Internet Relay Chat

What is IRC?

Internet Relay Chat is a live chat-room system that runs over the Internet. IRC is made of up clients and servers. As a user of IRC, you use a client program like /usr/local/bin/irc (on Idiom) to connect to one of the servers in the IRC network.
The servers in an IRC network are arranged with tree-like connections between them: there are no loops. This means that there can be considerable delay between when someone types something in Finland and you see it on your screen in Tiburon.
There are multiple IRC server networks. When you connect to an IRC server, you can only access the channels that are in that particular network.

Finding out more

Read the newsgroups devoted to irc. A good one to start with would be alt.irc.questions.
There are also FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) archives available at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/alt.irc.

Warez Warning

It is possible for people to send and receive pirated software using IRC. It is even possible for you to receive pirated software over IRC without knowing for sure that you are doing so.
Please be careful. Do not allow people to send you files unless you trust them with your account.
Idiom has an explicit policy against engaging in illegal activity using Idiom resources. If you have pirated software on your Idiom account your account will be closed. This is true even if you did not know that it was there.

BOTs

Idiom has an explicit BOTs policy: they are not allowed.

Clients

Idiom has an IRC client program installed as /usr/local/bin/irc.
You can get an IRC client for Windows from ftp://ftp.undernet.org/pub/clients/windows, ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/ibmpc/win3/winsock/apps/wsirc or ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/ibmpc/win3/winsock/apps/mirc.
You can get an IRC client for Macintosh from ftp://ftp.undernet.org/pub/clients/macintosh or ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/unix/irc/mac.

EFNet

The oldest and largest IRC network.
Some servers: irc.plur.net irc.prison.net irc.east.gblx.net irc.west.gblx.net irc.idle.net irc.mpl.net irc.skynetweb.com irc.core.com irc.lightning.net

Undernet

An established IRC network. It has a FAQ here.
A list of their servers is available here.
Some of their servers: irc.cic.net 6660-6669 foghorn.cc.utexas.edu sybil.cs.vt.edu irc.misha.net chatter-s2.delphi.com fubar.ksu.ksu.edu 6667, 6668 vinson.ecn.uoknor.edu apache.wfire.net home.amug.org uirc.lm.com jitter.rahul.net irc01.irc.aol.com 6660-6669 irc-undernet.gnn.com 6666? irc-undernet2.gnn.com ????

AnotherNet

AnotherNet provides nicknames and registered users and channel manangement. AnotherNet has a homepage.
Some of their servers: dragon.ne.us.another.org 6667 neato.ca.us.another.org 6667 netnation.bc.ca.another.org 6667 sunrise.ca.us.another.org 6667

GammaNET

A new (4/96) irc network.
Some of their servers: irc.crown.net irc.goldrush.net irc.galileo.cris.com

DALnet

According the the folks at the '97 USENIX conference, DALnet is the best IRC network. The have a homepage.
Some of their servers: spider.ca.us.DAL.net voyager.ca.us.DAL.net mindijari.ca.us.DAL.net davis.ca.us.DAL.net