IRC

The Basics

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. Internet, because duh, it's on the internet; Relay, because chat is relayed through chat servers (as opposed to DCC, explained below); and Chat I'll leave for you to figure out ;)

There are a number of IRC networks. These are groups of servers connected to each other, but not connected to the other networks. Think of each IRC network as an intranet. Within a network, all the users can chat with each other, and they share a group of chat rooms, or "channels". That is to say, if you are "Raz" on Network1ServerA, then sending a message to Raz from Network1ServerG will get to the same person, and entering a channel called #pakistani from Network1ServerA or Network1ServerY will get you into the same room filled with the same users. However, Messaging "Raz" from Network5ServerB will get you a different person, assuming there is someone named Raz, and entering #puppylovers will get you into a different room (it will be created by you if it didn't exist before.)

You can connect to the IRC servers by using any IRC client (such as mIRC, VIRC, Pirch, HOMER, or IRCLE) or an IRC java applet, or even a nonjava irc web interface.

The network we are using is called the Undernet, and it is one of the "big 3" that were the first major irc networks, the other two are Efnet and DALnet, but there are now zillions of other smaller networks.

Buzz Words: (red ones are the only ones you really need to know)

Channel - a chat room on irc is called a channel, and are preceeded by the pound symbol like this #pakistani

Nick - your name on irc

Action - doing something, rather than saying it. Typing /me before your text causes it to be posted differently, as an action.

lag - a delay in recieving & sending messages. It can be you or the server to blame.

Ping - a command to send a signal to another user to determine if there is a lag. Most IRC clients can send a ping using the /ping [username] command, but I don't think the java one supports it yet.

DCC - direct client to client. This is used for file transfers or for chat. The java applet doesn't support DCC.

Op/Operator - someone with the @ in fron t of their name is a channel operator. They have the ability to kick and ban people, and to change the topic if the room settings are so that only ops can change the topic. Having operator status is called "having ops." You are automatically an op when you create a channel, and then you can "give ops" to other people at your discretion. Bots can be configured to op the proper people.

bot - a script that imitates being a user. Bots are used to keep channels open, op people, to hold room settings, hold ban l ists, serve files, do silly things, or even attack people and other channels ("war bots"). The Undernet irc network runs two "channel bots" called X and W that keep registered channels open.

kick - an operator can kick abusive users from the channel. ban - an operator can ban abusive users from the channel also.

k-line - named because it is information on the "k" line of a server configuration file, this is people, IPs, or hosts that are not allowed on a given server.

msg, private msg - sending a message to a person, kind of like an IM

netsplit - a netsplit occurs when one or more servers lose their connection to the other servers. This results in a temporary situation where you will only see the people who are on your server or the servers connected to it, and everyone else will appear to have gone offline, while THEY see YOU as having gone offline. Most netsplits only last a few minutes, but they can last for hours.

IRC Commands:

IRC has a LOT of commands, and some IRC clients even have configurable macros. However, there are really only a few you really should know.

/join - If you want to join a channel, or if you want to change channels, or if you want to create a new channel, simply type /join #blahblah (where blahblah is the name of the channel you want to join or create.)

/nick - Want to change your name to Raz? Just type /nick Raz and hit enter.

/msg - Send a private message to Raz by typing /msg Raz hey there, how are you doing? and hit enter.

/notice - Send a private message to Raz by typing /notice Raz hey,do you see what i write? and hit enter.When you use this command the person you send the message to ( Raz which is the nick we have choosed here ) will see this no matter where he/she is ( and no matter which window he/she looks in ). ( On some scripts you are only aloud to type the notice message on main ,but no one else will see the message except the one you send it too.

/opnotice - Message sent to operators,this is a command only operators can use to send message to all the operators at once. To use the command you write in main /opnotice hello everybody! and hit enter.You don`t need to fill in any nicks here and the operators are the only one who will see these messages.

/me - Want to run around the room raving like a lunatic? Type /me runs around the room like a raving lunatic and hit enter.

/whois - it`s a easy way to check out where the people you chat with are ( country and so on ) ,you can also check if the person is Away and how long the person have been away ( idle ).Type /whois Raz and hit enter,and on your status bar you`ll get the information up.If you talk to someone and they don`t respond you can check out here if he/she is away.

/quit - Do you want to leave? Just type /quit and hit enter. Want to leave in a puff of smoke? Type /quit in a puff of smoke and hit enter. You can also just close the window to leave.