As you may or may not have noticed, there were some server changes the other day. In this post, I’ll explain how to take advantage of them.

First, we now have a new server called WOPR. “Would you like to play a game?” ;p
We also changed the naming conventions of the servers, which directly affects how you, the user, will connect to them. Before, specifying “irc.thinstack.org” and “irc.thinstack.com” in your clients connection properties would log you into those specific servers, “end of line”.
Now, however, using those addresses will cause your client to choose a server at random. If you’d like to connect to a specific server, you connect to wopr.thinstack.net, wopr.thinstack.com or wopr.thinstack.org for “WOPR.” for “DeepThought”, youd use deepthought.thinstack.net, deepthought.thinstack.com or deepthought.thinstack.org, and of course, you’d use that same scheme for our 3rd (and final) server, “DARYL”. That’s all there is to it!

Essentially, all of the primary addresses are now “round-robin” addresses, which takes the guesswork out of the equation for you!  For picky folk, feel free to specify the server nearest you using the basic instructions above. For each individual server, specifying .com, .net or .org will make no difference in how you end up connecting to that server.

Just another step in a series of changes to make your time with us easier and more enjoyable!

Thank you for flying Thinstack.  We pride ourselves in our emergency-landing-free track record!

Today, CodyPChristian, who has been with Thinstack since the very beginning, and one of Thinstack’s current top brass, has decided to step down in order to better focus on other projects.
While we understand the need to occasionally re-prioritize now and then, we’ll certainly miss him nonetheless.

CodyPChristian is one of the core founding members of Thinstack, and even though he no longer wishes to act in an administrative capacity for the network, he’ll still be popping in from time to time, so don’t hesitate to ping him with some friendly greetings when he does!

We wish Cody the best of luck in all his endeavors, and bid him a fond farewell.

For those who are wondering what was going on with the network last night, here’s the quick and dirty Web 2.0-friendly answer:

Thinstack has swapped out its old standby IRC server package for a more robust, feature-rich IRCd to serve as its foundation! Wow, can’t you just smell that new code aroma? Smells like dreams and Nilla Wafers to me!

From here on, everything you’ve learned about how to manage channels on Thinstack? Forget it.  Wipe it clean. Windex, meet brain.

Scared?  Dont be!  The new system has a lot in common with the old one, but the new stuff is definitely worth looking into! Far from being a completely different way of doing things, Charybdis is about making many aspects of being an Op much simpler.

What does this mean for you?

Well, for general users, it won’t mean much, except that your friendly TS staff and Channel Owners can now do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. This will translate to a more trouble-free experience while enjoying your time on the network. Channel Owners will find it easier to administer their channels. Many of the oft-used commands are greatly simplified for ease of use.

What you’ve become used to using on Thinstack was the Unreal codebase. The new one is called Charybdis, and it represents a change in the way you’ve been doing things around these parts.

For example, let’s say you own #foobar, and until now, you set your channels various modes by sending a command string like

/mode #foobar +Snrt.

This would set your channel to [S]trip all incoming color commands, [n]o messages from outside the channel, [r]egister the channel, and only channel ops can set [t]opic.

To match this configuration under the new system, you would send

/mode #foobar +cnt

This sets [c]olor stripping, [n]o external messages (from outside the channel), and only channel ops can set the [t]opic.

(Incidentally, [n] and [t] are automatically set by default on all channels on Thinstack, so don’t freak out if you havent seen these flags being used manually before)

To review the available flags for the channel +Mode switch, check out: http://www.ircd-charybdis.net/operguide/c151.html#AEN216

On the flip side of this shiny coin, there are some flags that are no longer used.  For example, +r (registered channel): gone. Toast. Poof. When you first register your channel, its all automatic from there. No need to include it in your configuration command string anymore.  Simplifies things a bit, right? That’s what this changeover was all about, at least in part.

Other Changes: Ops

These changes are more intangible, and relate more to how you view your role as a Channel Owner, and those of your channel deputies.

Owners and Admins no longer have a symbol (~) and (&) respectively), next to their nicknames. Those roles are now represented the same as a full-out Op (@). After all, the differences between Op, Channel Owner and Admin are simply a matter of privileges. All of them have various Operator powers of some kind, so all are designated as Ops under the new system. Users with Voice (+) are still flagged normally.

Now about those Ops: you will find that by default, channels do not automatically op up users that are authorized Opers/Owners/Admins when they log in.  This isn’t a move designed to slight your people-in-power.  Rather, its a reflection of a different way of thinking in an IRC network.  Some folks believe that Ops are like police, and for the most part, this is quite true. However, others believe that having a bunch of people sitting around in a channel with their badges on is, in a sense, wasteful, not to mention a potential security risk.  There are arguments to be made for both sides of this issue, but the fact of the matter is that, for now, users who want to be (and are authorized to be) an Op in a Thinstack channel, by default must Op themselves when joining a registered channel, instead of Chanserv automatically doing it for them.

Op-ing yourself is very simple. Simply send either of these commands:

Chanserv op

or

!op

’But I LIKED the way it was before! you might be saying, and that’s just fine too. There is a simple command you can send to set it to auto-Op you in any channel where you have ops when you join. Actually, there are two commands.  You can use either one. They are:

/msg ns set noop off

or

/msg ns set neverop off

This covers the bare essentials for now.  At this point, we’ve gone through the biggest changes to be found under the new system.  There are still LOTS of cool new tricks and methods to show you, but its late, and I am in need of sleep.  I’ll be posting more goodies about Charybdis and Atheme very soon!

At between 6-7PM EST today (Monday, May 5, 2008) irc.thinstack.com will be going down and it will be transitioned to a temporary test network for new IRCd and Services packages we’re moving to (Charybdis and Atheme, respectively). Please change your client to go to irc.thinstack.net or irc.thinstack.org for the time being. irc.thinstack.com will be coming back once we get all the kinks worked out and the entire existing network transitioned to the new IRCd and services. This change will offer us much less antiquated IRC protocols support, much higher security and much further control over modes, channels, etc. Please bear with us and we hope you enjoy the revamped IRC Network.