Notes on IRC
------------

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a worldwide multi-user chat system.  To join,
you connect to an IRC server using an IRC client.  This program is that
client (it is also possible to access IRC via telnet, but that is problem
prone and not recommended).  IRC supports both class 1 and class 6 packet
drivers.  The packet driver needs to be set up before you set up IRC.

This program features menus, multiple scrollable windows, and mouse
support, and it automatically sorts the output of a /LIST command.  It does
not implement actions, CTCP, or DCC.  The documentation leaves a bit to be
desired; I've added a list of common IRC commands to the .zip.	There is no
online help.

If you need to exchange files during an IRC session, you can set up NCSA or
CUTCP telnet to allow incoming ftp requests (see their docs), and get onto
IRC via a telnet gateway.  As noted above, using the telnet gateway is not
recommended, however.  Alternately, you can get ftp login instructions from
someone who has a server, exit IRC, and ftp to their site to exchange files.

To configure IRC, the documentation says to set the following but doesn't
say where or how.  You set these in the DOS environment by placing the
following lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (mutatis mutandis, of course):

    SET IP=127.0.0.1
    SET NETMASK=255.255.255.0
    SET GATEWAY=127.0.0.2
    SET DNS=127.0.0.3
    SET MSS=512
    SET RWIN=512
    SET DOMAIN=foo.bar.net

It is probably better *not* to set DOMAIN, however, since it only slows down
DNS queries.  MSS and RWIN should be set as shown to prevent fragmentation
and to be compatible with Frank Molzahn's SLIP drivers.

If you have dynamic IP, set NETMASK and DNS, and if possible GATEWAY, in
AUTOEXEC.BAT.  You will set IP and if necessary GATEWAY at connect time (see
the README file on my site).

After changing your AUTOEXEC.BAT, reboot and establish the connection to
your service provider.

At this point, you run IRC.EXE, and a setup screen should appear, as the
documentation says.  If no setup screen appears, delete IRC.PRM if you have
it and try again.  Otherwise, wait until the clock on the top right starts
moving and select Setup from the File menu.

Setup asks you for four things:	 "IRC Host", "Name", "E-mail", and "Nick
name".	We'll come back to "IRC Host" in a minute.  "E-mail" should be your
email address as assigned by your provider.  "Name" is your real user name
as assigned (the part of your email address before the "@").  "Nick name"
is the name you want to be called on IRC; it need not be the same as your
real user name.	 The nickname you pick is just to start out; if someone
else is already using that nickname, you will be asked to change it when
you connect.

"IRC Host" is the fully-qualified domain name of the server you want to
connect to, optionally with a port address; the port address defaults to
6667 if not specified.  If you already know of a server you want to connect
to, put it in.  A few Internet service providers run their own private IRC
servers for their users.  Otherwise, pick a server close to you using
information from the WWW sites below.  If you need to specify a port, you
give the.host.name:port; for example, "Caen.FR.EU.undernet.org:7000".  If
one server doesn't work, try another (you may have to try several).  Once
you get on IRC, you can get information about other servers.  Similarly,
connecting via port 6667 is generally slow; once you get on, the server will
generally give you a list of alternative ports in the connect message.

You probably do not want to use <alt>-L to list all channels; the server
will probably kick you off.  Servers kick people off when they try to get
too much data at once, and there are several thousand IRC channels these
days.  If the server doesn't kick you off, it will take a *long* time for a
list of all channels to arrive over a modem link.  Use a parameter on the
/LIST command to limit the output, e.g., /LIST >20 to list all groups with
more than 20 users.  (On EFnet, use /LIST -MIN 20 instead.)  You can find
out about some of the channels available on Undernet, as well as other stuff
about that network, at:

    http://www.undernet.org/

For general IRC help, go to this site:

    http://www.irchelp.org/

For information on IRC networks and server lists, go here:

    http://deckard.mc.duke.edu/irchelp/networks/index.html

I've deleted the server lists that were formerly in this document.  It just
isn't feasible to keep up to date on servers.  Visit the above site to find
a server near you.