[Mithaldu]

There's a difference between "not knowing" and "not being able to figure out".

Further, he never mentions exactly how long they gave those developers to figure it out.

The post is a bit unclear about this, but if you give them the benefit of the doubt, then they're testing exactly for the key ability any IT worker needs: The ability to research a new technology. You make the assumption that they did not give them much time, but consider for yourself the following please.

You send a senior developer an email that says the following:

    use IRC to connect to freenode,
    join the channel #blah
    using the password sekrit

A day goes by and you receive an email indicating they were not able to do that.

Assuming their network does not actively hinder IRC use, what does that tell you about their ability to do basic research?

[Domenic_S]

> The ability to research a new technology.

Importantly, an old technology that's new to them. This isn't researching node.js in 2012 -- there are reams upon reams of how-tos and so forth about IRC.

(in case it wasn't clear, I'm agreeing with you)

[SCHiM]

Yes, that's exactly right. But then you're not using _irc_ as a screening filter, but your applicants ability to research new things.

Which is not what the article says you should use this screening tactic for, since there is a large group of technical people out there that is irc-literate. Which implies that irc was not chosen, as you suggest to figure-out a persons autodidactic abilities, but rather because the author (kind-of-correctly) assumes that most technical people have at least a passing-relation with irc.