IRC

IRC is Internet Relay Chat. GNHLUG has an IRC channel on irc.freenode.net, #gnhlug

See also: IRCInfo

Clients

http://www.ircreviews.org/clients/

History

http://daniel.haxx.se/irchistory.html

http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1459.html

• RFC 2810 Internet Relay Chat: Architecture
• RFC 2811 Internet Relay Chat: Channel Management
• RFC 2812 Internet Relay Chat: Client Protocol
• RFC 2813 Internet Relay Chat: Server Protocol

Presentation

• Getting a client: Debian, Gentoo, OS X, Windows
  • Debian: apt-get install irssi-text, xchat
  • Gentoo: emerge irssi, xchat
  • OS X: apt-get install irssi (fink), Colloquy
  • Windows: gaim, X-chat, mIRC
• Choosing a network
  • Many open source projects use irc.freenode.net: including most distros
• Joining a channel
  • #gnhlug, #gentoo, #debian
  • Lots of instant help:
    • #debian: 809
    • #gentoo: 925
    • #mandrake: 138
    • #suse: 143
    • #RedHat: 88
  • Lots of open source projects have IRC channels: Gaim, Apache, PHP, MySQL. Good way to get quick help, or involved in development of smaller projects
• Features
  • Bots: can do all kinds of nifty things, from generating relationship graphs to reminders
  • DCC: Direct Client Connect, for transferring files between clients
  • Logging: Can keep track of people talking to you, even when you aren't around