YoLinux Tutorial: IRC - Internet Relay Chat

• ircII - (/usr/bin/irc) Text terminal based IRC client. Download and compile.
  (manual)
  Ubuntu install: apt-get install irssi
• Xchat - GTK+ based IRC client. Lots of advanced features for scripting and plugins.
  (Xchat users guide)
  Ubuntu install: apt-get install xchat
• BitchX - (/usr/bin/BitchX) Text terminal
• Pidgin - a universal chat client which supports multiple IM protocols including IRC.
  Ubuntu install: apt-get install pidgin
• Konversation - KDE IRC client with bookmarking, ssl, file transfer, multiple identity and multiple server support, per channel encoding. Feature rich.
  Ubuntu install: apt-get install konversation
• Quassel IRC - allows you to jump from platform to platform. KDE/Qt GUI and text mode blend.
  Ubuntu install: apt-get install quassel
• ChatZilla - Included in Mozilla browser (SeaMonkey or Firefox addon: Tools + Add-ons + ChatZilla) to handle irc:// URL's and regular IRC.
• irc://irc.sample-domain.net/#sclug - Example of an IRC URL acceptable by browsers like Mozilla. ChatZilla is built into Mozilla to handle irc:// URLs but it is not included in Firefox.

Example using ircII:

prompt$ /usr/bin/irc

/server irc.linux.com
/list                   - List channels
/join #linuxhelp        - or join #kernelnew, #linpeople, #livid (linux video), #java ...
/who *                  - List users in the current channel

Nick: bla bla bla...    - It's polite to address a person

/msg Nick               - This method will send a private message to Nick

/part #linuxhelp        - Close channel
/quit
          

Note: /usr/bin/irc comes with RPM ircii. (ircii was not included with RH 8.0 and later. You can still install an ircii RPM from RH 7.3 on 8.0/9.0.) RH 8.0/9.0 does not ship with any IRC clients. Fedora core 3 includes xchat and ChatZilla.

Helpful commands:

 /help

Command	Description
/HELP [optional-command]	Online help. Eg. /help intro
/SERVER server-hostname	Specify the IRC server to connect or to switch
/NICK new-nickname	Change/specify your own nick name. Nine character limit.
/LIST	List the IRC channels available on the server, the number of users and topics.
/JOIN #channel-name /PART #channel-name	Join a channel. Leave channel
/CTCP nickname PING /CTCP #channel-name PING	Ping to verify connection
/DCC CHAT nickname chat here /DCC CLOSE CHAT nickname	Direct Client Communications. Direct client to client communications by-passing the IRC server.
/DCC SEND nickname filename	File transfer
/MSG nickname	Send single message to specified user
/NAMES #channel-name	Show nick names of all users on the current channel
/WHO	List users in channel
/WHOIS nickname	Show user information
/AWAY away-message-here	Leave a message that you are not attending the channel. eg. /away Back in 20 minutes
/QUERY nickname	Start private conversation with specified user. Issue the "/QUERY" command to exit that conversation.
/QUIT	Exit all your IRC channels

• irc.linux.com
• irc-2.mit.edu
• irc.openprojects.net
• LA Linux Users Groups
• IRC Networks

• IrcHelp.org
  • IRC Networks and Server Lists
• IRC daemon ircd:
  • Ratbox
  • IRCD-Hybrid
  • RPM
• Wikipedia list of IRC software

Note IRC is NOT ICQ. For info on ICQ see ICQ.com and the Linux ICQ client home page, LICQ.org.

	"The Book of IRC: The Ultimate Guide to Internet Relay Chat" by Alex Charalabidis ISBN # 1886411298, No Starch Pr
	"Internet Messaging: From the Desktop to the Enterprise" by Marshall Rose, David Strom ASIN # 0139786104

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