
Komanda: IRC Client For Developers - spl9merz
https://github.com/mephux/komanda
======
akerl_
Is this an IRC client or an IRC server?

Looking at the code, it appears to be a client, but in that case why does the
site talk about it providing support for "Channels, Users, Permission,
Private, Public and much more", why does it claim it makes my channel contents
more secure (under "Secure Your Logs"), and why does it talk about setting up
an IRCd (" With a ZNC bounce, a simple ircd server and 5 minutes you can avoid
paying for communication and keep your company chat logs secure and on your
own infrastructure.").

If it's a server, why is how to set it up not described?

Not sure if OP is actually part of the dev team, or just somebody who found
the site, but a word to the devs: your website should clarify which of the
above you are providing. If it's a client, the site shouldn't talk about the
benefits I'd get running my own IRCd (security of communication, IRCd features
like channel modes and permissions, or lower cost). If you are intending for
folks to run their own IRCd, the site needs to have information on where that
software lives and how to set it up, and why I'd want to do that instead of
just making a channel on OFTC or Freenode or similar.

~~~
msturgill
I think that description is pitching it as a tool for small businesses or
development teams (that don't already know about ZNC, HexChat, irssi, weechat,
freenode, etc).

~~~
leishulang
I was playing with all those, then I found kiwiirc

~~~
akerl_
kiwiirc has it's own set of downsides. Primarily, the lack of registration
requirement makes it a haven for spammers and other network attacks and their
practice of putting all users onto a limited number of IPv4 addresses makes it
nearly impossible to block the abuse without affecting legitimate users.

~~~
prawnsalad
Kiwiirc admin here. We actually have a few options for networks to solve the
issues you mention. We can use WEBIRC to have the network show the users
correct hostname or the users IP in hex form as the username/ident. For either
of these options IRC network admins can enable them at will.

Due to the limited IPv4 addresses now available we can't be using many source
address for users, while IPv6 causes further questions such as what do we do
for idents as they don't fit as IPv4 addresses do, and what can be done for an
IPv6 user connecting to an IPv4 network?

While WEBIRC solves all the issues it does mean IRC networks must trust
kiwiirc with setting user hostnames - something some networks don't want to
allow making it impossible for us to set user hostnames correctly. It's an
issue without a real solution at the moment.

A large part is letting IRC admins know about the options kiwiirc provides to
work around the issues, unfortunately many ban all kiwiirc users causing
headaches for everyone instead of looking into the options.

------
fail2ban
It's beyond me why anyone would write a desktop application in JS, CSS, and
HTML, and require node as a dependency. These technologies are already bastard
children of the 'just make it work' mentality. Using them for an environment
they were never designed for, when there is decades of existing infrastructure
purpose-built (and far easier to use), makes no sense. The only reason that I
can come up with for why someone would build a desktop app with these
technologies is that they cbf to learn to use the correct tools for the job.

As for "the best client for developers" \-- I'll stick with irssi, thanks.

~~~
possibilistic
This kind of elitism is what turns so many people off about technology. What
if these are kids that are building this? Do you care so much about your view
that you would want to shut them down? Not everyone has the time or interest
in learning systems programming or C/C++.

In the end, optimization forces operating at levels beyond our comprehension
and ability to fully model will determine whether or not this project sees
continued development. Personal lives, adcademic interest, social
proliferation of memes, economic constraints...all serve as inputs. Don't
force an outcome like this. You might damage the author's impetus to try again
with more ambition in the future. Let nature run its course; you may
occasionally find yourself surprised by the outcome.

In general, it is pointless to rationalize your choices to the rest of the
world, which frankly doesn't put as much effort into listening as you might
think.

Sorry if I come across as rude. I just think this could be better framed as
constructive criticism.

~~~
fail2ban
I'm not being elitist. I'm stating my opinion; if you take it as an affront,
that's not my problem. So what if they're kids? Do you expect me to self-
censor in order to potentially spare the feelings of a developer who may or
may not be young? If what they're doing is better, then in time, I'll be
proven wrong. As you say, let nature run its course.

Hacker News is a place where people discuss technology. Opinion is inherent in
discussion. I don't apologize for anything I wrote.

~~~
vdaniuk
Hacker News is a place where people at least try to build a coherent, rational
discourse. Your posts detract from that goal and these two comments of your
are a net negative to the discussion.

But you already know that as you are posting from an anonymous username.

------
mattdawson
> With a ZNC bounce, a simple ircd server and 5 minutes you can avoid paying
> for communication and keep your company chat logs secure and on your own
> infrastructure.

Having watched a coworker spend a solid week getting our company's ircd setup
(and this was our VP of Engineering, mind you), I've gotta call BS here. Also,
until I started using irccloud[1] a few months ago, I was using ZNC, and
that's no walk in the park either.

[1] [https://www.irccloud.com/](https://www.irccloud.com/)

~~~
rdtsc
> Having watched a coworker spend a solid week getting our company's ircd
> setup (and this was our VP of Engineering, mind you),

Was he writing custom patches for it, re-implementing SSL, custom services.

I think you wanted to tell us about how hard setting up irc could be but ended
up telling us something about your VP of Engineering.

~~~
moepstar
Haha, exactly.

Setting up _anything_ for IRC - be it a bouncer, a bot, an ircd - requires
just one thing:

Being able to read, comprehend and some patience.

If all that fails, you just hop on IRC and ask the devs in the projects
channel....

------
tr4656
The reason irccloud is popular is that it is simple to set up and there is a
really great mobile client. No one really needs another web based client, even
if it is free; there are plenty of alternatives for that such as
ircanywhere[1] or Convos[2]. I'm really not sure who this is for.

[1] [http://ircanywhere.com/](http://ircanywhere.com/)

[2] [https://github.com/Nordaaker/convos](https://github.com/Nordaaker/convos)

~~~
shadowmint
O_o what are you talking about. This is an irc client.

~~~
tr4656
Yes, it is an irc client but on the front page

>With a ZNC bounce

which implies that they want you to connect to a bouncer. In which case, those
two I linked to are clients as well, just it having a bouncer built in.

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Abundnce10
I keep an IRC client (Colloquy for OSX) open everyday when I get home from
work. However, it crashes a few times a day and I think it's about time to
switch. Is this a suitable replacement for Colloquy? Any recommendations on a
better IRC client to use, web-based or OSX, are much appreciated. Thanks!

~~~
Killswitch
I use Textual, well worth the $5 it costs.

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innocenat
I think this is aimed to compete with IRCcloud solution, which cost around
$5/month/user. IRCcloud features private IRC server, bouncer, and
gist/picture/etc viewer in its (web-based) client. This is why the front page
is very confusing, as right now this Komanda (probably) is client-only.

------
shadowmint
It's worth noting that despite the "ZNC bounce" stuff on
[http://komanda.io/](http://komanda.io/) this is actually just an IRC client.

It seems to run on all my systems because it's webkit based; it's quite
pretty. Had a bit of trouble with the setup which resulted in "USER Not enough
parameters"; pretty rubbish first experience using it.

I don't see any 'developer features' that make it worth bothering with over
any other irc client, but I appreciate the idea that it's javascript based and
I could download and customize it if I wanted to.

Cute project; yet another 'uses webkit for desktop app'. For better or worse,
that seems to be flavor of the month at the moment.

------
cheez
1\. If I wanted a customizable IRC client for developers, I'd use ERC in
Emacs. Note: I still haven't figured out how to prefer it over XChat. I think
that's what I'll be doing tonight.

2\. Part of the justification for the client seems to be "People are charging
for this, just get it for free!!!" That's terrible logic. Professionals pay
for their tools if the best tool for the job is commercial.

~~~
nextos
Erc is quite good. I've never bothered installing irssi or weechat for my
sporadic visits to OS freenode channels.

Perhaps some IRC users can pop up and illustrate us a bit about their client
of choice.

------
Nux
Nice POC, but if a "developer" can't handle irssi.. then I have bad news for
him.

~~~
nsmartt
I assume the the people choosing the methods of communication for startups are
_capable_ of learning to use irssi or weechat, but both of those clients take
quite a bit time to learn and require significant amounts of customization to
make them truly comfortable. It isn't a good business decision to require your
teams to learn to use these tools.

Is IRC an acceptable medium for a company? Maybe it can be. Is it wise? Not
with tools like irssi.

~~~
kurrent
A big part of the appeal for IRC to me is the not so low barrier to entry with
tools like irrsi

~~~
akerl_
Which is wonderful if you're an old hat who enjoys having new people get
frustrated and leave before they have a chance to contribute to the ecosystem.

~~~
kurrent
yes precisely and people who use tech buzzwords like ecosystem

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jwh018
This project seems abandoned judging by the contribution history.
[https://github.com/mephux/komanda/graphs/contributors](https://github.com/mephux/komanda/graphs/contributors)

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thibauts
So "people who write code" now equals "web developers". Sad ...

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ziziyO
Can this be run as a web app rather than with nodewebkit somehow? I'm not
familiar enough with node/npm to figure it out.

------
prezjordan
Very handsome! Looking forward to using this as my default client.

