Revised: September 1, 1997 and is Best Viewed with Netscape

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Dave's Guide to Internet Relay Chat

INTRODUCTION TO IRC
IRC PROGRAMS
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING IRC
EFNET SERVERS
UNDERNET SERVERS
DALNET SERVERS





INTRODUCTION TO IRC
Internet Relay Chat is a great way to talk to people from all over the world about anything. For those who don't know what it is, it is basically a series of servers or even one server which people log onto and then join a channel or create their own and then start chatting. To do this you need both an IRC program as well as a server. IRC is a much better, multi user implementation of the old "talk" program. On IRC many people can simultaneously participate in discussions over a channel or even multiple channels. There are no limits to the number of people who can join a discussion and there is no limit to the number of channels that can be made. Chatting on IRC takes place in real time. It has been used extensively for live coverage of world events, news sports commentary and more. Its also much easier and less expensive than making long distance phone calls and allows you to meet people from all different nations and cultures. IRC was developed by Jarkko Oikarinen in Finland in the late eighties, and was originally intended to substitute to "talk". However, since then it has become extremely popular, especially after the Gulf War when IRC was used to carry live coverage of events. Since that the Russian coup and the California earthquake have been covered live over IRC.




IRC PROGRAMS
There are many different IRC programs out there which will all enable you to do basically the same thing although there are some that are easier to use and less feature rich and then there are the more complex and feature rich programs. Probably the best one for newbies is Netscape Chat. It lacks many of the features that other IRC clients have but is simple and allows you to get right into it. For people who don't mind going straight into a slightly more difficult program I suggest Pirch or mIRC. mIRC is probably the most common IRC application for PC and both these programs have many features. To download any of these programs simply click on the name below. Once you have a program will need a server and listed below are the two main IRC networks, EFNet and Undernet with a list of all the current servers as well as a smaller network called DALnet. In general choosing the server closest to you will give you the best performance.

WINDOWS 95

mIRC 5.02



WINDOWS 3.x

mIRC 5.02





EFNET
EFNet is the largest and "main" IRC network. It has been around for many years now and carries over 10000 users. However, due to its enormous size and older scripts it suffers from lag, net splits, hacking and "wars". Nevertheless, it remains extremely popular and continues to grow.

EFNET SERVERS





UNDERNET
Undernet is an Internet Relay Chat network which began at the end of 1992. WildThang, the founder of the Undernet created a small network of servers and quickly the idea of an alternative network to EFNet was appealing. Undernet has quickly built up until it hit the 1000 user mark in February of 1995, and now reaches over 10000 at peak times. The main reason for the formation of the Undernet was the fact that EFNet, with over 5000 users was too big and was politicized. Flame wars have been going on on it for years and it is clear that it is not a very friendly network with little or no cooperation between servers. Sometimes you will see two servers refuse to communicate to each other which splits the channels, forming a hostile environment. The Undernet however, is seen as the friendly IRC network with full cooperation between servers.

UNDERNET SERVERS





DALNET
DALnet is an IRC network designed to minimize the problems of lag, netsplits and political disputes that plague other nets such as Efnet. Featuring a friendly environment and a well-managed administration, DALnet procides a fun easy-to-use, secure environment for real-time conversation.

DALNET SERVERS



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