There was talk on the forum a couple of years ago of setting up an IRC server but I don't remember if anything came of it.

Well, I'm available if you want, that's all.

And... for the glorious Ultima Online server reloaded? Is there anyone who is interested? I'm just trying to learn the right way to implement this on my server. I can still remember... in the 90s, I was so charmed while I was reading Chronicles of Britannia in my favourite videogames magazine...

IRC. Lovely golden years.. I was an Administrator on several famous local/global IRC servers for long time during 90's.
If that great community needs an IRC place, well for either technical-chit-chat or laiding-back, rest&chat purposes (well, if you got time for that tho 😜) I'd love to setup an IRC server on my own, for Vogons community, in case of any need. (Let it be: irc.vogons.org or something). 😊
Let me know!

I would definitely join an IRC channel. I use my Toshiba Libretto 110CT to idle in a few different channels when I'm at my desk at work. I've been pretty active on IRC from 1998-present. It's always great to be able to instantly chat, send files back and forth, and do it directly from any OS from DOS to Windows 10 or Linux/Mac without a hassle.

so what is stopping us from having a VOGONS IRC channel? Kinda makes sense given the zeitgeist on these forums.

In addition, can anyone recommend IRC channels out there for classic/vintage computing and retro PCs? I don't really know where to start in that realm.

Not sure about IRC, but Discord seems to be the most active chat platform for retro hobbyists. There are many nice servers, including:

https://discord.gg/8KRxWWb
https://discord.gg/jjmpgPc
https://discord.gg/vbNd9mm
https://discord.gg/xHbbgYS

Discord? Is that what you kids are using these days?

#dosbox on freenode works fine. Usually 50-70 of us in there.

Hmm, could anyone recommend a good IRC client? I am trying ChatZilla but it is rather slow. mIRC requires registration.

keenmaster486 wrote:

Hmm, could anyone recommend a good IRC client? I am trying ChatZilla but it is rather slow. mIRC requires registration.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_I … ay_Chat_clients

WolverineDK wrote:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_I … ay_Chat_clients

Ah, I should have been much more specific! Sorry.

I’m looking for a good client for Windows 95 and 98.

So far I have found an old version of mIRC that does not require registration, and I can connect, but servers complain about security holes.

what about security holes in Windows 95 and 98?

DosFreak wrote:

#dosbox on freenode works fine. Usually 50-70 of us in there.

Wow! I will be there tonight to see how it is.

keenmaster486 wrote:

Ah, I should have been much more specific! Sorry. […]
Show full quote

WolverineDK wrote:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_I … ay_Chat_clients

Ah, I should have been much more specific! Sorry.

I’m looking for a good client for Windows 95 and 98.

So far I have found an old version of mIRC that does not require registration, and I can connect, but servers complain about security holes.

There's an operating system compatibility table in that article. IRCjr might be worth trying if you want a lightweight client for very old systems. Irssi might work too (according to that article) but you may have to find an older version of Cygwin to run it.

keenmaster486 wrote:

Discord? Is that what you kids are using these days?

Yep.

It addresses all the usability and quality-of-life issues inherent in IRC's design. The trade-off is of course that the client is new-world, and heavier.

The biggest points are that you can use the same identity simultaneously at many endpoints, and that the server is stateful, so you don't "lose" messages if you log out or are disconnected.

Discord? Shouldn't we use something that can be used in a retro machine? Like IRC?

bfcastello wrote:

Discord? Shouldn't we use something that can be used in a retro machine? Like IRC?

Why? Most people are comfortable with modern technology 😉

The ideal thing would be to have a Discord or Slack client for old systems, but that’s unlikely to happen. Of course IRC is not the ideal chat platform...

I use Slack for all of my modern activities and actual work / collaboration with other people. But for my retro computer hobby it’s nice to increase the functionality of these machines as much as you can!

Dominus wrote:

bfcastello wrote:

Discord? Shouldn't we use something that can be used in a retro machine? Like IRC?

Why? Most people are comfortable with modern technology 😉

Because it would be fun 😁 hehehe

AFAIK slack and discord aren't open source. IRC is and it can run on anything and it just works.

Sorry it's not bloated or proprietary enough for you.