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8.
Downloads
and links.
1.
What is IRC?
The
IRC term stands for "Internet Relay Chat". IRC is
a virtual place where people all over the world gather to
chat on IRC channels (virtual chat rooms) as groups or privately.
The original IRC code was written by Jarkko Oikarinen in 1988.
It was first used in Finland and since then, IRC has been
used (almost) in all over the world. For more info about IRC's
history
click
here.
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2.
IRC clients.
An
IRC client is an application that allows you to connect
to an IRC server/network. Depending to your Operating
System you will need to get the right client to connect
to an IRC network. A list of the most popular clients can
be found here.
Each client uses it's own commands and settings.
3.
Which IRC client should I use?
For
Windows users mIRC
is the best client you can get. Due to it's advanced IRC commands
and programming language, mIRC became the most popular IRC
client. You can create your own commands and popups, enhance
it with addon tools or even write your own scripts. Downloadable
mIRC addons and scripts can be found in this
page.
A
good solution for Linux users is Pirch
which is also compatible with Windows platforms. Pirch has
also it's own scripting language so that you can create/modify
your own commands.
More
IRC clients with detailed descriptions can be found here.
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4.
Connecting to an IRC network.
Each
IRC client (normally) carries an IRC network/server list.
You can easily locate this list by navigating through your
client's options. If you have trouble locating the list run
into your client's help document or contact the client author.
There are hundrends of IRC networks out there so it's up to
each user to decide which one suits them. A good place to
start is the ChatNet IRC Network.
After a successful connection between your client and the
IRC network make sure you type the command /motd
into your status window. This command shows the server's MOTD
(Message Of The Day) which contains info about the
IRC server/network such as rules, links etc. Next step is
to get the server channel list. Type /list
into your status window and finally to join a channel, type
/join #channelname.
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5.
What
is an IRC channel?
A
channel on IRC is a place where many users can meet and chat
in groups (or privately) about a specific topic. There's no
limitation on how many users a channel can hold (unless the
channel settings are set this way to allow a limited number
of users to join). A channel is created once a user joins
in. Most of the popular IRC networks support channel services.
This mean that users can register their channels and gain
the full control and rights of them. You can get info about
a network's channel services by joining the server channel
or by visiting the network web page (view MOTD file). Besides
chat channels there also channels created to offer help to
IRC users. Some examples are #help,
#IRChelp, #Winhelp etc. You can list all the help related
channels by using the command /list
*help*.
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6.
Security and safety on IRC.
IRC
(like life outside of it) has it's dangers. Many times people
will try to cause you trouble by making you disconnect from
the IRC network, send you a virus or even hack into your system.
What you can do to prevent all these? a)
NEVER accept files from people you don't know. b) Install
the following software: a firewall
will block all unauthorised connection attempts to your open
ports. A virus scanner will scan
the files you download for any possible virus infection.
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7.
Help I'm infected!
Infected
users who have trouble on getting rid of viruses can either
try to sick for help in an IRC virus related channel (#help
or #IRChelp for example) or visit this
page which offers detailed description about more than
57.000 viruses and ways to kill them.
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8.
Downloads and links.
If
you still haven't found what you're looking for about IRC
you can visit this
page or download the IRC
INTRO and FAQ by Tjerk Vonck.
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