IRC
From Linux 101, The beginner's guide to all things Linux.
IRC means Internet Relay Chat.
Developed in the late eighties and early nineties, IRC is the framework of the Internet that is less used by the masses. Only other services such as gopher and the like are less popular among the common Internet user. It was superceded in ease-of-use by instant messenger.
Open source developers commonly meet on IRC. Since development happens around the globe, many developers prefer a real-time ability to communicate to their colleagues. IRC gives that ability.
IRC has a notorious reputation. This mostly happened as a result of Denial of Service attacks in the days of analog modems. Now, the more prevalent belief is that IRC is full of software and music pirates because high throughput connections are more abundant.
These groups do exist but unless you actively care to take part in them, they will not come seeking you. Don't buy into the reputation.
For free software development, there are two common networks.
- GIMPnet's is commonly used for GNOME development, though other groups use it too.
- freenode is fairly popular for most other projects.
[edit] IRC Clients
In order to get onto IRC you need an IRC Client. In Linux, there are numerous ones.
The most popular client on Windows is mIRC.
[edit] Connecting to us
IRC servers are usually connected to one another and form IRC networks. GIMPNet and freenode are two examples, but like all things about IRC, there are a vast many more networks.
To get onto the networks you just need to know a server on that network. Most networks have a "round-robin DNS" server name that will randomly point you to one, so you can just remember one server name.
Gimpnet's round-robin server is irc.gimp.net
freenode's is irc.freenode.net
After you connect onto the network, there are many channels. Channels are where groups of users meet. We meet on freenode's #clemsonlinux channel. All network channels begin with the # symbol.
[edit] IRC Commands
IRC is a very powerful tool with many commands and features. IRC Clients form the standard that IRC commands begin with a forward slash.
Some good commands to know are:
/join <channel>joins you to the channel/part <channel>makes you leave a channel/nick newnickwill change your IRC nickname to newnick/listwill list all IRC channels -- be warned, there is always an extensive list.
Any other text that is no proceeded by a slash is assumed to be a message, just like any instant messenger client you might be familiar with.
