Oldest IRC Server Going Offline

Matty_ writes: "Looks like the oldest IRC server in continued operation on the Internet is going to be turned off for good. According to the server's MOTD, the server will be shut off no later than January 1. Aparently the University of Colorado can no longer support the software and hardware, as well as provide the network resources, specifically the extra bandwidth required for the various DoS (Denial of Service) attacks from which EFnet servers still suffer. They chose not to accept the liability and decided to retire the server."

Comments

EFnet history

[Harumuka]

Four years ago, Jarkko Oikarinen wrote a history of EFnet. In late '9, irc.colorado.edu reached 1000 users. Interesting read for anyone interested in how EFNet became what it is today.

Another network?

[autopr0n]

From what I understand, EFnet is a real mess because they don't use things like ChanServs/nickservs, etc, so stupid script kiddies will try to DDoS servers and users in attempts to take over channels (yes, extremely stupid)

I wonder why the colorado.edu people didn't just move to another network? Undernet, I believe, supports more advance authentication methods. There's slashnet :) and some others. They could also have tried going it alone, as a server for the local university.

I don't really think IRC is dying per-se, but these big networks are really becoming untenable. In my experience, it seems to be dividing up into niche community networks like slashnet, espernet (RPG stuff) with a few major rooms -- such as #slashdot and #kuro5hin on slashnet -- where most people hang out.

Also, in all this time I never knew what Efnet stood for, just finding that out was worth clicking the story :P

Re:Another network?

[ThatComputerGuy]

You're completely correct about EFnet being a real mess, and it is in large part due to takeover attempts. Check stories 1 and 2, posted on /. some time ago, for just some of the recent events.

I frequented EFnet all the time, but eventually left because I got tired of basically it's lameness. No nick/chanserv means people rely on their own bots to control their own channels. Once the botnet goes down thanks to some scriptkiddie's DoS, the channel is free to be occupied and the takeover is complete. Or you can hammer away at the irc server(s) the botnet sits on, causing a netsplit and once again allowing a takeover. There is usually some protection against this now, which means that during a netsplit nobody can gain OPs, but this can still lead to plenty of chaos.

At the time, I checked out DalNet and a couple of others that use nick/chanserv, but for one reason or another didn't like them (I mean, what the hell kinda name is DalNet?). I think Undernet is the more popular one for warez now, as it uses these server-side protection services.

I was involved in takeovers at one time, which meant I both gained and lost a number of channels-- at the time, either of the sides would likely have said that it was more of a contest, or a game, than just being assholes, since the chans involved weren't really that important, just hangouts. Of course, at that time we also didn't think twice about how much bandwidth we were chewing from the servers. Oh well.

Having said that, I usually only go back for warez now...

Oh, and I might as well say... ShannoW, you asshole, I liked that chan!

Re:Another network?

[toofast]

I remember when blackened.org went offline because of DoS attacks. They had the ability to serve up to 7000 IRC clients. One of the main reasons for killing the server, IIRC, was because of an evening where a bunch of idiots threw tons of garbage down blackened's pipes, causing the entire state of (arizona?) to be deprived of internet access. Although I cannot find Matt's original letter, I did find the config of irc2.blackened.com:

oldcharred.blackened.com: AMD K6-2 @ 333mhz, 128M of ram, 18G-10k rpm scsi primary, 9G secondary. This server houses the origional irc2.blackened.com EFnet server, the largest EFnet server in the world before it de-linked. Still running with the origional IRCD, I, O, C/N lines and TCM.

It's a pity that, in blackened's case, volunteer workers such as mjr are forced to abandon what they love to do, because of immature kiddies flooding the network with useless garbage.

Re:Another network?

[Xref]

Actually, on the contrary, EFNet has been on its way back up for quite some time now. After bottoming out due to DoS attacks and numerous servers losses at about 50,000 users, it's back up to an average of 75,000, and growing.

You are also mistaken in saying that EFNet does not use "things like ChanServs". A sort of channel services was in fact introduced on EFNet several months ago, and overall has been a great success.

I'll leave it at that, but suggest you (and anyone interested) checks out the most up-to-date information @ EFNet's unofficial web site - www.efnet.org.

Also realize that /. is very predictable in posting stories about EFNet's demise, but never about its successes (of which there are many). It's typical of mainstream media - bad news makes good news... too bad this is the route /. has taken.

Where have you guys been?

[MrPerfekt]

Some peoples comments here have been a little misinformed/out-of-date but, I'll spout some knowledge for your enjoyment.

Chanfix, a sort of ChanServ, has been put into operation on EFnet. Making packeting for channels relatively pointless. As of late, I've noticed less DoS, but I may just not be feeling it.

There is no, and probably never will be, any variation of NickServ. The "nicks/channels aren't owned" philosophy that EFnet was famous for is dying out. But, I don't think it will ever die out so much as to put in some type of NickServ solution.

As for EFnet politics, they're still there. But some progress has been made. The efnet.org website is the most official, functional website the network has ever had. There's been attempts to put comittees together for various area's, such as CoderCom. The voting site is functional and got some use where I had access to it, I don't know about it now.

But there still is work to be done. I personally haven't seen much in the way of enforcement of most things that were "voted" on by the admins. But this could be my not-in-the-know fault. All in all, EFnet and IRC in general is surviving. EFnet has remained at a stable, if not very slightly growing, lower to mid 70k users. Other networks have grown to surpass us, last I checked DALnet had over 100k users and they're doing quite well.
IRC is far from dead. All servers delink eventually, it's just the way of things. But the network is still the same stuborn machine it's always been and will continue to be.

Huh?

[Grendel Drago]

skr1p+ k1dd1ez0rz are Luddites? Puh-leaze. They're vandals, pure and simple. They like breaking shit because it commands fear and respect among their peers. Nothing new here, folks. Same shit stupid kids have been doing for ages to get attention.

-grendel drago

Some new IRC-like services that are available

[Cardhore]

There are some other services like IRC now that are secure and highly available, and have some features that usenet and irc don't have.

Freenet 0.4 is shaping up; expect the final 0.5 release shortly. Try downloading the newest nightly to get on. For those who aren't in the know, freenet is a peer-to-peer encrypted datastore. Each node shares part of that datastore, and freenet efficiently routes and stores data that you insert. Also it is anonymous as you can not easily tell who inserts data and who requests it

Now build on top of that is a program, Frost , that acts like Napster and a message board, a la Usenet. There are different message boards, and all messages are send & recieved anonymously.

Now both of these programs are in beta, but they do work, although large files tend to get lost in Freenet as of yet.

The final project is IIP, or Invisible Irc Project, available at http://www.invisiblenet.net/.

Also available there is a nifty program called "Psst" which allows for encrypted instant messaging. You can use it in conjunction with your normal IM program, and it's really easy to use and install.

One final note is that all of these program are cross-platform, open source, and binaries are available for windows & linux.

Intefering ops, lame admins, DoSsers...hassle!

[Alioth]

I have the capability to run an IRC server if I really wanted. I enjoy using irc (#alt.fan.elite on Starchat), and I have met good friends through IRC (in real life, as in go out have a beer etc) but as for running a server, I've decided that I'd rather try skiing through a revolving door before I ever bothered running an IRC server.

Why? Firstly, the politics. IRC is supposed to be fun, but the politics amongst the routing teams, opers, network admins etc. is just lame. Half of the friggin' admins like to think they are God.

Secondly, running an IRC server is like painting a huge DDoS bullseye on your server. Normally, IRC doesn't take up /that/ much bandwidth. But one DDoS attack could easily put you into excess bandwidth charges - as well as knocking your server offline.

IRC is supposed to be fun but the combination of lame admins and lame lusers make it an unpleasant chore. So I'll stick to being a mere user in an out of the way channel that's mode +s.

As for Starchat, at least they've done some things to protect themselves from DDoS attacks - they've made it non-trivial to find out the actual names of all the servers and the way they are linked (/map etc. are disabled), IP addresses are masked so users won't get DDoSed, ChanServ and NickServ are implemented. StarChat's still relatively small so they aren't the big DDoS target the large networks are. But even with this network, there's more than enough lameness to go around.

Looking at the bigger networks - look at the application process for adding your server to DALnet. The process seems about as fun as an IRS tax audit. Half the time, the IRC networks are their own worst enemies. I think a lot of the problems with IRC could be solved if there was no such thing as ops (instead, server-side /ignore if a user was being a pain in the ass). In our channel, we solve it the other way - everyone gets ops. It runs remarkably smoothly that way.