IrcII
Encyclopedia
ircII is a free, open-source
Unix
IRC
and ICB
client written in C
. Initially released in the late 1980s, it is the oldest IRC client still maintained. Several other UNIX IRC clients, including BitchX
, EPIC, and ScrollZ, were originally forks of ircII. For some, ircII set the standard of quality for IRC clients, however other clients may have overtaken ircII in recent years in terms of popularity. The application has been promoted as being "fast, stable, lightweight, portable, and easily backgrounded".
ircII runs in a text-only shell-based environment. The application has no menus, pop-ups, or any other GUI
features or support for CTCP SOUND that many graphical IRC clients, such as mIRC
typically have.
ircII was the first IRC client to implement Client-to-client protocol
(CTCP) and the Direct Client-to-Client
(DCC) protocol, and was the first client to implement file transfer capabilities over IRC. The CTCP protocol was implemented by Michael Sandrof in 1990 for version 2.1. The DCC protocol was implemented by Troy Rollo in 1991 for version 2.1.2, but was never intended to be portable to other IRC clients.
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
IRC
Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file...
and ICB
Internet Citizen's Band
Internet Citizen's Band is an early Internet chat program. It was released in 1989.- History :The first version of ICB was a program called "Forumnet" or "fn", written by University of Kentucky IT staffer Sean Carrick Casey...
client written in C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
. Initially released in the late 1980s, it is the oldest IRC client still maintained. Several other UNIX IRC clients, including BitchX
BitchX
BitchX is a free IRC client and has been considered to be the most popular ircII-based IRC client. The initial implementation, written by "Trench" and "HappyCrappy", was a script for the IrcII chat client. It was converted to a program on its own right by panasync . BitchX 1.1 final was released in...
, EPIC, and ScrollZ, were originally forks of ircII. For some, ircII set the standard of quality for IRC clients, however other clients may have overtaken ircII in recent years in terms of popularity. The application has been promoted as being "fast, stable, lightweight, portable, and easily backgrounded".
ircII runs in a text-only shell-based environment. The application has no menus, pop-ups, or any other GUI
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
features or support for CTCP SOUND that many graphical IRC clients, such as mIRC
MIRC
mIRC is an Internet Relay Chat client for Microsoft Windows, created in 1995 and developed by Khaled Mardam-Bey. Although it is a fully functional chat utility, its integrated scripting language makes it extensible and versatile....
typically have.
ircII was the first IRC client to implement Client-to-client protocol
Client-To-Client Protocol
Client-To-Client Protocol is a special type of communication between Internet Relay Chat clients.CTCP is a common protocol implemented by most major IRC clients in use today. CTCP extends the original IRC protocol by allowing users to query other clients or channels, this causes all the clients...
(CTCP) and the Direct Client-to-Client
Direct Client-to-Client
Direct Client-to-Client is an IRC-related sub-protocol enabling peers to interconnect using an IRC server for handshaking in order to exchange files or perform non-relayed chats. Once established, a typical DCC session runs independently from the IRC server. Originally designed to be used with...
(DCC) protocol, and was the first client to implement file transfer capabilities over IRC. The CTCP protocol was implemented by Michael Sandrof in 1990 for version 2.1. The DCC protocol was implemented by Troy Rollo in 1991 for version 2.1.2, but was never intended to be portable to other IRC clients.
See also
- Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clientsComparison of Internet Relay Chat clientsThe following tables compare general and technical information between a number of IRC client programs. Please see the individual products articles for further information.- General :...
- Internet Citizen's BandInternet Citizen's BandInternet Citizen's Band is an early Internet chat program. It was released in 1989.- History :The first version of ICB was a program called "Forumnet" or "fn", written by University of Kentucky IT staffer Sean Carrick Casey...
(ICB) - List of Internet Relay Chat commands