
Quassel IRC: cross-platform, distributed IRC client - Rondom
http://quassel-irc.org/
======
jbermudes
Quassel is awesome, and has a really interesting idea in wanting to store logs
in an sqlite db for better searching, but ironically in the current client
implementation this seems to make it harder to search for stuff.

While searching for things in the immediately loaded buffer is easy (CTRL+F),
searching for things said a long time ago can't be searched via the client.
You either have to use command line tools to dump the sqlite db into a
grepable text file or install the quasselsuche web app (last updated in 2012).

Once better long term search has been implemented in the client, quassel will
become the best GUI IRC client hands down, I look forward to seeing the
progress made in this area.

~~~
kuschku
Do not use quasselsuche, please - there are some major security issues.

I started a small project to work on a better search solution for quassel some
time ago, if you'd like, you can contribute at
[https://github.com/justjanne/quassel-rest-
search](https://github.com/justjanne/quassel-rest-search)

(Works only with postgresql, but uses word2vec for better search results)

~~~
voltagex_
Can you elaborate on the security issues? Have you tried reporting them?

~~~
detaro
If I remember correctly, it has massive SQL-injection holes and isn't
maintained anymore. The issues are known (quassels website etc warn people
against using quasselsuche).

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fcanela
Probably someone just discovered it.

I think it is relevant in the Slack-oriented era. I would love IRC getting the
hype instead: the protocol and software is open and easy to understand.

~~~
lorenzhs
Have you had a look at WeeChat + Glowing Bear? The idea is to keep WeeChat
running permanently on a server (screen/tmux) and to connect to it from a
browser (desktop or mobile). All the logs and highlights will be there, and
read status is synced. No cloud, communication is direct between browser and
WeeChat via websockets.

Disclosure: I am a maintainer of Glowing Bear. Join us in #glowing-bear if you
have questions :)

~~~
eugeneionesco
Glowing Bear is friggin' amazing, I've been using it for more than 6 months
now and it's pretty much the best irc experience you can get! Thanks!

~~~
skrowl
I also use weechat (on cygwin since they don't have native windows builds) +
glowing bear. It's great as long as you're at a PC, but it's missing a way to
get notifications (for example when you receive a /msg or /notice) when you're
away from the PC but have your mobile with you.

~~~
lorenzhs
Yeah, that's hard to implement without a central server component or annoying
setup. I use IrssiNotifier (despite the name, it also works with WeeChat).
It's not great but I get push notifications for highlights on my phone.

~~~
skrowl
Yeah, it would have to be a push notification. Running an actual IRC client
that had to maintain connection on mobile would destroy your battery.

Anyone aware of anything that works on mobile that does this?

~~~
lorenzhs
Well irssinotifier uses Google cloud messaging (is that the current name? The
Google push service). It encrypts messages on the server and decrypts them in
the client, using a passphrase. It's a technically neat solution but a bit
annoying to set up.

It has a script for weechat (and of course irssi), not sure about other
clients.

Or you can use pushbullet /..., there should be scripts for any popular
scriptable client

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aagat
This seems to do same thing as tmux+weechat on server and weechat/weechat-
android/glowing bear as client but graphical.

If you want try tmux+weechat combo but don't have/want to setup a VPS, create
an account at hashbang.sh. It's a free shell service and we drop new users in
weechat instance running tmux.

~~~
Tuna-Fish
The main difference is that quassel puts logs in sqlite/postgres. The database
makes the entirety of your logs easily searchable. The Gui lacks a great
search tool, but I just use a few python scripts.

~~~
detaro
Are your scripts published somewhere? A good & documented solution for this
would be great to have!

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wanda
If you're looking for a cross-platform, distributed IRC client, there's also
Smuxi ([https://smuxi.im/](https://smuxi.im/)) which I used to use.

These days I just use IRC on the move with Palaver
([https://palaverapp.com](https://palaverapp.com)) on my iPhone.

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kuschku
As this discussion started with webIRC clients, I'd like to mention the
awesome quassel-webserver project from Magne`:

[https://github.com/magne4000/quassel-
webserver](https://github.com/magne4000/quassel-webserver)

Basically, the same features as The Lounge, but it just connects to a Quassel
core, allowing you to connect to the same core with the desktop app or with
the Android app, and allowing you to use the ecosystem of software developed
around Quassel.

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sktrdie
Does this allow for me to be "always on"? The reason I moved from IRC to Slack
is exactly this. If there was a way for me to use many different peers to keep
my connections alive even when I'm offline, that would make want to use IRC
again.

Otherwise I just don't have time/energy/money to get a server just to host my
IRC session.

~~~
fcanela
You are looking for a BNC[1]. Quassel is a superset of the features you could
expect in one.

I think that there is a lot of people in your situation. They don't know about
the existence of this tools or think their setup is hard or time consuming and
ends using Slack.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNC_(software)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNC_\(software\))

~~~
pluma
When I first looked for something to let me be "always on" I ran into the same
advice you're giving. It didn't help me at all. Most people looking for the
answer to "how can I have always-on IRC with a backlog" don't want to learn
about what a BNC is or the pros and cons of the various BNC solutions out
there, they want something actionable.

I ended up installing Quassel with a docker image and downloading a Quassel
client for my laptop and smartphone. I hear it's possible to connect to
Quassel (and other bouncers?) with regular IRC clients, too, but I can't be
arsed to figure out how.

~~~
LeoPanthera
> When I first looked for something to let me be "always on" I ran into the
> same advice you're giving. It didn't help me at all. Most people looking for
> the answer to "how can I have always-on IRC with a backlog" don't want to
> learn about what a BNC is or the pros and cons of the various BNC solutions
> out there, they want something actionable.

This is a really strange comment. If the question is "How do I get always-on
IRC" then the answer is "Use a bouncer". Following up with "People don't want
to learn about a bouncer" is the same thing as "People don't really want the
answer". I'm confused.

How is "Install ZNC" (as an example of a bouncer) not "actionable"?

~~~
chipsy
Installing a bouncer means following technical documentation and having a
server free. The first requirement kills the interest of people who want a
single app install. The second kills the interest of people who want the
service free and run by a third party.

These are not enormous barriers but they were enough to put me off of setting
up Quassel on a VPS for a few years. Now that I've done it I don't want to go
back, of course, and I don't see it as a huge chore to do it again. But that's
what's making it "not actionable" \- the perception that this is going to end
in a nightmare of configuration files and Stack Overflow searches.

~~~
kuschku
That's part of the reason why "Quassel as a service" would be a very powerful
tool.

Currently, though, we have to tell users who want that to use IRCCloud instead
- about half of the people come back after the first week of free usage of
IRCCloud when it asks you to pay, and start using Quassel from then on.

------
pizzeys
Weechat, the terminal based client, also supports a protocol like this. There
aren't really any nice graphical clients for it, but there is a mobile one
which is very usable, and there's an HTML5-y one, but I haven't tried that.

If you like irssi, but wish you had a better way to use it on mobile, you
might like Weechat - that's how I use it currently, terminal over SSH on
desktops, mobile client over the relay protocol on the go.

~~~
eugeneionesco
>and there's an HTML5-y one, but I haven't tried that

Glowing Bear is excellent!

------
dvirsky
is there a special reason why this is the top HN item? I've used Quassel for
years and it's a fine client, but why now?

~~~
cocotino
Because somebody sent the link now.

~~~
dvirsky
that's why it's here, not why it's the top item, but WTH, I guess enough
people just discovered it, so enjoy, it's a really nice client.

I personally switched to gnome-xchat recently, which is not as feature rich,
but is really nice as well, and looks better IMHO.

~~~
fcanela
XChat doesn't seem to be maintained anymore (I do not know about gnome-xchat).

Have you considered Hexchat? I migrated to it one year ago and seems solid
while keeping the same look and feel.

~~~
dvirsky
xchat-gnome seems to be in low-maintenance mode, 2 commits in Q2 2016
([https://git.gnome.org/browse/xchat-
gnome/](https://git.gnome.org/browse/xchat-gnome/)).

I tried hexchat, and I don't remember why, I didn't like it so much. I'll give
it another try I suppose.

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utbabya
Speaking of IRC clients, I don't understand why one particular feature that
has been requested all time (feature request in various clients I've gone
through) but never implemented - keyword highlight and notification, but
customizable depending on the channel. This way you don't have to pay visual
attention to certain channels.

And I thought the need is common enough and it's easy enough to implement..

~~~
kuschku
This is definitely possible in Quassel - Each highlight rule has a regex for
the message, and a regex for the channel. Only if both match, it will
highlight.

This means you can get highlights on every message in channel #support, or
highlights on "quassel" in every channel.

~~~
utbabya
Perfect, then I'd definitely switch from LimeChat. I thought it wasn't
possible because of this [http://bugs.quassel-
irc.org/issues/1348](http://bugs.quassel-irc.org/issues/1348) , and saw no
mention of it in the doc. I guess it's just a request for blacklist instead.

------
kiallmacinnes
I've used Quassel for a few years now, it's great. Your always only, history
is preserved and shown on all devices - no matter how long they've been
disconnected for.

Unlike most BNCs, this also makes sure all the timestamps are correct when
data is replayed..it also doesn't notify you for mentions if you've already
been notified about the message. 10x more useable than any other BNC I've
used.

------
moogly
I evaluated this along with some other clients fairly recently (4-5 months
ago). I really liked it except for an issue where it appeared (from my end)
that I was online but I was actually disconnected. I missed a couple of days
of discussion and my messages ended up in a void. I dunno if it didn't like my
ZNC bouncer, but I considered it a showstopper nonetheless.

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ivcha
So many clients, so much effort spent... I wish the shared functionality could
be encapsulated and used within other clients (some of which arguably far more
flexible and thus usable), like pidgin (which is my favorite) and irssi...

------
ctrlrsf
Very interesting. Right now I'm using a znc bounce to allow all my clients to
stay connected. For clients I use either weechat, Textual from macOS, or
Mutter from iOS. All clients work seamlessly. Same nicks, channels, and logs
from any device.

~~~
dijit
Have you tried palaver for iOS, how does it compare to mutter- I only ask
because palaver has ZNC integration that allows push notifications and such.

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h_ar
Quassel is nice and I'd recommend it, even when I stopped using it for a year
and moved to AdiIRC (mainly because I found the customization on AdiIRC is
more fun to play with)

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mavhc
It's a BNC, but good; or it's IRCCloud, but free.

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knocte
Haven't tried Quassel, but I use Smuxi because it's a very good (also
distributed) alternative, which is multi-protocol (not only IRC).

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softinio
What clients on iphone are used with this that support notification?

~~~
kuschku
Sadly, the current iOS client hasn’t been supported in quite a while.

But there are 2 independent projects that allow sending notifications via
Pushbullet or GCM to your phone if you get a highlight via quassel, quassel-
pushbullet and quassel-irssi-notifier.

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fiatjaf
No installation instructions.

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foobarbecue
"but also ubiquitous available." \--> "but also ubiquitously available."

~~~
ionwake
Leave Britney Alone!

