quote from the laconica2IRC perl script comments:
Is "bip" better than irssi in screen?
# I wanted my own IRC user "say" the output, and that part was very easy # because I use Bip, an IRC proxy that supports multiple clients on one irc # server connection. This script was just going to be another client, and that # is why I added password authentication. Bip is available in Debian and is # very handy : I usually have an IRC client at home, one in the office, # occasionnaly a CGI-IRC, rarely a mobile client and now this script - and to # the dwellers of my favorite IRC channel there is no way to tell. And # whichever client I choose, I never missing anything thanks to logging and # replay on login. Screen with a command-line IRC client provides part of this # functionnality, but the zero maintainance Bip does so much more and is so # reliable that one has to wonder if my friends cling to Irssi and Screen out # of sheer traditionalism.