Introduction to IRC

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a protocol for carrying out real-time conversations with other users after connecting using a special software program (called a client) to an IRC server, which is itself liked to other IRC servers. Everyone who is connected to the server can chat in public or private forums using commands, though they must also obey proper "netiquette".

There are actually several different IRC networks, each one being a group of servers which are all connected. These networks have names like:

• IRCNet
• EFNet
• DALNet

If you want to talk with someone in particular, you will need to be connected to the same type of network. However, you don't have to connect to the same server; what's more, you must connect to the IRC server located the closest to you, or at least to the one which you have the best connection with, in order to have the best response time.

Clients

Servers

If you try a server and it doesn't respond, that means it is temporarily disconnected from the rest of the network, and you should try another.

Netiquette

When you are on IRC, you are expected to follow IRC's rules of conduct, so as not to inconvenience others. Whatever happens, you are not connected to the Internet anonymously (despite what you may think), so moderators (or even other users) in the channel you're in can punish you.

As a general rule, IRC is not a battlefield (even if it sometimes feels like one); instead, it is a place where you and other people can chat, share information, etc.

Basic commands

Here is the procedure for getting on IRC for the first time:

• The first thing to do, as mentioned above, is to connect to an IRC server. The command is:
  /SERVER [IRC server] [port]
  The port is often port 6667.
• Next, you need to select a nickname so that you can be recognised by a name of your choice, by typing:
  /NICK Your_username
  Your user name will often be limited to 11 characters.
• IRC is made up of numerous chatrooms, or "channels" (those in the know sometimes call them chans). You then join one or more channels by typing the command:
  /JOIN #Name_of_channel
• To leave a channel, the command is:
  /PART #Name_of_channel
  or with a goodbye message:
  /PART #Name_of_channel [Your message]
• If you don't know which channel to go to, there is a command (which takes a relatively long time to run, as there may be more than 10000 channels, and so you might get disconnected from the server):
  /LIST [#channel][-MIN #][-MAX #]
  where -MIN and -MAX are followed by a number for specifying how many results to display.

Additional commands

*george is annoyed