Do Bitcoin enthusiasts use IRC? and why?

[hollowframe]

I personally don't have much of a reason to use IRC as I don't need to conduct business via IRC, which is really the only reason one would need to use IRC as opposed to discussing via forums, as IRC allows for much more fluid conversations.

[joshraban76]

I assume this raspberry pi setup is located somewhere else… or why run a BNC in your own house?  The main reason people I knew used BNC's were to protect themselves and fully hide the IP/location they are connecting from, primarily to protect against script kiddies & dos/ddos attacks. I realize most networks now probably mask IP's, but there are still plenty of people (IRCops, admins, shell providers) that could see them.

Nope it is right next to my desk. The reason I personally use it is for PM's. When someone PM's me even, if I am afk I will still see the message when I login. Another benefit is it logs 200 lines of chat from every channel you are in so you can do a bit of catchup and jump right in on the conversation. IRC is not for everyone but I enjoy it for my hobbies.