When I started back on IRC in 1996 I used QuakeNet when it was fully operation with Q on P9 servers. The network worked. Even though there was only like 400 users at the time I connected day by day that number grew rapidly and showed no sign of slowing down. The network started to buckle under the pressure of so many users and netsplit’s were becoming more prominent, what it made it worse was the link structure including where Q was linked into the network was clearly visable to anyone. Buckled servers were rescued by further servers introduced and the network become more sturdy again, that was until DDoS attacks started to happen and even though the operator’s never let on too much it was clear to see that hosts were pulling servers, nearly all server was unreachable and the network lost a large number of users and channels, to this day it was a small scar on their side as they recovered to become the largest network for many years.
Over the course of time where people have become more adapted to linux and bsd systems so has their knowledge of security issues in other operating systems like microsoft too, and leanred how to vigorously attack networks and rather than have a small number of large powerful servers it was seen that large number of small computers was the answer, and indeed many other irc networks used this to start bringing down other networks such as dalnet. I was a user of dalnet from 1999 onwards and witnessed the attack of dalnet for it fserve channels.
With the above mentioned of people’s knowledge of linux operating systems growing not all have used it in a necessarily bad way, they have used the knowledge to start up a irc network, link in servers and some of those networks also grew rapidly. Like the explosion of number of users going on irc, there was an explosion in the number of networks too, so the larger irc networks started losing out then to the ever growing number of new networks which were more often or not channel operators of larger channels on the larger networks creating a new home where they had more power.
Lack of oper presence was another issue on the bigger networks was another cause for the number of network explosion as quite often or not the larger networks would be the target for users who would be tricked in PM or in channel to click a url that could represent for example a .jpg file when infact it could of been an activex or .exe file, and since the larger networks at earlier point in their existance offered no optional +x (hidden host) on their ircd’s made getting their ip/hostname very easy.
Lack of features I feel also was an important factor, was it the fact that ircd’s like unreal offering automatic +x or settable host’s via hostserv that made moving to a smaller network better? yes as not all users at the time had access to a bouncer, and if they did would of had to pay a few pounds / dollars to gain access to it. If you were lucky someone might of had a psybnc set up with multiple vhost’s and allowed you access as a trusted irc user., without a bouncer you were left exposed.
When undernet finally introduced head_in_sand features this inventiably increased network safety such as /links and /maps being for the eyes of opers, further hidden u:lines on dalnet and optional +x with a AC token flag on ircu P10 ircd’s was the uplift that the major irc networks needed. It was the turning point of user and network safety. Quakenet before undernet already implemented S:lines on their ircd’s which offered a fake vhost on their network, but was only available to opers and helpers, so the introduction of undernet’s +x was a god send.
IRC today is pretty much the same as above. It’s reached the climax of what it can became and there’s nothing new about it. IRC without a doubt is dieing and its going out a lot quicker than it grew. It wouldn’t be fair to name sites for the plague that’s been cast on to irc but it’s probably easy to guess which social networking sites are to blame. IRC will never go out as there will always be hardcore irc fans, the people never stopped using irc (like me) and the people that help keep irc alive in numbers… the old skool’ users.
Where will it go from here? I would like to see the largest networks like dalnet, undernet, efnet, quakenet stay at the top, where as its easy to see that other networks are now moving up the ranks like freenode, they simply just don’t belong in the top spot.
I will add dalnet is where I found my first partner with whom I am still with today and that is a good example of how wonderful irc was and still is.