IRC

IRC is a real-time relay based chat protocol with no archiving. This means that when you send a message from your client to the server, the server just forwards the message to all of the other clients in the channel. At no point is that message stored, hence the name “relay chat”. A downside to this is that you do not receive any messages while you are not connected to the server.

What makes IRC so special is that is has been around for pretty much forever. Created in 1988 it was originally used by universities to help share ideas. To this day LUG and many other communities around the world still use it to share ideas. It is simple, light weight and runs on any platform. In this guide we will cover three ways in which you can use to get into IRC and into our channel.

First, let’s go over some basic terms:

  • Server - the machine that your client connects to, it receives your commands and messages and forwards them to other clients.

  • Network - a group of many interconnected servers, individual servers ferry messages back and forth to make sure that all the messages get to every user.

  • Channel - a basic means of communicating to a certain group of users. Creating a channel is as simple as joining a channel that does not exist.

  • Operator - aka ‘op’, the channel administrator, moderates the channel and has their name prefixed with an ‘@’ symbol

Easy (webchat)

The fastest way to get in our channel is to go though your browser. To access Freenode (the irc network that the LUG channel is on) from your browser, you can use their web interface. In the Nickname field, enter the name that you want other people to see when you talk in the channel. This can be your ONID username, your real name, or something more creative. Note that if you pick a really long nick (I tried it with “testing_freenode_web_chat"), it will be truncated at around 16 characters (so I only show up as “testing_freenode” in the channel). In the channels field, type #osu-lug. Fill out the captcha, click connect, wait a few seconds, and you’ll be in the LUG’s primary discussion area.

Medium (GUI Client)

GUI, or graphical user interface, clients perform much in the same way that the web interface works. The two big differences are automation and customization. Using a local client lets you connect to multiple channels or even servers with an icon on your desktop and a few clicks. GUI clients often support color coding, more advanced highlighting options and infinite idling (if your computer is on), because no one likes timing out. If you want something more than the web interface can give you, consider trying one of these clients.

Most of these are pretty straight forward. When it prompts you for the server connect to chat.freenode.net. Our channel on that network is #osu-lug. Just like the web interface your username can be whatever you want it to be as-long as it’s not already in use, which it will tell you when you try to connect.

Pro (weechat)

Command-line clients take a bit of work to get the hang of. However, their advantage lies in being simple, lightweight, yet powerful.

We mentioned above that if you are not online you miss out on messages others have sent. The solution is simple never go offline, but how would you do this with your laptop? You run your IRC on a server that is provided by OSU. That way, you will have a persistent IRC session, and you will get every message.

Let’s start by getting you on the server, via SSH. If you have not used SSH before, check out our SSH guide or feel free to ask us.

For Windows users: download and run putty. Put in shell.onid.oregonstate.edu as your hostname and hit open. Then because it is an OSU server, authenticate with your ONID username and password.

For Mac and Linux users, you are in luck; you should already have a terminal client with SSH built in. Simply run this command:

ssh [your onid user name]@shell.onid.oregonstate.edu

Now you are dropped into in a shell inside the server. Cool, huh.

Because of the way Unix manages processes and sessions (like your SSH session), any program that you run will be tied to your session, and when your session ends that program will end as well. So we haven’t really gained anything from over running IRC locally on your laptop yet.

The solution is a program called screen Screen creates a virtual terminal that is only attached to a session when you tell it to. After setting up a screen, you can detach from the session, and everything will keep running on the server, even if you completely terminate your SSH session.

To start a screen session run

screen -S irc

Now it’s finally time to start the IRC client itself. shell.onid has two different irc clients installed on it: weechat and irssi. For this guide we are going to use weechat. To start weechat simply type, from within your screen

weechat

A few more important things regarding to weechat and screen. First is how to properly end your session and how to get it back. In order to detach your current terminal from the virtual screen press Ctrl-a d. That is, press control+a, then release both and press d. Ctrl-a is the screen escape command, and d is the detach command. This will drop you back into your ssh terminal.

To get back into irssi from the shell, run the command:

screen -r irc

This will reattach your screen session. Alternatively, you can use

screen -raAd irc

These extra options will conform the screen to your current terminal and automatically detach any other screen session you may have.

Now that you know how to get weechat up and running we have another guide just on how to use it.

To make a secure connection to IRC using SSL, check out the IRC SSL guide.

Published by using 1048 words.