When comparing Polari vs ii, the Slant community recommends ii for most people. In the question“What are the best IRC clients for UNIX-like systems?” ii is ranked 9th while Polari is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose ii is:
ii is a minimalist FIFO and filesystem-based IRC client. It creates an irc directory tree with server, channel and nick name directories. In every directory a FIFO in file and a normal out file is created. The in file is used to communicate with the servers and the out files contain the server messages. For every channel and every nick name there are related in and out files created. This allows IRC communication from command line and adheres to the Unix philosophy.
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Pros
Pro Great UI
The CSD-based UI is great to look at. No screen space goes entirely wasted and is presented neatly.
Pro Easy to use
Polari is very straight forward to use.
Pro GNOME-Integration
Polari integrates nice with GNOME, on a visual and technical level. It uses GNOME online accounts and runs empathy in the background.
Pro Everything is a file
ii is a minimalist FIFO and filesystem-based IRC client. It creates an irc directory tree with server, channel and nick name directories. In every directory a FIFO in file and a normal out file is created.
The in file is used to communicate with the servers and the out files contain the server messages. For every channel and every nick name there are related in and out files created. This allows IRC communication from command line and adheres to the Unix philosophy.
Cons
Con Some advanced features are lacking
Polari's users will find some advanced features lacking, such as Direct Client-to-Client (DCC).
Con May seem too simple
Unlike Hexchat or other alternatives, it does not expose much of its functionality though some of it might really be present.