That ship has sailed. IRC lost to Discord years ago. Don't care about it being closed source. IRC also lost to the Matrix protocol as not only that is much better, it is also just as competitive with Element and they are making money, meaning that they can afford to add more features.
IRC is prehistoric ancient history. It's time to evolve and leave that protocol in the dust and go with modern alternatives like Matrix.
A couple of years ago you'd have told me the exact same thing but with s/Discord/Slack/
IRC has "lost" many times before and yet it's still around while the previous "winners" are all gone or irrelevant. Even if Discord is tolerable today how long before it becomes terminally enshittified?
> The reality is, IRC will probably be still around after Discord and its successor have bitten the dust. The Lindy effect has been trustworthy so far.
You do realize that even if Discord dies, its users on there won't be going back to IRC? That is the point.
We have already seen the Matrix protocol being used in the tens of millions whilst IRC is in decline.
IRC is prehistoric ancient history. It's time to evolve and leave that protocol in the dust and go with modern alternatives like Matrix.