IRCv3 is shaping to be amazingly good!
here's the things it offers, today, right now, on a chat server we just set up in one evening:
- you don't need a bouncer (friggin finally)
- there are moblie clients that work well
- you can see backlog when joining a channel
- you can browse chat history
- you can connect from multiple devices with one account and nickname
- if you disconnect, your nickname is still present in a channel you joined, marked as away
- you can highlight or DM people who are away and they'll see your message when they join (without crutches like MemoServ)
- there is a "last read message" marker and it is synchronized between multiple connections
- messages have identifiers (and server timestamps) and replies can be tagged with the message you're replying to
- messages can be redacted (for moderation)
- you don't need to deal with fussy nonsense like NickServ authorization, ghosting, or such; connect with your username and password and that's it
- there are typing notifiers, if you want them
- there are message reactions, if you want them
here's the things it does not offer:
- image, video, or file uploads (actively worked on: https://github.com/ircv3/ircv3-specifications/pull/562)
- stickers
- complex onboarding tools
caveat: since IRCv3 is a true extension of IRCv2, the features listed above work if they're supported by both the server and the client. in my onboarding experience so far, people do not find it difficult to find a suitable client, but your mileage may vary. on the flipside, legacy clients will work just fine.
unexpectly, i realized that IRCv3 can completely replace Matrix rooms for my own group chat purposes, and i'm probably not going to set up any Matrix homeservers again; it's just not worth it and frankly I should instead put that effort into coming up with a file upload IRCv3 extension or something
