it's been 4 long years..

[Christophe Kalt <kalt@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

As some may remember, i started hacking the IRC server about
4 years ago.  It was first fairly innocent, debugging 2.9 for
which development was pretty much at a stand still even though
a lot of code had already been written, and most of the already
written changes were badly needed.

With the slow and painful, but successful release of 2.9.1,
and consequently of the adoption of the 2.9 serie by the IRCNet
community, i soon came to realize that there was a bigger
challenge than simply improving the server software:  changing
the development model from what was essentially a closed one,
to a more open one, in the hope of getting more contributors.

As i got a few people to agree to help me in this task, i
agreed to take it up on me to drive this effort, in becoming
the official maintainer of the IRC Software.

While i think i have partially succeeded, i also realize that
i failed in achieving what i viewed as the most important:
building a core team of developers.

Nnonetheless, when i look back, i find many reasons to rejoice.
>From 2.8.21, we have made tremendous progress with the software,
and we also have been able to find good technical answers to
the constant challenges brought by the years. Most importantly,
i think we have been able to do so without the evil trade-offs
many other nets have come to.  The fact that IRCNet now fares
well above 50,000 users is all i need to be assured that we
made the right decisions.

Unfortunately, most people don't realize the amount of work
that is currently needed on the software, and think that all
is well.  The truth is that other networks all spend a lot
more resources on the server development than we do.  This is
not visible yet, but in a matter of months, we will have fallen
behind (if not already).  I hope that some, at least, already
realize that a lot needs to be done; big servers are, as
always, pushing the limits.  But again, people scream to have
2.11 happen, putting off the much needed optimization work.


My motivation, energy as well as spare time for IRC have all
become very scarce resources, and i haven't actively written
code for many months now.  Luckily, with the help of many
people, i was able to keep working on the IRC Software for a
lot longer than i could have alone.

However, my last significant contribution to the IRC community
was the documentation of the IRC protocol as it is nowadays.
These documents have now been approved by the IESG for
publication as informational RFCs, and should soon be available
from your favorite RFC site.

I am pleased to finally retire from the IRC scene, and to
announce that Piotr Kucharski is now officially maintaining
the IRC Software.

These have been interesting years, and i would like to thank
all of you who did helped, and were part of this adventure.

Christophe Kalt