SkipIRC

SkipIRC is the construct of servers and hubs that operate the internet relay chat specific to the SCP Wiki. All current SCP Wiki staff channels operate and depend upon SkipIRC.

SkipIRC is currently owned by WikiDot user Kufat.

 

SkipIRC network was created and initially owned by SCP Wiki user, Tech team captain, and prior Administrator pxdnbluesoul (“bluesoul”). Bluesoul formed the server in late 2020.^[1]https://archive.fo/mGRMr 

To introduce the need for a dedicated IRC server for the SCP Wiki, bluesoul writes in a section headed “The State of syn”:

We’ve been riding along for about a decade with synIRC, a network originally spun off of zIRC which was primarily the home of somethingawful. This was, to the best of my knowledge, mostly because the chat admins at the time were already on synIRC for the SA stuff. synIRC’s heyday was between 2012 and 2014 and had a very active community and some very active and dedicated server administrators and IRC Operators.

Unfortunately, as time has passed and people have moved on, synIRC is in an altogether different state now. The forums haven’t worked in several years, servers are being removed but not replaced, the underlying software that powers the servers is several years past it’s end-of-life with currently no plans to change that. Significantly, the presence of network operators is at an all-time low with one of the last three active operators going on an extended hiatus beginning in March. There are now two people responding to all situations for a network of roughly 2500 users.

The long-term prognosis is not great. This pattern will continue until something breaks permanently and that’s probably the end of the line for the network. We should look after our community and try to get ahead of this problem by moving.

The formation of a dedicated server was taken to be the best option facing the likely decline of the then-current server. This was advocated for by bluesoul, who noted the seamlessness with which the transition could occur, with “a bit of configuration and learning curve for network operators, but essentially zero learning curve for users…”^[2]https://archive.ph/nsgxn#selection-859.16-863.30 

 

SkipIRC consists of four servers connected through two hubs:

“safe” — server (Ohio)

“euclid” — server, primary (Ireland)

“keter” — server (Sydney)

“services server” — server (Virginia)

“blackjack” — hub (Virginia)

“hookers” — hub (Oregon)

The system is run on minimal linux code. It is highly redundant to ensure smooth operation and to reduce single points of failure. 

 

https://skipirc.miraheze.org/wiki/SkipIRC_Staff

 

bluesoul named the servers for the SkipIRC “blackjack (Virginia) and hookers (Oregon)”^[3]https://archive.ph/nsgxn#selection-875.0-881.9, which is a reference to the Futurama character Bender, and was commonly used as a slight to the RPC Authority, with SCP members feeling as though it was a cheap knock-off site and community.

As of 2020, SkipIRC costs around $18 per month to fund.^[4]https://archive.ph/nsgxn#selection-897.137-897.266