Using Internet Relay Chat

=#ubuntu-in IRC FAQ & Guidelines=

What is IRC?
IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. The IRC is one of the oldest forms of online chat. It is somewhat similar to chatrooms on yahoo and MSN. One important difference is that rules are more stressed upon in the IRC. Read the guidelines below for the specifics.

Who owns IRC?
No one. even you can setup an IRC server using IRCd on any terminal. The #ubuntu-in channel is hosted onFreenode.

How do I signup?
There is no signup process. IRC does not require an id and a password like most chat protocols. But the freenode server recommends registering a nickname. Remember that a registered nickname has more functionality, but even registered nicknames can be used by other people.

Okay, then how exactly do I register?
You need to connect to IRC through a client (eg. Gaim, X-chat, et al. Click here to learn how to connect through a client) and then type: /msg NickServ REGISTER nickname password That's it. Your nick is now registered. Someone else may use it (or steal), but you can recover your nick since you registered it. To recover your nick that somebody is using, type: /msg NickServ GHOST nickname password /nick nickname /msg NickServ IDENTIFY password Typically, you should identify yourself once you connect to the server. FreeNode does not allow users to send personal messages (messages from one user to another) if the users are not identified.

IRC commands
IRC works on commands. The typical buttons are all gone. To help you start talking on IRC, here are a few commands that you might find useful : /server servername This connects to the server you mention in the command. /join #channelname This opens a new tab, which joins you to a channel (similar to entering a chat room), where channelname is the channel you want to join. /msg nickname your-message This opens a new tab, where a conversation with the user 'nickname' starts. The user will get what you type as 'your-message' /whois nickname This gives information about 'nickname' in the status window.

Using the help command:

IRC has help that you can use to get help on any of the commands. To see the commands, type: /help To get further help on any of the commands, type: /help commandname

For more information on IRC commands, you can look up the wikipedia article here.

X-Chat GNOME
X-Chat GNOME is a simple and easy to use IRC client which is installed on an Ubuntu system by default. Launch it by going to Applications > Internet > X-Chat GNOME IRC Chat. Then go to the preferences section by going to Edit > Preferences. Write down a nickname and your real name in the appropriate boxes and then close the window. Then click on IRC > Connect and then select Ubuntu Servers from the list and click on connect. You will be automatically connected to Freenode and the client will automatically join the #ubuntu channel. To join our channel, type the following after you have connected to the IRC server : /join #ubuntu-in and you will join our channel. Note that you can join multiple channels and multiple servers at a time.

Gaim
Start Gaim then click on accounts, click add, select IRC in the drop-down menu and select a screen name (your nickname) and password. Click on save. Scroll down to the list of accounts, and check the 'Online' checkbox next to the account you just created. Gaim will then connect you to one of the freenode servers. Once you log on type: /join #ubuntu-in That's it. You can now use the IRC channel. In case you are wondering, there are no buddies on the IRC , only channels ( or rooms ). You can add a channel as a buddy on gaim though, the same way you add a buddy except enter #ubuntu-in as the buddy/channel name.

Tips and tricks
Autocomplete:

Autocompletion of nicks is a handy feature, where you type in the first couple of characters and then press the TAB key. This automatically completes the nick for you. In case there are multiple users whose nick starts with the same characters that you typed, keep pressing the TAB key till you get to the nickname you wanted to type. For eg., if there are Jane, Jones, John on the channel, and if you typed J and then pressed TAB, it will automatically be completed to Jane. Pressing TAB again will result in Jones, and the next TAB will result in John being typed on the command line.

/me: /me sentence /me is a fun way to express a sentence on IRC. For eg., if you are Jane, and you type: /me hunts the web for a recipe to the perfect cake will result in the following being displayed: Jane hunts the web for a recipe to the perfect cake For more on IRC, you can look up the wikipedia article on IRC here.

#ubuntu-in IRC Guidelines
All users are expected to follow the IRC Etiquette. Users who fail to follow the guidelines despite numerous warnings and corrections stand a chance of being kicked out and/or banned from the channel.