Common IRC Server Misfeatures
Just as there are several client misfeatures, so too are there several IRC server misfeatures. Again, I won’t name names (mostly cos I have no clue who the responsible parties are), but they are things which should never have been implemented.
- Oper Override: Server and network administrators should not be involved in channel politics; they have enough problems to deal without getting involved. Use, and support, of this feature is one of the principal factors in determining if a network is run by morons.
- Operspy: If you’re paranoid enough about your users to consider this a desirable feature, you probably shouldn’t be running an IRC network, because spying on private communications has serious legal and moral ramifications that really don’t belong anywhere near IRC.
- notify command: Because stalking people on IRC is cool, kids! (You can’t prevent people from being notified of your presence, even if you find said people obnoxious.)
- Hostname/IP masking: While in general masking a user’s host is desirable, most implementations apply masking to all users in a way that makes running channels and/or using client-side message filtering more obnoxious than it needs to be. (Protip: tie the masking to an authentication system.)