The Lounge, self hosted web IRC client

Looking for an easy to install Web IRC client? Don’t look further, The Lounge is there for you.

Although IRC has lost a significant part of its popularity it used to have in the 2000s, from 1 million users back in 2003, to less than 300,000 todays, I still use it time to time, around specific theme or project.

Instead of using a desktop client, I prefer to use a web client, as I am often traveling and on different computers. Also, it usually fancier and with great features.

The Lounge is one of them and is very easy to install.

 

Started as a fork of Shout, The Lounge is under a MIT license. It supports multi-accounts and it “never sleeps” (meaning it will keep all your conversation where you left off). It is also mobile responsive and uses NodeJS (>v4).

 

So, let’s see how to install The Lounge on Debian (or Ubuntu)

 

Installation

1) Install NodeJS

You will first need NodeJS >v4, and it will greatly simplify the installation of The Lounge.

Simply run:

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_7.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

 

2) Install The Lounge

npm install -g thelounge

 

3) Start The Lounge

lounge start

 

Yes, it is that simple!

Now you can access it through http://YourIP:9000 and you will be able to configure few settings.