Programs for IRC?

[secristrc]

What are the recommended program(s) for using IRC under Ubuntu? Most of the IRC FAQ material talks about what to do once you're already "in," and barely anything about software.

Thanks,
rcs

[mac9416]

Hey, secristrc,

I personally use XChat. It's sort of a hackerish-looking program. To install it, run:

sudo apt-get install xchat

A lot of people use Pidgin, which is more beginner-friendly, but not as powerful (as far as IRC goes). It also supports many other protocols besides IRC. It comes with Ubuntu by default.

Then there's irssi. It is command-line, therefore not really beginner-friendly, but I must admit it's kinda cool. You can install it with:

sudo apt-get install irssi

There are many others, but those are the ones I'm familiar with.

I hope that helps!
-mac

[andrew.46]

Hi mac,

Then there's irssi. It is command-line, therefore not really beginner-friendly, but I must admit it's kinda cool.

I believe there is also an irssi guide on these forums:

[Howto] Setup irssi and join #ubuntu on Freenode
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1010780

Andrew

[mac9416]

Thanks, andrew.46

I also found some howtos for XChat and Pidgin:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/XChatHowto
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Pidgin

[EricG]

If you're using Kubuntu or KDE, Quassel is another IRC client that you could use. I think it comes installed by default in kubuntu and can be accessed under Applications -> Internet.

[w4ett]

Assuming you use Firefox, there is an IRC add on called ChatZilla too..simple to use and worth mentioning.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/16

[mystdragon]

I recommend irssi. They've got great documentation for getting setup and started in their documentation section.

[infocop411]

well, I split my time with irssi & finch, finch is a command line (ncurses) based instant messenger/chat client, if you already setup pidgin, then you've also setup finch (as soon as you install it, "sudo apt-get -y install finch" without the quotes)

[wstout]

I would have to post my vote for Quassel its pretty user friendly and has a nice gui when you get it set up. I personally use irssi if you are interested in being online all the time, it makes a great client you can ssh into it from anyway when you use it combined with screen.

EDIT: I have now discovered using quassel in a core-client setup, set up the core on your server and the quassel-client on your desktop and have the always on of irssi and a nice gui to boot.