The developers of the Linux Mint distribution announced the creation of a new application called Jargonaut, which attempts to create a simple chat implementation based on the IRC protocol, but is not an IRC client in the traditional sense. Jargonaut provides a straightforward interface for users to chat, abstracted from IRC. The project's code is written in Python and distributed under the GPLv2 license. The interface is built using the xapp library, which provides a wrapper around GTK with elements for unifying operations across different desktop environments (Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce).
The reason for starting work on the new chat application is related to the discontinuation of the IRC client HexChat, which was part of the main software suite of Linux Mint. In early February, the maintainer of HexChat released version 2.16.2, archived the repository, and announced that the project would no longer be maintained. Development was halted due to the lack of interest from anyone willing to continue the project amid time constraints and the current maintainer’s reluctance.
The developers of Linux Mint used the situation as an opportunity to realize their vision of what a lightweight communication application should look like. Continuing HexChat's development within Linux Mint was deemed impractical, as the necessary work to port the application to GTK3 for proper operation on high-density screens was substantial.
As a result, it was decided to create a new application, initially written with current technologies, embodying the developers' vision of the chat they would like to see. For instance, Jargonaut plans to integrate support for the pastebin service, add the ability to insert images through imgur, enable issue reporting, and implement some other features that are not traditionally part of IRC functionality.
Source: opennet.ru
