A short IRC primer ==================== Written by: Nicholas Pioch, (Nap on IRC) < pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr > < pioch@grasp1.univ-lyon1.fr > Edition 1.01, August 22, 1992. Abstract ~~~~~~~~ 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), and it is networked much over North America, Europe, and Asia. This program is a substitution for 'talk', and many other multiple talk programs you might have read about. When you are talking on IRC, everything you type will be 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 discuss in 14 languages... Topics of discussion on IRC are varied, just like the topics of Usenet newsgroups 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. Most conversations are in English, but there are always channels in German, Japanese, French, Finnish, and occasionally other languages. IRC gained international fame during the late Persian Gulf War, when updates from around the world came across the wire, and most people on IRC gathered on a single channel to hear these reports. CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Getting started 1.1 Clients and Servers 1.2 How to behave on IRC 1.3 First Steps 1.4 Screen and Keyboard activity 2. Let's go! 2.1 General Commands 2.2 Communication and Private Conversations 2.3 Public Conversations, Channels, and Channel Modes 2.4 Network Related Commands 2.5 Quick Reference Panel 2.6 Further into ircII Wizardry 2.7 Sample .ircrc 3. Frequently Asked Questions 3.1 How do I use a client? 3.2 Where can I get source for an IRC client? 3.3 Which server do I connect to? 3.4 What are good channels to try while using IRC? 3.5 What if someone tells me to type something cryptic? 3.6 I get strange characters on my screen, what are they? 3.7 What about NickServ? 3.8 How do I send a file to someone over IRC? 3.9 I'm being flooded or harassed by a jerk. Help! 3.10 How do I get rid of a ghosted IRC session? 3.11 Where can I find more? 1. GETTING STARTED ================== 1.1 Clients and Servers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IRC, (original code was written by Jarkko Oikarinen), 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 onc, with access across the aggregate Internet, and providing a whole raft of other useful features. There are two ways to enter IRC. If you are using the emacs, (editor from Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation), lisp client, you need to load the client into your emacs session and then "M-x irc". If you are using the C client, (easier for beginners), then you usually type "irc". 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 are on. (More about channels later on). The most important thing to remember about IRC is that you have to be willing to explore and learn to use it... Take you time, try not to get flustered, and 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, (originally designed by Michael Sandrof). 1.2 How to behave on IRC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The most widely understood and spoken language on IRC is English. However, as IRC is used in many different countries, English is by no means the only language. If you want to speak some other language than English, (for example with your friends), go to a separate channel and set the topic to indicate that. On the other hand, you should check the topic before you move to 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 otherwise, change channels and set the topic accordingly. It's not necessary to greet everybody on a channel personally. Usually one "Hello!" or eqivalent 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 ircII's /ON facility to automatically say hello or goodbye is extremely poor etiquette. Nobody wants to receive autogreets. 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 when using autogreets. If somebody wants to be autogreeted on joining a channel, he will autogreet himself. Remember, people on IRC form their opinions about you only by your actions, writings and comments, so think before you type. Do not "dump" to a channel or user, (send large amounts of unwanted information). This is likely to get you 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: * Using offensive words in channel topics. * Harassing another user. Harassment is defined as behaviour towards another user with the purpose of annoying them. * Annoying anothe user or a channel with constant beeping. * Any behaviour reducing the functionality of IRC. 1.3 First Steps ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Note: ircII, the client most people are using, has most of this information on-line. If you are stuck, type /HELP and hit return. To escape from /HELP mode, keep pressing until your edit line, (the line at the bottom of the screen), is empty. Most of the information in this file can be found typing these commands: "/HELP INTRO" or "/HELP NEWUSER". 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" or "/sign " stand for /SIGNOFF and will both end your IRC session, (more in section 2.1). Anything that does not begin with "/" is assumed to be a message to someone and 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 the prefix. Don't forget the "/" in front of the command though. /W *** Commands: *** WAIT WALL WALLOPS WHILE *** WHO WHOIS WHOWAS WINDOW *** Aliases: *** W This is an example. Your screen may show more aliases, and less commands than shown here, or less aliases and more commands - in other words "your mileage may vary"... 1.4 Screen and Keyboard activity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IRC is a full-screen utility. It takes over the screen, with the bulk of activity happening in the top (N-2) lines, a status line, (vaguely emacs-like), on the second to last line, and your input being entered on the last line. When typing commands at ircII, you have a minimalist line-editing facility in an emacs style. That is, ^A (Ctrl-A) moves the cursor to the beginning of the line, ^E goes to the end, ^D deletes the character under the cursor, ^K kills from the cursor to the end, and so on. the /! command is used to recall a previous command in your command history for re-execution. The /! command is unique in that when it is used, it leaves the matching history entry in the input line for re-editing. You can specify a history entry either by its number in the history list, or by a match with a given wildcard expression. For instance, "/!10" will put entry 10 in the history list into the the input line. "/!/MSG" will search the history for a line beginning with a /MSG, (a "*" is implied at the end). The command history can be dumped using: /HISTORY [] Displays the command history to the screen. You can specify the number of history entries you wish to view as well. Almost everything happens in the upper bulk of the screen. This includes both messages from other users, as well as the output of the control commands. Normal messages from other users appear with the originating nickname in . Private messages arrive with the originating nickname in *asterisks*. Messages you send to everyone appear with a preceding "> " whereas messages you send privately to another user appear with "-> *nickname*". Other output, (invitations from other users to join channels, and so forth), appears interspersed with other activity on the screen. Last ircII outputs can be recalled with: /LASTLOG [|] [] Displays the contents of the lastlog. This is a list of the most recent messages that have appeared on the screen, ueful if you in advertantly miss messages. If no arguments are given, the entire lastlog is displayed. If the first argument is a number, it determines how many log entries to show. Otherwise it is searched for in every lastlog entry. The second argument determines how many lines back to start display from. Example: /LASTLOG > Public message I send to all in the channel Public message from some1else *some1else* Private message sent to me by some1else -> *some1else* Private message I send to some1else Finally, if your screen gets garbage from a 'talk', 'write', 'wall' or any other form of primitive communication (smirk), hit ^L to redraw it, or /CLEAR it. /CLEAR Clears the screen. 2. LET'S GO! ============ 2.1 General Commands ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /LIST Lists all current "channels", number of users, and topic. The displayed list may be quite long, so you can limit it using flags. "/LIST -MIN n" for instance removes channels with less than 'n' users of the output. Example: /LIST -MIN 5 *** #aussies 5 *** #amiga 5 Daily Amiga Silence...join&enjoy *** #hottub 21 Imagine sky, high above... *** #tuebingen 11 Happy Borthday CHUCK!!! *** #Christian 6 Jesus! *** #Twilight_ 15 The Oper Bar & Grill *** #initgame 5 More players needed!!!!!!!!!!!! *** #Taiwan 8 Welcome good friends. *** #espanol 6 EMERGENCIA SE Necesitan Mujeres! *** #sherwood 7 *** #francais 6 on apprend le japonais (japanese welcome) /NAMES Shows the nicknames of all users on each "channel". /NAMES -MIN 5 Pub: #twilight> Mycroft @sojge scorpio @Troy @Avalon @Nap phone Merlinus Lumberjak @tzoper Pub: #espanol Cacique Bonjovi leopardo Carina Miguel Cisco r2 Pub: #amiga @gio @Radix @xterm @mama @AmiBot Pub: #aussies @Bleve @GrayElf @Insomniac @Morkeleb @titus Pub: #hottub baby @Aldur KnightOrc @Toasty Gwydion @Belkira @Aiken Edge @Spockobot @Nada @ZBot @Aurik @anna @RedBaron @Katzen @esashi IceWolf @Eniigma @Digger @TheHeck /NICK [] 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 Nappy *** Nap is now known as Nappy /QUIT [] 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 Lunch Time! poly ~ > /HELP [] Shows help on the given command. /HELP HELP Usage: HELP [command] Shows help on the given command. The help documentation is set up in a hierarchial fashion. That means that certain help topics have sub-topics under them. /WHOIS [] Shows information about someone. /WHOIS Nap *** Nap is pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr (Klein bottle for sale... inquire within.) *** on channels: @#Twilight_Zone @#EU-Opers *** on via server poly.polytechnique.fr (Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, FRANCE ! ) *** Nap has a connection to the twilight zone (is an IRC operator) *** Nap has been idle 0 seconds /WHOIS Nappy *** Nappy: 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 [] Shows information about who used the given nickname last, even if no one is currently using it. /WHOWAS Nappy *** Nappy was pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr (Artistic ventures highlighted. Rob a museum.) on channel *private* *** on irc via server poly.polytechnique.fr (Signoff: Mon Jun 22 20:15:23) Very often, an unsuccess call to /WHOIS will lead you to try /WHOWAS. That's why ircII allows you to "/SET AUTO_WHOWAS ON"; that way, a "*** : No such nickname" message will automatically generate a "/WHOWAS ". Try typing "/HELP SET AUTO_WHOWAS" for more information on this topic. /AWAY [] 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 2.2 Communication and Private Conversation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 | Send a private message to specified nickname. /MSG Nap This message is for Nap only. -> *Nap* This message is for Nap only. On my screen will appear: *YourNick* This message is for Nap only. 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 " or "/MSG . " gets cumbersome. That's where the /QUERY command comes in handy. /QUERY [|] Starts a private conversation with . /QUERY Nap *** Starting conversation with Nap Blahblahblah -> *Nap* Blahblahblah /QUERY *** Ending conversation with Nap 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 automation), will be sent in reply. Services, (robots), on IRC often use this form of interaction. /NOTICE | Sends a private message to specified . /NOTICE Nap Better use /MSG instead of /NOTICE. -> -Nap- Better use /MSG instead of /NOTICE. On my screen will appear: -YourNick- Better use /MSG instead of /NOTICE. 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 [-] Adds or removes to the list of people you'll be warned when they enter or quit IRC. /NOTIFY Nap Nappy *** Signon by Nap detected /NOTIFY *** Currently present: Nap *** Currently absent: Nappy 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 behaviour is to /IGNORE that person. /IGNORE | [-] 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 *@cheshire.oxy.edu ALL *** Ignoring ALL messages from *@cheshire.oxy.edu /IGNORE *** Ignorance list: *** *@CHESHIRE.OXY.EDU ALL /IGNORE *@cheshire.oxy.edu NONE *** *@cheshire.oxy.edu removed from ignorance list 2.3 Public Conversations, Channels and Channel Modes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Most of the information in this file can also be obtained by issuing "/HELP CHANNEL" or "/HELP MODE". On IRC, there are a lot of places where you can "hang out"; those places are called 'channels'. You can compare conversations on a channel to a conversation among a group of people: you see/hear everything that is said, and you can reply to anything that's said. What you type is received by everyone who's willing to listen - and everyone who is late will not hear what is said before, unless repeated by one of the ones who were there. (Who said "real life"?) All channels on IRC have names: a "#" sign followed by some kind of text-string, like "#C++" or "#Asians" or "#EU-Opers". Usually, the name of the channel will indicate the type of conversation that's going on in there. Don't count on it tough. Every channel has certain characteristics, called channel modes. These will also be explained below. Recall the /NAMES and /LIST commands; they will show you the names of the existing channels. To join a certain channel you may use the /JOIN command. /JOIN [] Sets your current channel to the supplied channel. /JOIN #Twilight_Zone *** Nap has joined channel #Twilight_Zone *** Topic: The Gernsback Continuum *** Users on #Twilight_Zone: Nap msa tober phone @julia @SirLance igh @Daemon @Avalon @Waftam @Trillian @tzoper The /CHANNEL command has the same effects. Note that if no parameters are given, your current channel is displayed. Upon entering a channel, you are given useful details about it: list of users talking in that channel, topic... Joining a channel does not cause you to leave your previous channel unless NOVICE is set to ON. See "HELP SET NOVICE". Once in a channel, you may wish to get a detailed list of the people IRCing inside. That's where the /WHO command comes in handy: /WHO [|] Gives a list of users. "/WHO *" for the list of users in your current channel. /WHO #Twilight_Zone Channel Nickname S User@Host (Name) #Twilight_ Nap H* pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr (Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur) #Twilight_ msa H msa@tel1.tel.vtt.fi (Markku Savela) #Twilight_ tober H ircuser@kragar.eff.org (tober) #Twilight_ phone H mrgreen@munagin.ee.mu.OZ.AU (Third row seats to the Cure? WHO ME? nah.. *grin*) #Twilight_ julia G*@ julie@turing.acs.Virginia.EDU ( Future graduate of ACME Looniversity) #Twilight_ SirLance G*@ lancelot@tdsb-s.mais.hydro.qc.ca (Sir Lancelot) #Twilight_ igh G igh@micom1.servers.unsw.EDU.AU (igh) #Twilight_ Daemon G*@ frechett@spot.Colorado.EDU (-=Runaway Daemon=-) #Twilight_ Avalon H*@ avalon@coombs.anu.edu.au (Avalon...) #Twilight_ Waftam G*@ danielce@munagin.ee.mu.OZ.AU (Daniel Carosone) #Twilight_ Trillian G*@ hrose@rocza.eff.org ( I turn to stone when you are gone ) #Twilight_ tzoper H*@ tzoper@azure.acsu.buffalo.edu (/msg tzoper help) The first field is the current channel, then nickname, status, real name (in internet user@host form), and a small witty comment you can set yourself with the environment variable IRCNAME, (this will be detailed in section 2.6). Status indicates if a user is "H"ere or "G"one, (see /AWAY), if IRCop ("*"), or chanop ("@"). It is also possible, when you are already on a channel, to ask someone to join your channel. The command is called /INVITE. /INVITE [] Invites another user to a channel. If no channel is specified, your current chanel is used. /INVITE Nap *** Inviting Nap to channel #Twilight_Zone If you receive an /INVITE message, you can type "/JOIN -INVITE" to join the channel to which you were last invited, or simply /JOIN . To leave a channel, just issue a /LEAVE command, (/PART has the same effects): /LEAVE Leave a channel. /LEAVE #Twilight_Zone *** Nap has left #Twilight_Zone 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 [] Kicks named user off a given channel. Only 'channel operators' are privileged to use this command. /KICK #Twilight_Zone Target *** Target has been kicked off channel #Twilight_Zone by Nap Channels have topics, that indicate the current topic of conversation. You can change this topic on a channel with the /TOPIC command. /TOPIC [] [] Changes the topic for the channel. /TOPIC The silent channel. *** Nap has changed the topic on channel #EU-Opers to The silent channel. Channels can have additional restraints, which can be set by the /MODE command. To understand this, recall that the first person that to /JOIN a channel effectively creates it and is initially "in charge" of the channel, (Channel Operator' or 'chanop'). He can subsequently add those constraints, make other people chanops at leisure. Public is the default mode for a channel. When someone is on a public channel, he can be seen by all other user, (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, (/NAMES). The only indication of your presence is that, when entering IRC, all new users are told that there are "NNN users on XXX servers". If someone checks on all users and finds less than NNN 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 [|] +/-modechars [] Allows channel operators to change channel mode, or any user to change their personal mode, (don't use this command too often, it floods the net with worthless information). /MODE #Twilight_Zone +m *** Mode change "+m" on channel #Twilight_Zone by Nap /MODE Nap -i *** Mode change "-i" for user Nap by poly.polytechnique.fr And this is how to give 'chanop' status to someone on the channel /MODE #Twilight_Zone +o sojge *** Mode change "+o sojge" on channel #Twilight_Zone by Nap 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... ModeChar Effects on channels ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ b ban somebody, in "nick!user@host" form i channel is invite-only l channel is limited, users allowed max m channel is moderated, (only chanops can talk) n external /MSGs to channel are not allowed o makes a channel operator p channel is private s channel is secret t topic limited, only chanops may change it 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 Note that usermode "+i" may be the default on some servers, in order to protect the privacy of users. You can check your usermode with the command "/MODE " or sometimes "/UMODE". This should not be seen as a problem, since any user can change his personal mode whatever defaults a server may set. 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 channel or query. It is absolutely good style to not forget the period at the end of a sentence! /ME Tells the channel or query about what you are doing. /ME opens up the fridge. *** Action: Nap opens up the fridge. You can also use your own nickname as command, i.e. you can type the line with a leading slash: /Nap reaches out for the orange juice. *** Action: Nap reaches out for the orange juice. The same goal can be acheived towards a specific nickname using: /DESCRIBE | Sends anything concerning you to the or you pass as first argument. These commands make use of CTCP, a client-to-client protocol crafted to perform specific action, but not understood by all clients. If you get an error-message, your description may not have arrived properly. /CTCP [] Allows you to perform certain client specific actions on the network. /CTCP Nap VERSION *** CTCP VERSION reply from Nap: ircII 2.2pre7 *IX :ircII2.2pre7, the one true client. This can be used to get information about what how long a person has been idle: /CTCP Nap FINGER *** CTCP FINGER reply from Nap: PIOCH Nicholas - Nap on IRC, X90, (pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr) Idle 0 seconds 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 ACTION DCC UTC :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... 2.4 Network Related Commands ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you encounter any problem, contact your local IRC-Administrator or an IRC-Operator. An IRC-Admin is a person who has access to all files concerning 'ircd' (the server program). An IRC-Operator is a person who has privileges given to him by an IRC-Admin and tries to maintain a fast reliable IRC network. Information on how you can find out who he/she is, can be found below. Each time you are prompted for a server name, remember you can supply the nickname of someone being connected on that server instead. This may be useful at times... /ADMIN [] Displays the administrative details about the given server. If no server is supplied, the server you are connected to is used. /ADMIN ### Administrative info about poly.polytechnique.fr ### Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, FRANCE ### IRC-Administrator Nicholas Pioch (Nap@IRC) ### /LINKS [] [] Shows a list of servers currently connected to the IRC network. If is given, /LINKS asks the given for a list of servers matching the given expression. /LINKS *po* *** nova.unix.portal.com 7 Cupertino California, USA *** poe.acc.Virginia.EDU 6 University of Virginia 2.7.1f *** polaris.utu.fi 9 University of Turku, Finland *** polaris.ctr.columbia.edu 6 Columbia University, New York City *** von-neumann.info.polymtl.ca 8 Montreal Polyserver (Canada) *** csd.postech.ac.kr 4 POSTECH Computer Science Dept. *** cdc853.cdc.polimi.it 2 Polytechnic of Milan, Italy *** poly.polytechnique.fr 0 Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, FRANCE /SERVER [|] [] Switches your primary server to the supplied at the specified . If no port number is given, the default port number is used, (normally 6667). /SERVER poly.polytechnique.fr 6667 *** Connecting to port 6667 of server poly.polytechnique.fr *** Welcome to the Internet Relay Network, Nap *** Your host is poly.polytechnique.fr, running version 2.7.2g.ID *** This server was created Sun Aug 22 1992 at 01:24:31 MET DST Occasionally, you can switch serves faster than the IRC network can send out the information that you have left your previous server. So Don't be surprised if you are told your nickname is already in use... Just wait a moment and set it with /NICK again. /MOTD [] Gives the Message-Of-The-Day for the named server. If no server is given, your server is used. /MOTD MOTD - poly.polytechnique.fr message of the day - MOTD - _____________________________________ MOTD - /\ \ MOTD - \_| Bienvenue sur le serveur | MOTD - | Internet Relay Chat | MOTD - | de l'Ecole Polytechnique, FRANCE | MOTD - | _________________________________|__ MOTD - \_/___________________________________/ MOTD - MOTD - | | | En cas de probleme, MOTD - )_) )_) )_) tapez / admin MOTD - )___))___))___)\ MOTD - )____)____)_____)\\ Nicolas PIOCH MOTD - _____|____|____|____\\\__ Nap sur IRC MOTD - --\ Welcome on IRC ! /--------- MOTD - ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ * End of /MOTD command /USERS [] Shows the users logged into the machine where the server is running, (it's up to the server administrator to implement this feature or not. It may not work on some machines). /USERS *** UserID Terminal Host *** pioch ttyp9 rotule.polytechn *** pioch ttypc rotule.polytechn *** pioch ttyq0 rotule.polytechn *** pioch ttyq1 rotule.polytechn /DATE [] /TIME [] Shows the current time of day and date. If a server is specified, the time of day and date are reported from that server. /DATE and /TIME are identical. /DATE *** poly.polytechnique.fr Saturday June 20 1992 -- 02: 35 +01:00 /LUSERS Gives a brief listing of the number of users, the number of servers and the number of operators. /LUSERS *** There are 539 users and 115 invisible on 142 servers *** 62 users have connection to the twilight zone *** There are 231 channels *** I have 10 clients and 3 servers /INFO Shows information about the IRC creators, debuggers, slaves and a lot of other people who no longer have much to do with IRC. /VERSION Shows the ircII version number and the version number of the server. /VERSION *** Client: ircII 2.2pre7 *** Server poly.polytechnique.fr: ircd 2.7.2g.ID 2.5 Quick Reference Panel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Keyword Action ------- ------ ADMIN displays information about a server AWAY leaves a message saying you're not paying attention BYE exits your IRC session (See /QUIT) CHANNEL sets your current channel CLEAR puts some white space on your screen CTCP performs certain client specific actions DATE shows server current date and time DCC handles direct connections to remote clients DESCRIBE sends anything about you toa person or channel EXIT exits your IRC session (See /QUIT) HELP prints help on the given command HISTORY displays the command history IGNORE removes output fromspecific people off your screen INFO shows useless information about IRC INVITE sends an invitation to another user JOIN sets your current channel KICK gets rid of someone on a channel LASTLOG lists the most recent messages LEAVE leaves a channel LINKS shows servers on the IRC network LIST lists channels, number of users, topic LUSERS gives a brief listing of users, servers and operators ME sends anything about you to a channel or QUERY MODE changes channel mode MOTD diplays the server message-of-the-day MSG sends a private message NAMES shows the nicknames of users on each channel NICK changes your nickname NOTICE sends a private message NOTIFY warns you of people logging in or out IRC PART leaves a channel (See /LEAVE) QUERY starts a private conversation QUIT exits your IRC session SERVER switches your primary server SIGNOFF exits your IRC session (See /QUIT) TIME shows server current date and time TOPIC changes the topic of the channel USERS prints users logged on the server machine VERSION shows client and server version number WHOIS displays information about someone WHOWAS displays information about someone who just left 2.6 Further into ircII Wizardry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Note: This part should be reserved for experienced IRC'ers. Because ircII is not a simple client program, but an Operating System, its programming language is just as simple as you could expect (it's horrendous), but if you want to get into it, here's a little note for you... There are a few Unix environment variables you can set in your shell configuration file: 'VARNAME="value"; export VARNAME' for Bourne shells, (sh, sh5, ksh, bash); 'setenv VARNAME "value"' for C shells, (csh, tcsh). They are: Name Effects ~~~~ ~~~~~~~ HOME where your home directory is IRCNAME any lunacy you want instead of your real name IRCNICK your default IRC nickname IRCPATH a directory path to LOAD scripts IRCRC a file to use instead of your $HOME/.ircrc IRCSERVER a default server list for ircII TERM your terminal type The command character, (usually "/"), is only necessary when you type commands interactively, when you program things it is no more needed, it used to be though. If you want to type to the channel from within an ALIAS or on BINDing, you have to use SAY or SEND. The ";" has a special meaning in ALIASes, BINDings and ONs: it's treated as command separator, that means you can execute multiple commands in a row separated by semicolons. The semicolons are not considered separators when you use them interactively, (to be able to type ";-)"), and within an ircII script file. You can escape the meaning of ";" in an ALIAS with "\;". When you use ircII on a (semi)regular basis, you will discover that every time you start the program you will issue the same initialisation sequence. If that is the case, I have good news for you: you don't have to do that anymore! ircII will, at startup, load a file called ".ircrc", (full path: $HOME/.ircrc). It will treat each line in that file as if you typed it manually. For example, if the content of your .ircrc file is: JOIN #Twilight_Zone then each time you will start IRC, you will join this channel. Advanced commands may come in handy if you need them. Feel free to browse in ircII on-line help to find out more about them. A few of them are probably worth learning... Keyword Action ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ # same as COMMENT except for the lenght ALIAS creates command aliases ASSIGN creates user variables (expandable with $) BIND binds a keystroke sequence to a function CD changes ircII working directory COMMENT does nothing, but very useful. Strange, uh? ECHO displays all of its arguments EXEC allows you to start subprocesses FLUSH flushes all pending output from the server IF standard boolean expression checker LOAD loads an ircII command script file ON sets up actions to occur when certain events happen REDIRECT forwards the output from a command SAVE saves all ircII settings into a file SAY same as sending text to a nickname or channel SEND same as sending text to a nickname or channel SET sets a variable to a given value SLEEP suspends ircII for a few seconds TYPE simulates keyboard strokes WAIT waits for all server output to finish WHILE another control command to make loops WINDOW lets you manipulate multiple "windows" in ircII XECHO like ECHO, but takes flag arguments 2.7 Sample .ircrc ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As a sample, here's part of my .ircrc file: # ------------------------------------------------------------------- # IRCII sample configuration file (~/.ircrc) (Nicolas Pioch) # ------------------------------------------------------------------- # The aim of this file is to shorten all useful commands to 1 letter. # Let's go behind the scenes... ^set DISPLAY off # "I ain't be no newbie". set NOVICE off # Speeds up ircII display 2 times set SCROLL_LINES 2 set AUTO_WHOWAS on set SHOW_CHANNEL_NAMES on set INPUT_ALIASES off set SHOW_AWAY_ONCE on # Put Hack notices down under on ^SERVER_NOTICE "* NOTICE -- Hack: *" set STATUS_USER Hack: $4- #Get rid of stupid 2.6 server messages "*** Nick: Channel not found" on ^403 * # Who is that? on ^msg * echo *$0!$%USERHOST()* $1- on ^join * echo *** $0 has joined channel $1- ($%USERHOST()) # /w [] get info on someone # /q [] query someone # /m send a message # /n send a notice # /r reply to last message I got # /a followup on my last message alias w whois alias q query alias m msg alias n notice alias r msg $, alias a msg $. # /j join a channel # /l list people in a channel # /ll list in the current channel # /i [] invite someone # /hop leave the current channel alias j join alias l who alias ll who * alias i invite alias hop part $C # /o [ ] give channel op # /d [ ] remove channel op status # /k kick someone # /mo [+/-] change current channel mode alias o mode $C +ooo alias d mode $C -ooo alias k kick alias mo mode $C # The "wrong person" alias! /oops to resend message to alias oops { ^assign _whoops $B msg $. Whoops! Please ignore, that wasn't meant for you. msg $0 $_whoops } alias unset set -$* alias unalias alias -$* alias NickServ msg NickServ@Service.de alias NoteServ msg NoteServ@Service.de ^set DISPLAY on # ------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ============================= 3.1 How do I use a client? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You either compile the source yourself, have someone else on your machine compile the source for you, or you use the 'telnet' client: "telnet bradenville.andrew.cmu.edu" "telnet irc.santafe.edu", login: "irc" or if you are in Europe "telnet ircserver.itc.univie.ac.at 6668" 3.2 Where can I get source for an IRC client? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNIX ircII ---------- cs.bu.edu - /irc/clients ftp.acsu.buffalo.edu - /pub/irc slopoke.mlb.semi.harris.com - /pub/irc plod.cmbe.unsw.oz.au - /pub coombs.anu.edu.au - /pub/irc nic.funet.fi - /pub/unix/irc/ircII ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de - /pub/net/irc EMACS elisp ----------- cs.bu.edu - /irc/clients/elisp slopoke.mlb.semi.harris.com - /pub/irc/emacs nic.funet.fi - /pub/unix/irc/Emacs lehtori.cc.tut.fi - /pub/irchat ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de - /pub/net/irc VMS --- cs.bu.edu - /irc/clients/vms coombs.anu.edu.au - /pub/irc/vms nic.funet.fi - /pub/unix/irc/vms ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de - /pub/net/irc REXX for VM ----------- ftp.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de - /pub/irc/rxirc ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de - /pub/net/irc/VM cs.bu.edu - /irc/clients/rxirc coombs.anu.edu.au - /pub/irc/rxirc nic.funet.fi - /pub/unix/irc/rxirc MSDOS ----- freebie.engin.umich.edu - /pub/irc/clients nic.funet.fi - /pub/unix/irc/msdos The current "official" ircII release is version 2.1.5h. This means that this is said to be bugfree. (Hehe, you never know...) In addition to this "official" distribution, you may find preversions of 2.2 clients floating around, for people who like to track down bugs and taste things to come. However, you should be aware that ircII numbered 2.2preN are currently been worked on, and may not have full features working properly. It's your choise... 3.3 Which server do I connect to? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's usually best to try and connect to one geographically close, even though that may not be the best. You can always ask when you get on IRC. Here's a list of servers available for connection: csd.bu.edu ucsu.colorado.edu badger.ugcs.caltech.edu coombs.anu.edu.au ug.cs.dal.ca nic.funet.fi irc.nada.kth.se suntrax1.cern.ch poly.polytechnique.fr This is by no means, a comprehensive list, but merely a start. Connect to the closest of these servers and join the channel #Twilight_Zone or, if you are in Europe, #EU-Opers. When you are there, immediately ask what you want. Don't say "I have a question" because then everyone will ignore you until you say it a few times, and then they'll jump down your throat and rip your lungs out. Noone knows if he can answer your question until you ask it. 3.4 What are good channels to try while using IRC? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #Hottub and #initgame are almost always teeming with people. #Hottub is meant to simulate a hot tub, and #initgame is a non-stop game of "inits" (initials). Just join the fun and find out! Many IRC Operators are in #Twilight_Zone, while European Operators concentrate in #EU-Opers... So if you join an Operator channel and don't hear much talking, don't worry, it's not because you joined, Operators don't talk much on such channels anyways! 3.5 What if someone tells me to type something cryptic? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEVER type anything anyone tells you to without knowing what it is. There is a problem with typing a certain command with the ircII client that gives anyone immediate control of your client, (and thus can alter your account environment also). Look in the ircII on-line help each time you can. 3.6 I get strange characters on my screen, what are they? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IRC has quite a lot of people from Scandinavian countries, }{|][\ are letters in their alphabet. This has been explained on IRC about a thousand and one times, so read the following, don't ask it on IRC: [, { 'a' with two dots over it ], } 'a' with a small circle above it \, | 'o' with two dots over it, or a dash ("/") through it ("[", "]", and "\" = upper case) In addition to that, Japanese IRC'ers use a special ansi escape control sequences to transmit their Kanji alphabet. This may also look funny if you get some of it... Here's a sample: [$B$?$K$7[$B;$m$K# (nice, uh?) 3.7 What about NickServ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To qoute from NickServ's help text, NickServ's purpose is to help avoiding nickname confusionson IRC. There's no such thing as "nickname ownership", however NickServ sends a warning to anyone else who signs on with your nickname. If you don't use IRC for 10 weeks, your nickname registration expires for reuse. Only a NickServ operator can change your NickServ password. To find out which NickServ operators are on-line, send /MSG NickServ@Service.de OPERWHO Nicknames with a "*" next to them are on-line at the time. 3.8 How do I send a file to someone over IRC? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To send small text files, electronic mail is probably the best solution. However, ircII provides you a way to establish Direct Client Connections ("DCC") to perform functions like sending and receiving files, (such data transfers are slower than ftp). 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 warn both users that data transfer has been successfully completed. Here's a quick overview of the subject: /DCC [] Handles direct connections to remote clients. The behaviour of /DCC is determined by the specified . /DCC SEND Initiates a file transfer by direct client connection. /DCC GET Accepts a file transfer by direct client connection. The sender must first have offered the file with /DCC SEND. /DCC LIST Shows the current /DCC connections with their types, status and nicknames involved. /DCC CLOSE [] Ends an unwanted DCC connection or offer. The , and 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. More details can be found in ircII on-line help: try "/HELP DCC", for more information. However, if someone asks you to send him a file, DON'T do it unless you you EXACTLY know what you are doing. For instance, NEVER send the password file of your system to anybody. This could grant crackers illegal access to your machines, and put you and your system administrator in much trouble. 3.9 I'm being flooded or harassed by a jerk. HELP! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If somebody is behaving like a jerk on IRC, like dumping to a channel Mb's of garbage, then he should be /KICKed and eventually banned from the channel, (see "/HELP MODE" for details). If it's a matter of personal harassment, then you should set a proper /IGNORE on that person, (preferably on his userid@hostname). Remember you can use wildcard expressions for /IGNORE. More about this in section 2.2. 3.10 How do I get rid of a ghosted IRC session? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes you may have a "ghosted" IRC session, a process still running on your machine you would like to get rid of, but can't control anymore to issue a /QUIT command. Going back to a unix shell, try listing your processes: ("ps -ux" or "ps -f" depending on your system) poly ~ > ps -ux USER PID %CPU %MEM SZ RSS TT STAT TIME COMMAND pioch 10410 1.4 0.2 839 402 pf S 0:00 /usr/local/bin/emacs pioch 25441 0.6 0.9 2888 1908 ? S 0:32 xterm -ls pioch 25444 0.4 0.2 550 341 pf S 0:17 -tcsh (tcsh) pioch 10404 0.1 0.3 897 624 pf S 0:00 irisVx 5 4 10403 pioch 25634 0.0 0.3 1022 678 p6 S 0:22 irc pioch 25451 0.0 0.2 953 326 ? S 0:07 xmailbox pioch 25452 0.0 0.1 386 147 ? S 0:00 xdaliclock pioch 25459 0.0 0.3 1109 617 ? S 0:02 xman pioch 10403 0.0 0.1 574 124 pf I 0:00 mapleV pioch 10423 0.0 0.2 614 459 pf R 0:00 /bin/ps -ux Locate the line about your lost IRC session, (irc should appear in the COMMAND field of the line), and its PID, (process number, second field of the line here). In this example the PID is 25634, as shown here: USER PID %CPU %MEM SZ RSS TT STAT TIME COMMAND pioch 25634 0.0 0.3 1022 678 p6 S 0:22 irc All you then need to type is "kill -kill" or "kill -9" immediatly followed by the PID found above: "kill -kill 25634" here. You can get more details about the commands involved here in the standard unix manual, ("man 1 ps" or "man 1 kill"). 3.11 Where can I find more? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have access to Usenet News, (usually through a program called rn, trn, xrn or nn), you may want to join alt.irc debates, flamings and whinings. You can also join various IRC related mailing lists. "Operlist" discusses current (and past) server code, routing and protocol. You can join by mailing operlist-request@eff.org. To subscribe to the irchat list, mail irchat-request@cc.tut.fi. There is a low traffic ircII mailing list, mail dl2p+@andrew.cmu.edu to be added. Another mailing list, ircd-three@eff.org exists to discuss protocol revisions for the 3.0 release of ircd, currently in planning. Mail ircd-three-request@eff.org to be added to that.