Internet chat system IRC turns thirty

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) was born at the Department of Information Processing Science of the University of Oulu 30 years ago. Jarkko Oikarinen developed the internet chat system back in 1988 in addition to his summer job. Today, people are still using IRC.

Jauhiainen likes to use IRC because it’s a versatile media of communication and can be customized. “IRC is not dependent on any device. You can use it on your phone, computer or even video game console, if you like. Of course also tradition has it’s effect,” he says.