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the other elements of the Net
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Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a way to communicate with people from all over the world, in the form of chat: the exchange written messages which are sent and received in real time. IRC consists of various separate networks of servers, that is computers which "host" the exchange of messages between their users. The largest nets are EFnet (the original IRC net, often having more than 32,000 people at once), Undernet, IRCnet, DALnet, and NewNet. Generally, the user (such as you) runs a program called a "client" to connect to a local server on one of the IRC nets. The server passes information to and from other users' servers on the same net. There are lots of clients available. A good one for Windows is IRC Gold which you can download for free. A well known one for Mac users is Ircle, a shareware for $15, a free one is Westwood Chat. Just connect to the closest server (they can be found with many search engines on the WWW).
How IRC developedIRC was originally written by a Finnish student named Oikkarinen in 1988 as a communication system for his own computer system. Since then it has become more than that and much bigger, used in over 60 countries so far. It's a multi-user chat system where people meet on "channels", virtual meeting places. IRC gained international fame during the Gulf War in 1991, when IRC users all over the world could find news updates on a particular channel. IRC had similar uses during the coup against Boris Yeltsin in September 1993, when IRC users in Moscow were giving live reports about the situation.
Join IRC channelsOnce connected to a server on an IRC network, you will usually join one or more "channels" and converse with others there. On the big IRC nets there often are more than 12,000 channels working, each devoted to a different topic. Conversations may be public (where everyone in a channel can see what you type) or private (messages between only two people, who may or may not be on the same channel). IRC is often not taken seriously, but that of course depends on how you use it. It can be used seriously - to talk to sources on a private channel. (You can also try MOOs, virtual meeting places based on telnet.) You should treat people you meet on IRC with the same courtesy as if you were talking in person or on the phone, or there may be consequences. The "channel op", the administrator or operator of each channel, can kick you out. If this happens, you can always look for another channel.
Channelname and nicknameThe channel names usually begin with a #, as in #irchelp, the help channel for IRC. All servers on the same net share the same channels, so you do not have to be connected to the same IRC server as your communication partners. Each channel name is related to the topic. If you type a name that doesn't exist, you have created a new one and can invite people to join you there. Each user is known on IRC by a nickname of up to 9 characters, such as smarty or FunGuy. To avoid conflicts with other users, you should look for a nick that is not too common. The command language is English but on a lot of channels it's common to talk in national language.
In order to use your IRC client, you have to write commands which are typed in the same place as the text of the messages. By default, commands begin with the character / . If you have a graphical client, many commands can be executed by clicking on icons with the mouse. It is, however, highly recommended that you learn to type the basic IRC commands first. When entering commands, pay close attention to spacing and capitalisation. The basic commands work on most clients. These commands are often included in a section of the client software - or you can find them by searching the WWW for a user's guide to IRC, for example the IRC Help Homepage. |
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