Setting up an IRC server is pretty simple as long as you make sure to read the man pages and any other information given (especially the INSTALL file). Of course, that doesn’t really work all that well when you go about things the way I did initially.
I first started researching different IRC daemons to use in Ubuntu Server, and settled upon one. Finding that there was already a binary for it inside the Ubuntu repository, I decided to go that route. Quick and easy, yeah? IRC set up painlessly and after a quick configuring of the ircd.conf, I thought everything was dandy. I logged in and queried NickServ to register my nick, only to find there was no such nickname or channel. Looking this up, I realized I needed to set up some Services. I found the package I wanted to use and set about configuring it for use. I got it to set up and everything was a-okay, except for the fact that I could not get global operator working.
Now, the server is internal and does not need a global operator, so that wasn’t too big of a deal. Deciding to go with a passworded server instead of going through and configuring ChanServ to manage things, though, seemed to be a rather big deal. The binary I was using does not have ssl enabled, which means I have to compile everything from source.
This is the way I originally was going to do it until I let the temptation of using a binary overpower me. From this I have learned that if you are going to do something super specific with an application, do not install a binary. It is one of those common sense no-brainers which we are susceptible to once in a while, especially when we have become used to installing applications from binaries. All I can do is shake my head and laugh. After all, it is a learning experience isn’t it? It is just another one of those “trust your first instinct” things that I ignored.
So, if you are going to be installing applications to a workstation or server, make sure you that the binary will do everything you want it to, otherwise you are going to end up having to take several steps back, configure, and compile from source. What are your speed bumps?
