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Have you ever wanted to talk with other computer users in other parts of the world? Well guess what? You can! The program is called IRC, (Internet Relay Chat).
This program is a substitute for 'talk', and many other multiple talk programs you might have read about. When you are talking on IRC, everything you type will instantly be transmitted around the world to other users that might be watching their terminals at the time. They can then type something and respond to your messages, and vice versa. I should warn you that the program can be very addictive once you begin to make friends and contacts on IRC, especially when you learn how to talk in 14 languages.
Topics of discussion on IRC are varied, Technical and political discussions are popular, especially when world events are in progress. IRC is also a way to expand your horizons, as people from many countries and cultures are on 24 hours a day.
Contents:
IRC is a multi-user, multi-channel chatting network. It allows people all over the internet to talk to one another in real-time. It is a functional replacement and improvement to 'talk'; 'talk' is an old, primitive, atrocious, minimalist sort of keyboard/screen conversation tool, using a grotesque, machine- dependent protocol (blah!). IRC does everything 'talk' does, but with better protocol, allowing more than 2 users to talk at once, with access across the aggregate Internet, and providing a whole raft of other useful features.
There are two ways to enter IRC from a Unix system. If you are using the emacs (editor from Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation) lisp client, you just have to type "M-x irc", (if this doesn't work you may need to load the client into your emacs session). If you are using the C client, (easier for beginners), then you usually type "irc". Non-Unix boxes have special clients, each of which has to be configured using a special procedure. Check the manual or help screen for more information.
If you wish to be known by a nickname which is not your login name, type "irc nickname" instead. Each IRC user, ("client"), chooses a nickname. All communication with another user is either by nickname or by the channel that they or you are on .
The most important thing to remember about IRC is that you have to be willing to explore and learn to use it. Take your time, try not to get flustered, enjoy yourself, and you will soon be making new friends all over the world!
IRC is based on a client-server model. Clients are programs that connect to a server, a server is a program that transports data, (messages), from a user client to another. There are clients running on many different systems, (Unix, emacs, VMS, MSDOS, VM...), that allow you to connect to an IRC server. The client which will be spoken of here is the most widespread: ircII, Other clients are similar, and often accept ircII commands.
How to behave on IRC
you should check the topic before you move to a channel to see if there are any restrictions about language. On a non-restricted channel, please speak a language everybody can understand. If you want to do otherwise, change channels and set the topic accordingly.
It's not necessary to greet everybody on a channel personally. Usually one "Hello!" or equivalent is enough. And don't expect everybody to greet you back. On a channel with 20 people that would mean one screenful of hellos. It's sensible not to greet, in order not to be rude to the rest of the channel. If you must say hello to somebody you know, do it with a private message. The same applies to goodbyes.
Also note that using your client facilities, to automatically say hello or goodbye to people is extremely poor etiquette. Nobody wants to receive auto-greets. They are not only obviously automatic, but even if you think you are polite, you are actually sounding insincere and also interfering with the personal environment of the recipient. If somebody wants to be auto-greeted on joining a channel, he will auto-greet himself.
Remember, people on IRC form their opinions about you only by your actions, writings and comments, so think before you type. If you use offensive words, you'll be frowned upon. Do not "dump" to a channel or user, (send large amounts of unwanted information). This is likely to get you kicked off the channel or killed off from IRC. Dumping causes network "burps", connections going down because servers cannot handle the large amount of traffic anymore. Other prohibited actions include:
You should always keep in mind that messages you send to someone over IRC are passed along all the servers between you and and the person you are writing to. When you're sending a letter to someone, any postman on the way could open it and read its contents.
Well, it's the same on the network. Any IRC-Admin could compile their server in "debug" mode and log whatever messages are transmitted through his node, (it has already been done), so a good rule of thumb is not to trust the serve
IRC IS NOT A SECURE WAY OF COMMUNICATION!
How to establish direct communications between clients will be explained later,This should be used when you wouldn't want anybody else on IRC to intercept your private messages.
Note: ircII, the client most people are using, has most of
this information online. If you are stuck, type "/HELP"
and hit
All ircII commands begin with a "/" character.
The slash is the default command character. Commands are not
case sensitive, and can be abbreviated to their first letters:
"/SI" and "/sign
Anything that does not begin with "/" is assumed to be a message to someone and will be sent to your current channel, or to a person you are QUERYing, (the QUERY command will be detailed later on
If you are not sure about the spelling of an ircII command, type the prefix of that command, and press the ESCape key twice; ircII will give you a listing of commands and aliases that start with that prefix. Don't forget the "/" in front of the command though.
General commands
--------------------
Keyword Action
~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
NICK changes your nickname
QUIT exits your IRC session, (same as BYE, SIGNOFF and EXIT)
HELP prints help on the given command
WHOIS displays information about someone
WHOWAS displays information about someone who just left
AWAY leaves a message saying you're not paying attention
/NICK [<nickname>]
Changes your nickname to whatever you like.
Everyone who wants to talk to you sees this name - also, at the moment, nicknames are limited to 9 characters max. Your nickname will be the same as your login name by default. You can also set an environment variable, IRCNICK, the value of which will be used instead. Nickname clashes are not allowed; this is enforced by the servers. If your intended nickname clashes with someone else's as you enter IRC, you will not be able to enter until you change it to something else.
/NICK Sogara
*** Shankooty is now known as Sogara
/QUIT [<reason>]
Exits your IRC session. You can also use BYE, SIGNOFF and EXIT. If a reason is supplied, it is displayed to other people on your channels.
/QUIT have a work!
/HELP [<command>]
Shows help on the given command. Note: This is not installed for all clients, which can be kind of annoying.
/HELP HELP
Usage: HELP [command]
Shows help on the given command. The help documentation is set
up in a hierarchical fashion. That means that certain help
topics have sub-topics under them.
[boring stuff deleted]
/WHOIS [<nickname>]
Shows information about someone.
/WHOIS Neferteety
*** Neferteety is hlabeeb@chr201.qualitynet.net (FaLCon_Java)
*** on channels: @#elmasryeen
*** on via server chr201.qualitynet.net (kuwait)
*** Neferteety has been idle 0 seconds
/WHOIS ahlam
*** ahlam: No such nickname
Sometimes WHOIS won't help you much, because the person you want to know more about just left IRC or changed nick. However, you can use WHOWAS to get this information for a while:
/WHOWAS [<server>] [<nickname>]
Shows information about who used the given nickname last, even if no one is currently using it.
/WHOWAS Donaldo
*** Donaldo was EGYPT@vu3ch.intouch.com (FaLCon_Java)
(Signoff: Mon may 2000 20:15:23)
Very often, an unsuccessful call to WHOIS will lead you to try WHOWAS. That's why ircII allows you to "/SET AUTO_WHOWAS ON"; that way, a "*** <nickname>: No such nickname" message will auto-magically generate a "/WHOWAS <nickname>". Try typing "/HELP SET AUTO_WHOWAS" for more information on this topic.
Leave a message explaining that you are not currently paying attention to IRC. Whenever someone sends you a MSG or does a WHOIS on you, they automatically see whatever message you set. Using AWAY with no parameters marks you as no longer being away.
/AWAY Gone to get a cup of coffee.
*** You have been marked as being away
/AWAY
*** You are no longer marked as being away
Private conversation commands
----------------------------------
Keyword Action
~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
MSG sends a private message
QUERY starts a private conversation
NOTICE sends a private message
NOTIFY warns you of people logging in or out IRC
IGNORE removes output from specific people off your screen
You can use the MSG command, (usually "M" is an alias for it), to send someone a message that only that person can read.
/MSG <nickname>|<channel> <text>
Send a private message to specified nickname.
/MSG Masreyya You are very special for me.
-> *Masreyya* This message is for Nap only.
On my screen will appear:
*YourNick* You are very special for me.
If you want to send a private message to more than one person, you can specify a list of nicknames separated by commas, (no spaces).
/MSG BaCha,madspider This message for both Walid and Egyknight.
-> *Walid* This message for both BaCha,madspider.
-> *Egyknight* This message for both BaCha,madspider.
Two special case nicknames are defined. If the nickname is "," (a comma), the message is sent to the last person who sent you a MSG. If the nickname is "." (a period), the message is sent to the last person to whom you sent a message.
You can have a private conversation by only using /MSG. However, typing "/MSG <nick> <text>" or "/MSG . <text>" gets cumbersome. That's where the /QUERY command comes in handy.
/QUERY [<nickname>|<channel>]
Starts a private conversation with <nickname>.
All text you type that would normally be sent to your channel now goes to the supplied nickname in the form of MSGs. To cancel a private conversation, use QUERY with no arguments.
/QUERY Ozzchic
*** Starting conversation with Ozzchic
ozozzzzzzzzzz
-> *Ozzchic* ozozzzzzzzzzz
/QUERY
*** Ending conversation with Ozzchic
There is also another command to send messages, called NOTICE. Unlike MSGs, NOTICEs are surrounded by '-' when printed, and no automated responses, (such as generated by IGNORE or an automaton), will be sent in reply. Services, (robots), on IRC often use this form of interaction.
/NOTICE <nickname>|<channel> <text>
Sends a private message to the specified <nickname>.
/NOTICE Za3boola hello za3!
-> -Za3boola- hello za3!
On my screen will appear:
-YourNick- hello za3!
As you begin to make new friends over IRC, you'll want to mark certain nicknames such that you will be warned when they signon or off.
/NOTIFY [[-]<nickname>]
Adds or removes
to the list of people you'll be warned when they enter or quit IRC (in ircII versions prior to 2.2, too many people in the NOTIFY list cause excessive slowness).
/NOTIFY Sindbad
*** Signon by Eshta detected
/NOTIFY
Sindbad is on irc
Eventually, you may wish some day not to see messages from a specific user on your screen. This may happen when someone is dumping large amounts of garbage, or if someone is harassing you. The proper response to such a behavior is to IGNORE that person. IGNORE is a very powerful command, and can be used in many ways. However the basic usage of this tool is the following.
/IGNORE [<nickname>|<user@host> [[-]<message
type>]]
Suppresses output from the given people from your screen. IGNORE can be set by nickname or by specifying a userid@hostname format. Wildcards may be used in all formats. Output that can be ignored includes MSGs, NOTICEs, PUBLIC messages, INVITEs, ALL or NONE. Preceding a type with a "-" indicates removal of ignoring of that type of message.
/IGNORE *!*@*.*.edu ALL
*** Ignoring ALL messages from *!*@*.*.edu
/IGNORE
*** Ignorance list:
*** *!*@*.*.edu ALL
/IGNORE **!*@*.*.edu NONE
*** *!*@*.*.edu removed from ignorance list
To join in the conversation on a certain channel you may use the JOIN command.
/JOIN [<channel>]
Sets your current channel to the supplied channel.
/JOIN #elmasryeen
*** Sogara has joined channel #elmasryeen
*** Topic: Go east,,Go west.. #elmasryeen channel is the best
It is also possible, when you are already on a channel, to ask someone to join your channel. The command is called INVITE.
/INVITE <nickname> [<channel>]
Invites another user to a channel. If no channel is specified, your current channel is used.
/INVITE Cybertrax #elmasryeen
*** Inviting Cybertrax to channel #elmasryeen
If you receive an INVITE message, you can type "/JOIN -INVITE" to join the channel to which you were last invited, or simply "/JOIN <channel>".
To leave a channel, just issue a LEAVE command, (PART has the same effects):
/part <channel>
part a channel.
/part #elmasryeen
*** Nola has left #elmasryeen
Well, you guessed it, if there is a way to invite someone on a channel, there's also the possibility to KICK someone out of it, for example if this person is behaving like a jerk, annoying people or flooding the channel with unwanted information:
/KICK [<channel>] <nickname>
Kicks named user off a given channel. Only 'channel operators' are privileged to use this command.
/KICK #elmasryeen Wisa
*** Wisa has been kicked off channel #elmasryeen by ServerBot
Channels have topics, that indicate the current topic of conversation. You can change this topic on a channel with the TOPIC command.
/TOPIC [[<channel>] <topic for channel>]
Changes the topic for the channel.
/TOPIC Let's Party
*** Pure_Eshta has changed the topic on channel #elmasryeen to Let's Party
At times, you may want to send a description of what you are doing or how you are feeling or just anything concerning you to the current channel or query. It is absolutely good style not to forget the period at the end of the sentence!
/ME <action description>
Tells the current channel or query about what you are doing. You can also use your own nickname as command, i.e. you can type the line with a leading slash.
/ME thinks that Mera has a nice smile.
* BaCHa thinks that Mera has a nice smile.
The same goal can be achieved towards a specific nickname
using:
/DESCRIBE <nickname>|<channel> <action
description>
Sends anything concerning you to the <nickname> or <channel> you pass as first argument.
(Note: The look of the result depends on each client version, and might not be exactly the same as in the examples shown here.)
These commands make use of CTCP, a client-to-client protocol crafted to perform specific actions, but not understood by all clients,,If you get an error message, your description may not have arrived properly.
Channels can have additional constraints, which can be set by the MODE command, (most of the information in this section can also be obtained by issuing "/HELP MODE"). To understand this, recall that the first person to JOIN a channel effectively creates it and is initially "in charge" of the channel, ("Channel Operator" or "chanop"). S/he can subsequently add those constraints, make other people chanops at leisure.
Mode commands
-------------------
Keyword Action
~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
MODE changes channel or user mode
Public is the default mode for a channel. When someone is on a public channel, he can be seen by all other users, (if his own user mode permits this). Anyone can notice users on a public channel and join such a conversation.
Private means that, although anyone can see members of such a channel, you can't tell what channel they are on unless you are already on that channel with them. They just appear as "Prv: *" in LIST or NAMES. Since the number of potential channels is in the billions, this is quite some security - all you give away is the acknowledgement that you're IRCing.
If you are on a secret channel, someone who is not on the same channel can't even see that you are there. Your name does not show up in a LIST of active users. The only indication of your presence is that, when entering IRC, all new users are told that there are "NNNNN users on XXX servers". If someone checks on all users and finds less than NNNNN of them, he knows that other people are hiding on secret channels. But a secret channel user still cannot be found except by brute-force checking through all channels, a hopeless proposition in the face of the huge number of possible channel names. Security through obscurity finally means something.
/MODE <channel>|<nickname> [[+|-]<modechars>
[<parameters>]]
Allows channel operators to change channel mode, or any user to change their personal mode, (don't use this co mmand too often, it floods the net with worthless information).
/MODE #elamasryeen +m
*** walid sets mode +m
/MODE #elmasryeen -i
***egy sets mode -i
And this is how to give 'chanop' status to someone on the channel
/MODE #elmasryeen +o Warrior_Princess
*** Egy_FaLCon sets mode +o Warrior_Princess
A + or - sign determines whether the mode should be added or deleted. Try typing "/HELP MODE" to get further information. Channels can be moderated (only chanops can talk), secret, private, with a limited number of users, anonymous, invite-only, topic-limited, with a list of banned users.
The MODE command also allows you to modify your personal parameters, your "user mode". You can check your usermode with the command "/MODE <YourNick>" or sometimes "/UMODE". Note that user mode +i may be the default on some servers, in order to protect privacy of users. This should not be seen as a problem, since any user can change his/her personal mode whatever defaults a server may set.
Channel modes
-------------------
ModeChar Effects on channels
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
b <person> ban somebody, <person> in "nick!user@host" form
i channel is invite-only
l <number> channel is limited, <number> users allowed max
m channel is moderated, (only chanops can talk)
n external /MSGs to channel are not allowed
o <nick> makes a channel operator
p channel is private
s channel is secret
t topic limited, only chanops may change it
User modes
--------------------
ModeChar Effects on nicknames
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i makes yourself invisible to anybody that does
not know the exact spelling of your nickname
o IRC-operator status, can only be set
by IRC-ops with OPER
s receive server notices
w receive wallops (abused and deprecated)
/CTCP
Allows you to perform certain client specific actions on the network.
/CTCP Nap VERSION
*** CTCP VERSION reply from Nap: ircII 2.2 *IX
:ircII 2.2, SL0 The one you thought you'd never see.
This can be used to get information about how long a person has
been idle:
/CTCP Nap FINGER
*** CTCP FINGER reply from Nap: PIOCH Nicolas - Nap on IRC, X90,
(pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr) Idle 0 seconds
Client to Client Commands
------------------------------
Keyword Action
~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
CTCP performs certain client specific actions
DCC handles direct connections to remote clients
DCC SEND initiates a file transfer
DCC GET accepts a file transfer
DCC CLOSE ends a DCC connection or offer
DCC LIST shows current DCC connections
DCC CHAT initiates a secure chat between two clients
There are many other CTCP commands, and new ones are introduced all the time. There is a mechanism for you to find out what you can use: CTCP CLIENTINFO. To find out about your own client services, execute a CLIENTINFO on yourself.
/CTCP Nap CLIENTINFO
*** CTCP CLIENTINFO reply from Nap: SED VERSION CLIENTINFO
USERINFO ERRMSG FINGER TIME ACTION DCC UTC PING :Use
CLIENTINFO to get more specific information
If you are interested in this powerful CTCP mechanism, have a look in the various ircII help files. "/HELP CTCP" might tell you more. However the client-to-client protocol has a very powerful feature: Allowing two people to exchange files.
To send small text files, electronic mail is probably the best solution, (don't rely on the user@host given by the WHOIS command to send mail. However, ircII provides you a way to establish Direct Client Connections ("DCC") to perform functions like sending and receiving files.
If NickA wants to send a file to NickB, then NickA should type: "/DCC SEND NickB filename". On NickB's screen will appear: "*** DCC SEND (filename) request received from NickA". If he, (NickB), wants to get the file, he just needs to type: "/DCC GET NickA filename"
A few seconds later
*** DCC GET connection with NickA established
*** DCC GET filename connection to NickA completed
will inform both users that data transfer has been successfully
completed.
Here's a quick overview of the subject:
/DCC <function> [<arguments>]
Handles direct connections to remote clients. The behaviour of DCC is determined by the specified
.
/DCC SEND <nickname> <filename>
Initiates a file transfer by direct client connection.
/DCC GET <nickname> <filename>
Accepts a file transfer by direct client connection. The sender must first have offered the file with DCC SEND.
/DCC CLOSE <type> <nickname> [<arguments>]
Ends an unwanted DCC connection or offer. The
, <nickname> and <arguments> must be the same as those shown by "/DCC LIST". If the arguments are not supplied, the oldest connection of the specified type is closed.
/DCC LIST
Shows current /DCC connections with their types, status and nicknames involved.
More details can be found in ircII online help: try "/HELP DCC" for more information.
If someone asks you to send him a file,
DCC also allows two clients to establish a direct client connection for chat. This is a secure form of communication, since messages are not sent through the IRC network.
/DCC CHAT
Initiates a direct client connection chat to the given nick, who must repond with DCC CHAT. Once established, messages are sent over with "/MSG =Nickname ...".
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Egy_FaLCon
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