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Using IRC for Electronic Meetings?

Posted by Cliff on from the coopting-existing-technology-for-your-needs dept.

paenguin asks: "Our Linux User Group sometimes needs to hold Exec meetings, electronically. We have used IRC in the past, but it leaves us with a problem: there is no easy or built-in way to prove who is who. Do Slashdot readers know of a way to provide non-repudiation over IRC, or of another open source method of holding group electronic meetings where we can verify that everyone is who they say they are?" Wouldn't a private IRC server, with a combination of suitable IRC services (ala NickServ and ChanServe) and fairly restrictive policies, be one solution to this problem? How would you set up such a system? For those willing to brave the setup hassles, might some form of secure IRC also be an option?

8 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Don't you have OSS IM software? by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What's stopping you from using an IM client that allows multiple users in a conference-type configuration?

    The IM server is responsible for authentication, so you just add your buddies and then start chatting. Seems simple.

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    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  2. uhh - other IM services? by jeffy124 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    just exchange AOL Screen Names in a face-to-face setting, and set up a private chat room. Done!

    --
    The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
    1. Re:uhh - other IM services? by GiMP · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Except all communications go through AOL, unencrypted.

  3. Video Conferencing by sycotic · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "there is no easy or built-in way to prove who is who"

    Why not use Video Conferencing software? There would then be no question as to who is who :-)

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    -- If I were a fish, I'd be wet
  4. Identification in IRC by robbkidd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's been a while since I spent much time in IRC, but even several years ago we would identify channel ops with a bot (eggdrop, if I recall correctly). Giving everyone ops isn't necessary, either. It is simple to have usernames and passwords maintained and authenticated on a bot and to set the IRC channel to require members to be given a voice (by the bot upon authentication) to speak in the channel.

  5. identity and security in im/conferencing clients by joelja · · Score: 2, Insightful

    certain jabber clients allow you to pgp encrypt or just sign every message in an exchange. couple that with jabber servers support for ssl and you have a secure and autheticated message stream and meeting space

  6. Re:IRC is probably not what you want by aminorex · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Use IRC over SSL with client certificates.

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    -I like my women like I like my tea: green-
  7. I have a simpler suggestion by Artifex · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You guys are all Linux people, so I'm sure you have the ability and wherewithal to set up a private local IRC service on your server. Set the meeting channel to keyed if you need to, but here's the best part: your local usernames on your server are visible in the /whois, so as long as you have usernames (maybe just for these meetings) that are your.name@*, you don't need any nickserve, etc., because everyone can see your name when you log in. If you have any suspicions still, you can pop to another screen and run "w" to see whether they're really logged in and running epic or bitchx or whatever.

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    Get off my launchpad!