What is IRC?

[piemancoder]

So I saw the IRC thing in the top, and I was just wondering, what's IRC and how do you use it? Also, sorry if this is a noob question.

[thelectronicnub]

internet relay chat. it's just a place to talk, think of the early aol chatrooms, but there's a topic for everything

[rowdy]

Internet relay chat.

You enter a chat room and type messages to everyone else in the chat room.

You can see a history of messages on the screen, each one prefixed by the name of the user who sent it.

Something like that anyway.

Try it and see

[jerue]

Already described what it is above

You can connect to it via console commands

or use a web based client. I like https://kiwiirc.com/

click "Try Me", then enter your nickname and channel geekhack, no password

enjoy

[animal]

Command and control center for botnets among other things. You can also transfer files between 2 clients with DCC. Back in the day you could even force someone's modem to hang up on them

* animal slaps GH with a big red trout

[zennasyndroxx]

it's a place to randomly enter any chatroom and ask asl

[justify]

it's a place to randomly enter any chatroom and ask asl

18/f/your area

[tp4tissue]

it's a place to randomly enter any chatroom and ask asl

18/f/your area

^^ this is known as the "dark side"

[demik]

IrRiTaBlE ReTaRdEd ChIlDrEn

[baldgye]

A place you can't say '****'

[vivalarevolución]

I went there a couple times.  I immediately left.  I have no desire to instant communicate with anyone.

[piemancoder]

So it's basically a place where you can instantly talk with people, about anything. Sounds really sketchy in general. Maybe not the geekhack section, but in general.

[demik]

So it's basically a place where you can instantly talk with people, about anything. Sounds really sketchy in general. Maybe not the geekhack section, but in general.

HaVe yOu NeVeR BeEn iN a ChAtRoOm? AoL? yaHoO? HoW pArAnOid aRe YoU tHat ThAt Is SkEtChY?

[piemancoder]

So it's basically a place where you can instantly talk with people, about anything. Sounds really sketchy in general. Maybe not the geekhack section, but in general.

HaVe yOu NeVeR BeEn iN a ChAtRoOm? AoL? yaHoO? HoW pArAnOid aRe YoU tHat ThAt Is SkEtChY?

Sketchy probably isn't the right word, but what I mean is that it's not very interesting for me. Or maybe I just don't understand what makes it cool. I never found AOL chat rooms interesting either.

[Vittra]

Back in the days of poorly made geocities and angelfire websites, with bbs to communicate and ftp to transfer files, irc was an easy way to connect with people with shared interests and talk in realtime.

Chat sites like AOL Chat took some of the appeal away, but only in tendem with more sophisticated forums that supplanted irc as a mode of communication. This is no different than what Reddit has done to forums, really, although it's limitations have become more realized within the past year.

The advantage of IRC today is still talking realtime with folks, but without the need or complication of the social media aspect (adding people to friends/social circles, etc). Just connect, join a room, and talk.