Linux Mint is Building a New Desktop Chat App
The Ubuntu-based distro currently includes Hexchat in its default software set. IRC isn’t as trendy as Discord or Telegram but it is a free, open standard that no single entity controls, is relatively low-bandwidth, interoperable, and efficient.
But as I reported in February: Hexchat is no more.
Hexchat quitting the chat leaves —I so badly want to type leafs there— Linux Mint with a dilemma and an opportunity.
The dilemma being: “should we continue shipping an IRC client, and what role does it serve?” and the opportunity being: “could we replace it with something better?”.
It's FOSS:
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Linux Mint is Building a New Chat App to Replace 'Hexchat'
Unfortunately, Hexchat, a long-running IRC client, was discontinued recently owing to the project not being maintained for years.
Linux Mint included Hexchat as the default IRC client since 2014, mostly utilized by the users to get support, ask questions, and talk to other fellow distro users. And, some users utilized it as their go-to IRC client. So, what now?
Well, if you want a full-fledged substitute for the IRC client, you can use one of the Matrix clients like Element. But, if you aren't concerned about the talking to users from other IRC channels, there's something for you by Linux Mint devs.