SSCV Launches SubSpace IRC Server

[L.C.]

BlueToast, also known under the titles of SSCV and BlueT, has launched a SubSpace IRC server. The server is administrated and managed by The Ghost Ship with at least 10 years of experience, and the server currently runs under the address of irc://ds1.hlrse.net:6667/. We hope attain a more convenient connect address soon! In the mean time, you can connect and hang out via browser using Mibbit.

[»Maverick]

What's the advantage of using an IRC server in comparison to an online multiplayer 2D space game with lots of chat features?

[Yupa]

Just need to hook it up to SSC.

[»Xog]

In re mav:

 

cell phones

[Samapico]

So is this just a separate server, or is the chat somehow relayed to the biller's ingame chat?

[L.C.]

No, it's just an IRCd server. At this point, someone could easily code up an ASSS module that would make both the in-game Subspace chat and the IRC chat (for Public arena) coexist in IRC and Subspace. Additionally, someone could make a bot or plugin for MERVBot or TWcore or whatever that will do the same, except at a ;channel; level only. Both could relay messages to and thro from said Subspace zone's public arena/;channel; respectively.

 

Again, we're just doing this for fun.

[»Xog]

Update: jowie got the ?chat=jowie hooked up to the irc thismorning

 

edit: take that, and reverse it. On ohone too lazy

Edited August 17, 2010 by Xog

[»gallitin]

Connected, but not 1 person in there. Edited August 24, 2010 by Gallitin

[L.C.]

Connected, but not 1 person in there.

What did you expect? 50 million people to be there 24/7, afk or not? TGS and I are usually online evening and morning times (-6 GMT), and there is some activity in Jowie's channel throughout the day.

 

#jowie has an eggdrop that relays chat from ?chat=jowie on SSC.

Edited August 24, 2010 by L.C.

[»Xog]

word haha. im usually logged in on my train ride to/from work and in between my smoke breaks. its fun to chat with ppl playing subspace at 8AM Edited August 25, 2010 by Xog

[»1587200]

I enjoy how /map, /links, and remote /version cmds have been disabled, all probably in the name of security, yet the server doesn't have ssl enabled.

[L.C.]

If SSL really means a lot to you Syrus, we can install 128-bit SSL because I have a handful of unactivated certificates. Just for you.

 

[18:23] <@TGS> Though SSL in IRC isn't particularly effective unless those you're talking to are using it as well.

Edited September 8, 2010 by L.C.

[TGS]

As I just finished talking to L.C. on IRC about this I'll give the same bit of insight here as I gave to him. The features you cited being blocked are blocked in another feature called "head in sand" it's actually not about your security at all but security for the server. As anyone who is and has been an avid IRC user should know IRC servers are often havens and hangouts for script kiddies and hackers. As such they often times can become targets of attacks. Now generally speaking those commands don't yield much info that would be a security risk however the network that introduced the features UnderNet did so primarily because they were attacked in a massive DDoS years ago and due to the fact that /map was visible the script kiddies actually knew specifically which points of the network to take out to cause maximum disruption. Similarly a few other commands were usable that also gave them information which aided their attacks on the server.

 

So basically the main answer to this hits at a couple points. 1. These head in sand features are designed for server security not user security. 2. SSL is designed primarily for user security but given how it works, for it to actually be effective each person would have to be using SSL. 3. User security is important and there are features enabled towards that end. Your IP for example can be masked. A common security feature on most IRCd's these days.

 

Now as I told L.C. any IRC server that tried to force people to use SSL would fail. The closest you can do is enable SSL and set a mode in a channel restricting non-SSL enabled clients from joining. But this isn't a necessary feature. I can't imagine any "sensitive" discussion taking place on this IRC server/network. If you are ever that worried about your communications being monitored on IRC I'd simply suggest not using it for said communication. You'll find that there are very few communication systems that are SSL secured by default. The lay person doesn't need encryption for their communications. If they do there's a good chance whatever they're doing they shouldn't be lol.

[»Lynx]

I personally wouldn't really be too bothered about not using SSL on IRC, purely because I anticipate that nobody will ever use this IRC server but I will mention that the use of SSL on connections isn't solely for the privacy of your conversations, but the privacy of your password. It's very rare that people use a separate password for every service that they use (banking, gaming, chatting etcetera); if one password were to be compromised, it can often lead to many other passwords being compromised. I can think of situations where this has happened, not only outside of this game, but within this very community. Without the use of SSL authentication you're allowing for packet sniffers, man in the middle, and whatever other scenarios to be far easier to execute. While it doesn't really matter that you don't FORCE people to use SSL, it certainly should always at least be an option. People should be free not to use security, but they can also freely get the finger from support when they cry that their accounts have been compromised. If people are complaining that it should be forced though, I wouldn't really worry - they're probably just being pedantic. Just my two cents.