this post is more about the fact that I haven't seen FoTR yet. I'll stop now. Sorry
Re:irrelevant? (Score:2)
Its not elitist. I don't like drug dealers either and so avoid the places they go. I don't like the way that (for lack of a better term to descrbie them all) script kiddies and their ilk act either.
I R CowboyNeal (Score:3, Funny)
EFnet! (Score:4, Funny)
No wait...
IRC (Score:2)
-sam
Re:DalNet (Score:3, Offtopic)
This seems like a good time for a shameless plug!
I wrote a CMC ("chat server") [gangplank.org] which is functionally similar to IRC -- it makes it easy for people to chat through a text-based interface. The UI is different from IRC, being based on another CMC from RPI. Unlike IRC, my CMC doesn't require a custom client to use -- I made it function nicely with standard TELNET clients. (Of course, it doesn't support things like DCC either.)
I won't suggest that it could take the place of IRC; right now it can't. (There's no multi-server functionality, for example.) But for anyone who wants to set up a small community on a single server, it's quite usable. I just recently released the code as Open Source (under the QPL) and I'm still trying to polish it into a "stable" release.
I could use a few beta test sites for feedback. I've run a server for 8.5 years on this codebase, but this is the first time I've turned over the code for others to try running for themselves, and I know there's more documentation to be done, and perhaps a bit more tuning. But for enabling people to talk to each other in real time, it really works quite well... (There's also a demo server [gangplank.org] available for anyone who wants to play with it...)
Re:DalNet (Score:2, Offtopic)
Another difference -- on my system, names (visible names, "screen names", "nicks", whatever you want to call them -- I prefer the term "pseudos") can be long (up to 32 characters or more, actually not specifically limited), mixed case, and may contain spaces and other symbols. There can also be a "blurb" associated with the name which is temporary, like [eating lunch] or [on the phone] or whatever you want it to say.
Additionally, it keeps an "away state" flag which can be set to "here", "away", "busy" or "gone", which can help indicate to others whether you're open to receiving messages, and whether you're likely to respond.
Another feature of the system is the ability to "detach" (much like the "screen" program) and keep an active session without an associated TCP/IP connection to the server. You remain virtually online (and can receive messages), and see the missed output next time you connect. If your connection to the server drops unexpectedly, it automatically detaches you. (It's different for guests -- they aren't allowed to detach for reasons which should be obvious.)
One last thing -- the website and demo server are over my DSL line, so if they seem slow, that's why!
Re:DalNet (Score:3, Interesting)
Using IRC with telnet? (Score:2)
My system was designed to be usable from a telnet session, which is a different thing entirely. It performs remote echo for the user, redraws the input line when new output arrives, implements emacs-style line-editing functions, provides input history and unlimited-length input lines. You want me to believe that telnetting to an IRC server is equivalent?
Re:Using IRC with telnet? (Score:2)
But hey, whatever floats your boat. If you like using IRC from telnet, be my guest. I doubt it works as smoothly, but I'm not equating that with "unusable" by any means.
However, I would be surprised if IRC servers actually follow the telnet protocol RFC's. More likely they're doing a text protocol on a raw TCP connection and you're taking advantage of the fact the the typical telnet client isn't that picky. Does an IRC server actually implement telnet protocol commands and option negotiation?
DCC & CTCP (Score:2)
That being said, it's something I'd like to support at some point. I'm also interested in supporting IRC clients if it's reasonably feasible to do so; many IRC clients exist (including some pretty fancy ones) and it would be worthwhile to be able to leverage that existing base of code. For the moment, I haven't had time to look over the IRC protocol, and I wouldn't add such support until I have a final 1.0.0 "stable" release, which is still pending...
Gangplank CMC (Score:3, Informative)
That's exactly what I'm saying. Give it a try on the demo server, although I may or may not be around to respond to you. (If you stick around for a few minutes and send some messages, I'm more likely to notice you before you leave!)
Here's where to try it out:
telnet gangplank.org 9999 [gangplank.org]
Re:Gangplank CMC (Score:2)
Re:Gangplank CMC (Score:2)
Sure, I've thought about it, and it's something I'd like to do, but it's not clear what the best solution is. I will be looking into this later, but not for the 1.0.0 release...
Re:Gangplank CMC (Score:2)
Actually, since DDoS attacks really can't be defended against, I was thinking about taking an opposite tack. Rather than having an escalating battle between server admins trying to keep the server up, and script kiddies trying to take it down, maybe I'll just implement a
Re:DalNet (Score:2)
No, it's not a different interface for IRC. It's an independent system which could replace an IRC installation, depending on the needs of the users. It's not a frontend to an IRC server, but a standalone server which happens to work with standard telnet clients instead of requiring a custom client.
Re:Demoscene Geek (Score:2)
AnotherNet didn't exist anymore, so you moved to anothernet? ha! get it??
Re:Demoscene Geek (Score:2)
I used to frequent #trax under the nick ganja_man for quite a while. Thinking about it this was probably like '95-'98 though, and ISTR that #trax was on some other network before scenenet, and another one before that (efnet?).
Good to see there are still people who remember the MOD scene.. :)
Re:Demoscene Geek (Score:2)
Re:Demoscene Geek (Score:2)
Heh.. Me too, though I was on like 92-94, so we probably never met. I was "Alowishus" at the time, I do believe.
A big hello to MentalFloss, wherever you are.
Re:IRC is dead (Score:3, Interesting)
I haven't even bothered with these things for 5 years now. But IIRC aren't they just chat rooms (internet relay chat). And aren't they still entirely text based? Nevermind the second question, the first is enough to make my point.
And forgive me here, but is it acceptable for a geek to say "I'm heading to the chat room", or is it acceptable because they're using an acronym to disguise their AOLish behavior?
I'm going to lose my 50 karma for this. Guess I better head back to the articles and post something intelligent.
Re:IRC is dead (Score:2)
Re:EFNet? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:IRC: pronounced "eye-arr-see" or "erk"? (Score:4, Funny)
Oh, and let's not forget shh.
Re:They all suck. (Score:2)
I agree entirely. Undernet is still a decent network. It's just not as easy as it used to be to avoid flamers, trolls, and l33t kiddies who simply want to make life hard for the rest of us...
Of course, that's what decently intelligent channel bots and
The trouble is, with such measures necessary to avoid attacks/spam/DOS/whathaveyou, Mister Joe Average would rather just sit around and use AIM instead of learning to muck with channel bots and such.
Yeah, Undernet has been attacked before and Undernet will likely get attacked again, but I think IRC is far from dead. I've found some great friends there with similar interests to me--even met some really great people in real life.