The Digital Hermitage

Welcome to The Digital Hermitage

An independent gathering place for all digital hermits, deep within the far away forest.

What is The Digital Hermitage?

The Digital Hermitage is an IRC server hosted on the FarAwayForests network. In today's age, the vast majority of people have flocked to large websites, allowing their individual right to self expression and self determination be stifled by the follies of large tech entreprenuers. People, forced to conform to the musings of algorithms designed by the controlling elite, built by the mindless drones in their corporations.

The Digital Hermitage is a place of open discussion, promoting and respecting every individual's perspectives and thoughts. All are welcome at the Hermitage; however, it is especially designed for those that love technology, the web, discussions on society, and the like, but who feel disillusioned by the trends and movements of the largest technology companies out there and their anti-individual, anti-consumer, almost-sadistic wielding of control over the industry. These entities endlessly working to create conformity among the masses, perpetuate apathy in the aware, and bring their visions to fruition using whatever means they deem necessary.

Whether you agree or disagree, you are welcome to join the Hermitage IRC server. Open minds always love hearing dissenting points of view, as only through open and honest discussion can we discern what is true, what is good, and what action is worthy of our efforts.

Why still use IRC in 2025?

IRC Is still very relevant

IRC is a protocol, first off, not a technology. And it is in that distinction from where the most important answer to this question comes. Protocols are standardized, they are open to all, they are capable of uniting us through shared communication, but still allowing all of us to create and innovate as individuals. When we rely on existing technologies like Telegram, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Discord, or the like, we must play by the rigid rules of conformity set forth by the platform's elitist controllers.

When we break free from the technological grasp of big-tech, we are able to discover ourselves without the inference of forced conformity. Anyone can start an IRC server. Anyone can create a niche group of like minded individuals, free from the machine, free from becoming a product. Break free.

XKCD Satirical Comic Strip About IRC's Permanence — I am the one who resists the Galactic Singularity. Join Me!

Rules & Restrictions:

The Digital Hermitage aims to provide services with as few rules as possible. However, the rules we do have are enforced very strictly. I ask that you keep any conversations on my server constructive, and at least try to keep them on-topic. The rules that are enforced are the following...
You may not:

Spam or harass anyone
Attempt to exploit by any means the server or any of its members
Share or disseminate any illegal content.
Use it to control bots.
Makes calls of violence, spread visceral hate, or use to perpetuate any illicit activities.

The misuse of this service and breaking any of the above rules will result in your immediate ban and having your IP address reported to appropriate law enforcement.

Connection Details:

irc://hermitage.farawayforests.com:9262

I recommend using Konversation, a wonderful free and open source IRC client made by KDE. This does not work on Windows or Mac OS, unfortunately. I have heard that TheLounge is good, but I cannot personally vouch for it.

Discussion Channels:

For sake of easy moderation, new channels will only be available by request. The following is a list of discussion channels on the server with a wide range of specificity:

#general: A general chat for discussing anything and everything!
#modernity: A channel for discussing all of the problems with the modern world. Be warned, Edward Hopper discussions will likely ensue...
#http1: Remember when the web was fun? Personal? Decentralized? Here the we can discuss the fun, all around HTTP 1
#media: A channel to discuss music, television, movies, streaming, books, and art of all types.
#uncc: A discussion for students and alumni of UNC Charlotte

Technology Support:

For sake of easy moderation, new channels will only be available by request. The following is a list of channels available to discussion technology-related topics, and for getting access to support related to Accumulus, and other software projects.

#webdev: Discussion on web development, ask questions, give advice, make suggestions, share tools, and more!
#tech: Let's talk about technology! New & Old, Good & bad
#accumulus: Chat support for the Accumulus server software. Request features, report bugs, make suggestions, or ask for assistance in setting up your own instance.