IRC
From Mandrivausers Wiki
IRC (Internet Relay Chat, or just chat) is a way of exchanging messages quickly between two or more users. It's like a conference call where several conversations can be conducted at once. Each client connects with an IRC server and selects a channel to join, which may have any number of users connected. Messages get broadcast through the server to all users connected to that channel. You can also send private messages which just get sent to one user.
In this example we show how to set up a client to send and receive messages. There is a wide variety of clients available, for example Gaim, Kopete and Chatzilla.
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[edit] Setting up
We'll be using X-Chat as client, as an example. It has a clean looking interface. To install it (if you haven't got it already), open a console, log in as root and type:
urpmi xchat
[edit] Starting up
When you start Xchat for the first time, you get presented with a list of servers. Most open source projects are located on Freenode. Select Freenode from the list by clicking on it.
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[edit] Chatting
When you're logged into a server, you can get a list of the channels available on the server by typing:
/list
You can join different channels. Each channel is a different chat room. Join a channel (for example #musb) by typing:
/join #musb
[edit] Leaving and quitting
Once you're ready to leave the channel type:
/part #name_of_channel
to leave just that channel. If you want to quit all channels on the server at the same time use:
/quit
[edit] More commands
Once you're connected to IRC there are other commands at your disposal:
/who #musb
gives you information on everyone in #musb. The /me command makes it seem as if you're speaking in the third person or as if your thoughts are transmagically being transmitted to everyone in the channel.
/me is crazy
will like something like *user is crazy/
A little known IRC fact for newbies is that the @ before the names of some people means that they are channel ops. That means that they possess powers of cyber life and death. Don't mess with these people.
/whois Tomm
You get some info about Tomm or whatever nickname you entered.
/whois yournick
This is some info others see about you.
/nick newnick
Changes your nick to "newnick"
/msg Tomm hi there
Only Tomm sees your message (you don't need to be on the same channel for this to work).
/ping #musb
Gives information on the delay (round-trip) between you and everybody on #musb.
/ping Tomm
Gives information on the delay (round-trip) between you and just Tomm.
/dcc chat MaryN
This sends MaryN a request for a dcc chat session. MaryN types /dcc chat yournick to complete the connection. DCC chat is faster (lag free) and more secure than /msg.
/msg =MaryN Hi there!
Once a DCC connection has been established, use the /msg =nick message format to exchange messages (note the = sign). DCC does not go through servers, so it is unaffected by server lag, net splits, etc.
/quit good night!
You quit IRC completely, with the parting comment so that others see "*** Signoff: yournick (good night!)".
This is a basic list, but will help in the beginning and always try
/help
to see what's available in your client.
