

Comparison of XMPP based Group Chat and IRC based Group Chat - ad93611
http://gaglers.com/blog/2013/04/27/xmpp-group-chat-versus-irc/

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andor
The author seems to lack the technical background to write about the topic.

 _All IRC messages are simple strings in the augmented BNF representation._

He does not know what a formal language is.

 _The difference between a command and a message is just the prefix that you
type in the client. Any message that you type beginning with the "/" character
is interpreted as a command._

He is confusing the IRC protocol with a user interface now.

~~~
zokier
Also this statement is quite awkward:

 _IRC messages are short because they are simple ASCII text strings in a
specific format._

First of all, encoding issues are a major pain point in IRC. Luckily most
people use UTF-8 now, but the transition from legacy 8-bit encodings was not
easy. Considering the history of IRC, I don't believe that IRC ever used plain
ASCII.

Secondly, what is XML but "text strings in a specific format"? That's
incredibly vague statement to begin with.

~~~
ad93611
I misunderstood the encoding in the IRC protocol. I reworded the section that
both of you mention. Thanks!

------
0x0
On a related note, bitlbee is a really nice xmpp client implemented as a "fake
irc server". I use it all the time with irssi.

~~~
philsnow
To be clear, bitlbee sits in between chat services (like AIM, ICQ, qq, various
xmpp-based ones like gchat / facebook chat) and your irc client.

    
    
      MSN/AIM/qq/XMPP/etc <-> bitlbee <-> your irc client
    

so you tell your irc client to connect (typically) to localhost where bitlbee
is running, and bitlbee acts as a bridge between your irc client and various
chat services all at the same time.

It's the bee's knees.

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StavrosK
I'm currently working on a product that gives you a useful bot for your team
chat room (<http://www.getinstabot.com>, contact me for free beta access), so
I've had a bit of experience with the two protocols lately (I'm currently
rewriting the XMPP frontend in Go, the architectural evolution has been
enlightening and it's a very fun process, I might do a writeup if there's
interest).

This post looks a bit like filler, it's not very accurate on the details (as
other posters have said), and it doesn't have much content.

I think the main reason people will prefer IRC over XMPP is one of culture.
IRC is for talking to strangers, XMPP is for talking to people you know.

Because of this, various company chat services are gearing towards supporting
XMPP, because people usually already use XMPP clients, and the whole
environment is less "let's look around the server and see what channels are
interesting" and more "I'll just make a channel here because everyone has a
client that can talk to it already.".

Both technologies are great, and you can use them pretty much interchangeably,
but each serves a different target market. That's the biggest difference, in
my opinion.

~~~
ad93611
The inaccurate details have been fixed. Why do you think the post does not
have much content?

Instabot sounds good. I'll be happy to try it out with the Gaglers chat rooms.
There are not much details on the site about how to customise the bot.

~~~
StavrosK
Yes, unfortunately documentation has taken a back seat to getting the XMPP
frontend right. It should be ready in a day or two, and then it's
documentation time. Feel free to contact me (email in my profile) if you need
anything at all, but the bot should just work with the Gaglers rooms right
now.

Can I email you to ask what sort of customization you're looking for? Thanks!

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captn3m0
If someone is looking for fast, free group chat for your team, I cannot
recommend Partychat[0] enough. It has a hubot adapter, which allows you to do
cool stuff using a bot which you can program.

