Howto: IRC

[Circus-Killer]

Recently, a newcomer to Ubuntu asked for some help concerning IRC. I immediately replied by email, but feel that many more newcomers may experience the same problem. So here are some instructions to help you get onto IRC. Comments and suggestions welcome. If you feel that something I said is wrong or that I left something out, feel free to post, and I will ammend to the HOWTO. Well, here we go.....

Okay, to get on IRC you will need an IRC-client. There are many out there to choose from, but I will suggest the one I prefer to use, "xchat". It's pretty much one of the easiest to use.

To install xchat you issue the following command:

$ sudo apt-get install xchat

or you can use synaptic package manager to install it. Once installed you will find it in the normal gnome menus under Internet. When you start xchat, you will first be presented with a dialog box, asking for preferred usernames and that. Fill those fields out. Below the fields you will see a server list. Make sure you have selected the FreeNode server, and click on Connect.

Once you are connected, you can join a channel by simply typing:
/j #ubuntu-za

For more information about IRC, you can take a look at
http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/irctutorial.html

Well, I hope this helps some people. Now, you have no excuse for not being there. ;) Hope to see you all there.

[cairnsww]

As the newcomer in question - thanks for your help.

May I also suggest that people install xchat-gnome (I did it through Synaptic) which provides a nice friendly front end.

Bill

[diepruis]

For those of us using Kubuntu, an IRC client is already installed. You can find it under the KMenu beneath Internet. It's labelled "Konversation" by default.