Subject: CoderNet IRC access and details
For: #irc #socialmedia #selfhosting
Image: An IRC exchange from today [posted with permission]
Short link: https://dansu.org/codernet-irc
IRC chat is due for a comeback. It’s the cat’s meow 🐈⬛ relative to Discord and other corporate chats 💬 #IRC is Free, Open Source, light, portable to nearly every device, and everything that you type doesn’t go into #AI. 😈
Some Mastodon 🦣 and Akkoma setups support #chat in the Fediverse client. However, that feature isn’t in wide use yet. IRC is the more standard option.
I was in #Freenode IRC off and on for a decade [2008 to 2017]. I’ve run a separate network, CoderNet, from 2012 to date on different dedis and VPSes.
Subsequent to an update on October 24, 2026, CoderNet can be reached as follows:
N1) any IRC client using secure mode, host irc.oldcoder.org, port 6697
or
N2) any IRC client using insecure mode, host irc.oldcoder.org, port 6667
or
N3) any major web browser, go to either irc.oldcoder.org or irc.minetest.org
If you make it into CoderNet, you can IRC PM me using:
/query OldCoder HelloMy hours excluding errands, rest breaks, and trips are typically noon til midnight Pacific Time. Initial responses typically take from 1 minute to 1 hour.
For options N1 and N2, the recommended GUI client for Linux and Windows is ZoiteChat:
CLI IRC clients include irssi and weechat. For Android, Revolution IRC is a free GUI client that works well for me. I don’t have a position on clients for Apple devices.
Option N3 lets you to connect to IRC using just a web browser. The IRC GUI in this case is The Lounge. For more information about The Lounge, visit:
The sample screenshot is of a IRC PM exchange with MURB, who was actually one of the first people that I chatted with in IRC 18 years ago. MURB is in his late 30s now and disabled but looking to be productive in #gamedev.
The IRC software stack used by CoderNet on the server side is as follows
ngircd - core IRC daemon
nginx - web server
lego - certs generator
anope - IRC services such as NickServ
thelounge - IRC web GUI
ocbip - a fork of the bip IRC bouncer
Presently, the network is running on a low-end Debian box. [IRC needs very little in the way of hardware.]
The Fediverse weblog site for CoderNet is located at:
Additional technical notes:
a. CoderNet uses valid certs as opposed to self-signed certs, so cert error messages shouldn’t be an issue.
b. IRC visitors don’t need to install The Lounge in order to use it. Nothing but a web browser is required.
c. The bouncer feature mentioned on The Lounge home page isn’t supported by the CoderNet setup. I use ocbip as my own bouncer and I could set it up for other people in some cases.
d. If anonymous is a priority, connect to CoderNet in secure mode, IRC PM me as explained above, and ask for a Freenode-type cloak.
e. The Edgy channels shown in the screenshot are in Edgy McEdge’s IRC network as opposed to CoderNet. I’m not Edgy, though I’ve known her since 2018.
To see a larger version of the screenshot, in most web browsers, right-click on the image, select “Open in New Window”, and resize the new window.
