Interview Log with Jarkko Oikarinen
Undernet Public Relations Committee 
http://www.pr-com.undernet.org/


Welcome to the Undernet Public Relations Committee's Live Events Interview Auditorium.
We have a very special guest tonight, Jarkko Oikarinen.  Jarkko Oikarinen is known as 
the creator of IRC as he developed and tested it in 1988. Jarkko has been kind enough 
to take this time out of his busy schedule to be with us tonight. As most of you already 
know, the Undernet Public Relations Interview Staff sent out many invitations for users 
to send in their questions to be asked during the interview. The best and most appealing 
25 questions have been selected carefully by the staff.  We will ask one question, wait 
for an answer from Jarkko, and then proceed with the next. We will now begin the interview 
session.  Sit back, relax, and get ready for an exciting hour.
  
(1) You haven't been seen or heard from much 
   in half a decade but have now decided to appear 
   in this online conference. Is there any specific 
   reason for the time chosen? Does it have anything 
   to do with Microsoft's intents to enter the IRC 
   scene? -- Donwulff

There is no specific reason for this time, except that during
1993-1996 I was working abroad (Sweden and France), not spending much
time on IRC or in Internet in general. I just happen to be a little bit
more around now than before.

(2) Did you come up with IRC just because you were 
   frustrated by the limitations of talk, or were 
   there other reasons? -- Kev

I believe that IRC came up because there was a clear need
for it. It was not to replace talk.. the purpose of talk is different.
The original purpose of IRC was more like to provide
similar features that existed on BITNET and DECNET, ie.
bitnet chat system and the DECNET phone.

(3) Why do you think people are attracted to IRC? -- Tsu

What makes IRC special is the sense of anonymity. The only things that 
you often know of the other person, are those that you can conclude 
from the discussions. 

(4) When you created IRC, what was the maximum number of 
users at the same time that you made allowance for? -- Run

It was not that well planned, but perhaps somewhere around 100 users.

(5) The protocol is now being used on networks with approximately 20,000 
simultaneous connections. If you knew then what you know now, would you 
have restructured ircd differently? -- Kev

Of course... the structure of the world wide web is much more 
scalable than IRC. I believe IRC will integrate into the web.. or at least 
the functionality of IRC, it has already started to happen. Having the IRC 
channels being listed on web pages would allow each channel to have it's own 
well routing small net.

(6) How long did it take originally to code the source for ircd? -- NudeDude

The first versions which were tested within Finland were coded in maybe 3-4 
months, with help from several other people in Finland.

(7) A lot of clients are introducing features such as color and sound on a 
client level that are not RFC-compliant. Do you think these sorts of commands 
should be at server level? -- saad

No, I think they belong to the client level. There is no need for the 
server to interpret the data people send to each other. There should, however, 
be some well-defined standards for this so that the clients will be compatible 
with each other.

(8) The original IRC RFC, RFC1459, relies on the rather questionable 
authentication method of sending passwords in the clear.  Knowing what 
you know now, would you have done this differently by perhaps using 
some form of cryptography? -- Kev

Not necessarily.. Naturally it is better to encrypt passwords, but if that 
would have meant several manmonths more work, I would have skipped it.
In fact encrypting all irc messages, including conversations was considered 
at some point. My reason for not doing it was the amount of work and knowledge 
that is needed to implement good cryptography routines. -oo-

(9) Have you heard about the new Microsoft RFC? and if so, what do you 
think of it? -- }{obbes

... Humm... that's a tricky question :-) I am not familiar with the 
Microsoft RFC, so I do not have a strong opinion on that as such. I 
have some thoughts about Internet standards, and they may or may not 
apply to this... I believe that Internet standards should be designed 
by a consortium of Internet users (or possibly by many companies), not 
by any single company alone (ie. dictated). The problem with a company 
making a standard usually is that nobody else will be able to conform 
to the 'standard', thus limiting free trade and free competition... it 
is a little like companies making the laws in internet instead of
representatives elected by people.. -o-

(10) IRC Operators nowadays face a major problem when banning users: 
Dynamic IP numbers.  They usually have to ban entire sites.  What do 
you think should be done to solve this problem for good? -- Net_Shark

I don't have any good solution on irc level, besides changing the complete 
IRC server structure to have more loose connections, ie. similar to the web. 
That way abusers can make less damage.

(11) Do you use IRC to chat online, and if so, how often?  Which networks 
do you like and why? What services do you think an IRC network should 
offer; e.g. NickServ and Channel Services? -- }{obbes

I do not use IRC very much anymore. I am logged on quite a lot, but I 
rarely engage in conversations, except with some old acquintances.
I do not prefer any network above others, except of course the 'original' 
net (EFnet).. and this is just purely historical reasons, not because it 
would be somehow better (nor worse) than others...  I do not have a strong 
opinion about services, e.g. NickServ, but I would prefer NickServ to exist. 
It is not a solution to the nickname problem, (9-character nicknames for 5 
billion people cannot be a solution) but perhaps a little better with than without -o-

(12) How do you feel now that nine years down the line, almost every 
document on the history of the Internet mentions your name? -- Donwulff

Hum.. IRC is the accomplishment of all IRC users and developers during 
the last 9 years. The small snowball of original IRC which I had the privilege 
to create has grown this large because of all IRC users and developers...
thank you for that :-) -o-

(13) IRC is now being utilized by many educational facilities online, 
not only for schools and universities to come online, but networks are 
offering classes for new users to IRC.  What is your opinion on IRC's 
potential as a useful tool for educational purposes, and what do you 
see in the future regarding the use of IRC as a "virtual classroom"? -- ExtraRed

In general I feel that teleconferences (including video and audio) are 
better teaching tools than IRC. The throughput is much better when the 
communication channel can include live gestures, tones of voice, etc.
IRC is better as a quick-paced discussion tool, where people throw 
comments while simultaneusly working with something else.
There may be some smaller areas where IRC is best suited as an educational tool... -o-

(14) Are you still keeping up to date with the current developments?
If so, what is your opinion about the fact that there are now multiple 
IRC protocols (i.e. EFnet/Undernet) that are growing further and further apart? -- Run

I am not following the latest developments. In my opinion it is good 
for IRC that there are many networks. It is a wrong direction, if the 
protocols grow apart so that a user does not familiarize him/herself 
in another network and the IRC clients are no longer compatible within 
different networks. -o-

(15) How do you feel about the changes to the original IRC code? -- MadCat

I think that all the people who have been helping IRC's success by improving 
the code have been doing a very good work. Some more, some less, but everyone 
has contributed. -o-

(16) Do you see any way of stabilizing the servers or somehow providing for 
increased population? -- Goldenrod

Changing to a more web-like structure, ie. having many smaller irc networks, 
which would be connected to each other by a loose structure, leading to a 
situation where all servers do not need to be aware of each other, contrary 
to current situation... -o-

(17) Do you think IRC will be around in 20 years? 10 years? 5 years? -- LGM

I think IRC will probably be around many more years, but it will evolve 
and integrate with other software in the internet.. how much of the original 
IRC is left at that point, I do not know. -o-

(18) Did you ever imagine IRC in addition to being a method for people to chat 
in realtime would also become a place for flooders, stalkers, harassers, and 
just generally disturbed people to congregate as well? -- AngelBaby

These kind of things are in the nature of people and I think it is inevitable 
to some extent. IRC is just one media for these activities. -o-

(19) What is your opinion on the use of the DCC feature to distribute and 
promote illegal activities such as child pornography and software piracy. -- BONK

I do not accept these illegal activities. However, I do not think IRC is to blame.. 
if there were no IRC, these activities would take place somewhere else. Any useful 
tool can be used for good and bad. Don't shoot the messenger... -o-

(20) Did you ever imagine that IRC would grow to become a tool for fostering 
friendships, relationships, and even act as a medium for people to find God? -- }{obbes

not really.. when I worked with it, I was developing a chat tool. It just turned 
out that people found much deeper use for it than what it was originally meant for.. -o-

(21) Looking almost ten years back, what would you have done differently, if you 
knew what you know now?  What do you see as the future for IRC? -- Donwulff and Goldenrod

There are many things that could have been done, but the reality is that 
implementing all nice things that came up would have taken incredible amount 
of time and IRC would not exist now... as for the future, I mentioned that it will
likely merge with other internet software.

(22) If you could change one thing about how IRC has progressed since you founded 
it, what would it be? -- cpw

I would have been wiser in taking into account the scalability problems of current 
IRC, especially the nicknames would need to be taken care within the clients instead 
of servers. The security problem in channels is another thing which could have been 
better designed.

(23) What do you envision as the next step beyond IRC in network communications? -- NudeDude

It can already be seen in the VRLM worlds, with people being represented as avatars, 
live audio and live video communications.. another step towards cyberspace.. -o-

(24) Will you be involved in future enhancements to the IRC protocol? -- Net_Shark

I do not think so.. right now I am working towards by PhD and it really consumes all 
my time. I will be listening but not actively participating... -o-

(25) How has developing IRC changed your life? -- Tsu

It has opened my eyes to see and understand people from different cultures. 
I have made many friends around the world, which I would not have made without IRC. 
There are lots of people who have met through IRC and went married...





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