- A user-to-user chat has many uses, I don’t think that is what you’re disputing. I’m pretty sure they aren’t planning on this to be equivalent to IRC’s /notice. If that’s all they wanted, they would’ve used it.
- They’ve released a prototype that runs on IRC and they’re obscuring it on purpose to emphasize that developers shouldn’t spend hours of work on a prototype API. Read the answers of the staff, this should be pretty easy to conclude.
Releasing a prototype allows them to get data and opinions on the system, which helps them shape the eventual protocol and format. - Lots of reasons, see below.
- I agree that this is a very unfortunate side effect, and I’m sure that others agree.
- Wait for the eventual full version of the system. I think the feature maybe should have been better communicated as a beta feature.
I think it’s best to see this system as a new messaging system, the use of the chat box is for convenience, and the use of IRC is to make the prototype easier to deploy/develop.
Note in the announcement:
Offline delivery, popout instant messages, and more! [src]
A new protocol would allow better integration for things like push-messages to mobile, dedicated, persistent chat windows for each user you talk to, with possibilities of loading history using cursors or offsets for API calls. Use of commercial-scale push-type systems, such as Firebase. Give me some more time and I’ll come up with more reasons, but any of these would probably be enough.
Having a modern, flexible API for a persistent messaging system is far more appropriate than inventing new functionality inside a protocol built for something entirely different.