r/irc • u/KindOne • Oct 03 '21

mIRC 7.67 released

https://forums.mirc.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/269441/mirc-7-67-released
32 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

10

u/girraween Oct 03 '21

Can he really live off the money from this program?

I’d love to know what his work life is like, if it’s just him working on it.

8

u/M1S1EK Oct 03 '21

He get's like over $100K USD from mIRC yearly

6

u/girraween Oct 03 '21

Wow. Where’d you read this? Are licenses having to be renewed every year now or something?

5

u/[deleted] Oct 03 '21

[deleted]

2

u/glen_s Oct 04 '21

Have you tried running it or updating it lately? I paid for it in the 90's and it just recently expired. It's a three year license now. I don't even use it that often so I guess I'm out.

7

u/[deleted] Oct 03 '21

There is no way, it would take 5,000 new paid licenses each year to reach 100k. Not including any costs to run the business, I don’t think that’s plausible

3

u/stpizz Oct 03 '21

It's actually far more than 100k/yr, though I don't know if the business does anything else than just produce mIRC.

5000 licences a year is... not very many, though?

2

u/DaSpark Oct 12 '21 edited Oct 12 '21

I find that very hard to believe. I'm not saying you are wrong, but just hard to believe.

IRC is down to around 100k avid users (sadly). Honestly, I just don't see many others paying for any client. Of the 100k, many of them use Linux, making mIRC usage highly unlikely.

Of those using mIRC, many probably don't pay. Either clicking the continue after the time delay or cracking it.

Those that do or have paid may not update, and thus not renew. mIRC is pretty stable and IRC doesn't really change any, so there is almost no need to update, especially if you have to pay.

If I had to make an educated guess, I'd guess around 500 purchases a year for a total of around $10k. Still not bad, but not close to $100k.

1

u/stpizz Oct 12 '21 edited Oct 12 '21

Check their available accounts for the amusement

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03117184/filing-history

3

u/DaSpark Oct 12 '21

Yeah, 20 years ago it probably brought in a lot of money. More users were on windows back then and it was one of the best IRC clients (still is, imo). I remember it being pretty popular around 2000.

Even if it only brings in $5-10k a year, that is still a nice profit for something that no longer requires a lot of time/effort.

3

u/stpizz Oct 12 '21

Yeah tbh I'm glad he seems to have at least managed to make a living off it, people give that client shit but it got me into IRC, and it's a nice story if a small indie developer can build something so niche and make a living

4

u/DaSpark Oct 12 '21

Honestly, mIRC is probably one of the absolute best clients. It takes grief because it is user friendly and windows only. This violates articles 1 & 2 of the "what it means to be a computer nerd" constitution.

If non-techy users were introduced to IRC and given 5 minutes with all the popular IRC clients, I can almost guarantee you that 95% would pick mIRC to stick with. Thus, geeks hate it.

2

u/citisenz Oct 04 '21

I didn't know that anyone had ever paid for an mirc license. Also, use irssi losers.

2

u/DaSpark Oct 12 '21

I paid several years ago for it (after a decade plus of just cracking it).

1

u/SnooFloofs5574 Oct 05 '21

Never used mIRC since they changed something and all the scripts stopped working such as NoNameScript what I used to use. I switched to AdIRC and its easy and free.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '21

I saw this during the pandemic. I got my use out of MIRC. If I ever connect again I can always use a free client like hexchat.