Julius {l Wrote}:But you don't need to run your own server, the IRC service provider usually does run a bouncer. The problem is that Freenode doesn't run a bouncer and most FOSS projects have a channel there.
This reframes the issue though - the bouncer and being able to receive messages while offline, and read the history, is an essential aspect of live chat at this point that people expect. It shouldn't be up to individuals to host their logs.
There's also this strange policy against logging that lots of channels have. It's a different world and honestly, a much less convenient one. I have mentioned I've been a hardcore user in the past and have a tricked-out WeeChat setup, but I'm personally glad to see it on its way out.
Julius {l Wrote}:Technical skills reasons aside (which are not always needed), I find it somewhat astonishing how many disadvantages people are willing to live with just to safe 1-5€ a month for a proper hosted service. Unless you come from a really poor country, that is basically free (one coffee less), but it needs some mental effort and not just 3 clicks for a "free" service.
Maintaining a patchwork of services for a terribly slow, £3/month OVH VPS that was unreliable took up so much of my time that I took the convenient route. Also, I am actually serious about saving money, and I log every single transaction I make. You'd be surprised how it adds up (and personally, I never liked tea or coffee
).
The core issue is that what you spend in money should also give you back some time or peace of mind. Self hosted stuff is still mostly a mess, especially when it comes to using via mobile. You can get your money back, you might even be able to get back privacy (though this is a nebulous concept and partly about fear of the future - so like insurance). The
one thing no-one will ever be able to give you back is time, which is why rich people spend money on cleaners and the like. Time is the ultimate feature, and a VPS setup isn't at all an advantage with the amount of maintenance I had to put into it, at least on my crappy cheap plan. But I also don't want to pay more when I can have the same pain-free service for free, and even if I did have more powerful hardware - maintenance would still be a time sink.
You just wasted 3 seconds of your life reading this.