text/gemini
# Regarding IRC
Yesterday, inspired by Michael Czigler's post about his approach to write an IRC client, I thought back of the days where I spent some time in various IRC channels...
=> gemini://mcpcpc.com/2021/03/08-irc2.gem irc2: A Minimal IRC Client Using netcat
## Exciting times
It was a long time ago. Over 20 years have passed since–time really flies by … Anyway, I was about 12 or 13 years old when I first got in touch with IRC. The trigger, as far as I can remember, might have been some posts in a newsgroup I was participating in at the time. Yes, the kind of newsgroup that was accessed via NNTP back in the day. No, I am not UUCP kind of old!
My first IRC client, if I am not mistaken, was mIRC. Not a choice I would make again, but I wouldn't use Windows 95 again today either. Coming from a certain newsgroup, the first channel I participated in, was, of course, the newsgroup's channel. My first real foray into worldwide (even if it was limited to German-speaking countries in the beginning for me) text-based real-time communication. What an adventure for my 12-year-old self! About a year later, ICQ appeared, but it was really only suitable for direct messages between two people. And it was way too colorful and loud for my taste. Uh-uh! I wanted text without any bells and whistles. IRC remained my preferred real-time communication medium for the next few years.
At some point I discovered Linux-specific channels, which paved my way into the GNU/Linux world.
## Useful times
Especially during, but also after my first steps into the world GNU/Linux and its different distributions, the people in the respective IRC channels were always a great help. Keep in mind that Stack Overflow was not a thing yet and most problems could be addressed only via newsgroups or, especially for smaller kinks you just wanted a quick comment on how to work it out, via IRC (I'll exclude BBS systems, since I used them only very briefly and not very intensively). IRC has accompanied me on all my journeys and detours, from SuSe, to Debian, to Slackware, to Gentoo.
## Social gathering
But solving problems was not the only focus of many lively discussions. There was chatter, philosophizing, political discussions. In summary, it was a very worthwhile time with a wide variety of individuals who I would probably never have met in the offline world. Some acquaintances I met later in real life. It was a time that I remember fondly.
## The end
At some point, I can't even say what exactly prompted it–if there was any prompt at all, I spent less and less time on IRC. Sometimes days went by without me logging in, until it became weeks and sometimes months. At some point I finally lost contact. A few years later, in my mid-twenties, I gave it another try for some time. But it just wasn't the same anymore. Maybe, in the unforeseeable future, I'll log in again sometime. And who knows, maybe I will meet one or the other acquaintance from that time. And what will we do then? Exactly, talk about old times ;-)
## Acknowledgements
My thanks go to the many nice people from #linux.de, #LinuxGER (both IRCNet), and +linux.de (freenode).
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