self-hosted · tls only · +R channels
IRC.
It still works.
A chat server I run myself, for a few friends who wanted somewhere quieter. Part nostalgia, part stubbornness. Sessions stay up when you close the client. History lasts a week. Nobody decides what you see.
* connecting to irc.splaq.us:6697 (tls)* connected-!- #general · #homelab · +R* your session persists after disconnect* history retained 7 days* not registered. /REGISTER to fix that._
Connect
Both channels are +R, which means registered users only. You can connect
anonymously — you just can't get into a channel until you register.
Open in client
— if your client handles the ircs:// scheme.
Get in
-
Pick a nick and connect.
Point your client at
irc.splaq.uson port6697with TLS on. Use the nick you actually want to keep — you're about to make it permanent.No client yet? Setup notes for four of them.
-
Register the account.
Type this into the server window, not a channel:
/REGISTER <nick> <email> <password>- <nick>
- Must match the nick you're using right now. Change nick first if it's a throwaway.
- <email>
- Gets the verification mail, and is where password resets go.
- <password>
- Goes into SASL in the next step. Not a channel key, not your email password.
A verification email arrives with a code. Complete it with
/msg NickServ VERIFY <nick> <code>— the account stays pending until you do. -
Turn on SASL, then reconnect.
Set the login method in your client to SASL PLAIN with your account name and the password from step 2. Reconnect. Now the server knows who you are before you ask to join anything, which is what
+Ris checking for.One-off alternative, if you're already connected and just want in:
/msg NickServ IDENTIFY <nick> <password>.
Client setup
- Server
irc.splaq.us- Port
6697- SSL
- Tick Use SSL for all the servers on this network
- Login method
- SASL PLAIN
- User name
- your nick
- Password
- your account password
Settings → Network list → Add, or Edit an existing entry. The login method dropdown is on that same screen.
Five lines in the WeeChat input bar. Replace the placeholders. On WeeChat older than 3.0 the TLS flag is spelled -ssl.
/server add splaq irc.splaq.us/6697 -tls
/set irc.server.splaq.sasl_mechanism plain
/set irc.server.splaq.sasl_username <nick>
/set irc.server.splaq.sasl_password <password>
/connect splaq- Server
irc.splaq.us- Port
6697with TLS on- SASL
- PLAIN, account name + account password
Goguma and Revolution IRC both do this. SASL lives in the network settings, not the app-wide ones.
- Server
irc.splaq.us- Port
6697with TLS on- SASL
- PLAIN, account name + account password
Mutter takes the same settings. If it connects but you get 477 on join, SASL didn't happen — check the username is your nick, not your email.
Why bother
-
Sessions don't end when you close the laptop.
The server holds your session, so disconnecting is not leaving. Come back tomorrow, reconnect, and the channel is where you left it. One week of history sits on the server for the parts you did miss.
-
Plain text, and that's the whole format.
No embeds, no reactions, no typing indicators, no read receipts, no link previews. Lines, in order, with a timestamp. It is remarkable how much quieter a conversation gets when it can't render anything.
-
No algorithm, no feed, no retention team.
Nothing ranks your messages or decides what you see first. It's from the 90s and it has been quietly working the entire time, which is more than most of what replaced it can say.
Questions that come up
- Why do I get 477 when I join?
-
Because the channel is
+Rand you're not identified. The server lets anyone connect, but only registered accounts get into#generalor#homelab. Register, verify the email, then set SASL so identification happens on connect instead of by hand. - My password doesn't work.
-
Three things cause this, in order of frequency. Your account name isn't the nick
you're using —
/REGISTERtakes your current nick as the account name, so a throwaway nick makes a throwaway account. You're putting the password in a nick field instead of the SASL one. Or the verification mail is still sitting unopened somewhere. Still stuck:/msg NickServ RESETPASS <nick>and follow what comes back. - My client warns about the certificate.
-
It shouldn't. It's a real Let's Encrypt certificate for
irc.splaq.us. If you see a warning, check you're actually on port6697with TLS on and not on a saved profile from somewhere else. If it still complains, send me the exact text of the warning.