LurkerLURKER

About Lurker

A modern, always-on IRC client and bouncer — open source, self-hostable, and run as a hosted service at lurker.chat.

1.0What it is

Lurker keeps you present on IRC. It holds your connections open, records what happens in your channels while you're away, and hands it back through a clean, fast interface that works the same in any web browser or mobile phone.

2.0Why it exists

Personally, I got tired of using a centralized chat service that was constantly shoving advertisements and requests for money into my face. So, I came back to IRC, but none of the clients I tried left me fully satisfied. I wanted a self-hosted client with the power and flexibility of a terminal client, and the ease of use and conveniences of a modern application, that also looked really, really easy on the eyes. I had no choice: I started working on Lurker for myself. As I showed it to other people on IRC, more and more of them wanted to use it themselves. Thanks to the enthusiasm of other IRC users, Lurker has grown into a fully featured IRC bouncer and client system.

3.0Philosophy

I believe deeply in the philosophy of open source software, which is why I wanted to make a production-quality cloud-hosted IRC bouncer and client that is fully open source for anyone to use and modify as they please. I also wanted Lurker to be a first-class IRC client, without the bloat and unnecessary 'modern' features of other IRC clients.

Lurker is not trying to be an ecosystem, or recreate Discord with IRC: it is just a really good IRC client.

4.0Who builds it

Lurker is designed and directed by Brad Root.

Brad has been designing high quality open source software for over a decade. Apps like PiBar and dotBeat, and the artistic screensaver Life Saver, delight thousands of people around the world, just like Lurker.

On IRC and across the internet you can find Brad as amiantos. Feel free to say hello if you see him lurking in a channel somewhere...

To learn more about Brad, visit his personal website.

5.0Find us