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Revision as of 16:06, 4 December 2001 editArcade~enwiki (talk | contribs)130 editsm *long live caching .. (!) TPC -> TCP _again_ :-)← Previous edit Revision as of 16:38, 4 December 2001 edit undoArcade~enwiki (talk | contribs)130 edits * Re-editing of a paragraph, and addition of 'takeover' subcategory.Next edit →
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IRC has a decentralized network of servers that can be accessed by special client programs. The protocol for IRC is open, and there are many client (and server) implementations.




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IRC has a decentralized network of servers that can be accessed by special client programs. The protocol for IRC is open, and there are many client (and server) implementations.


In IRC protocol commands and text is transfered in plaintext, so it's possible to use IRC via ] (but that's very inconvenient), and to read intercepted ] communication between IRC client and server.




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The IRC ] is a plaintext protocol, which means that it is fully possible to use IRC via ], although quite inconvenient. It also means that it is possible to intercept and read the communication between client and server, and even hijack and inject the connection. This is unfortunate, as there has been quite a lot of ] wars on various IRC Networks.


The IRC protocol was originally defined in ] but has been updated in RFC ], ], ] and ]. The IRC protocol was originally defined in ] but has been updated in RFC ], ], ] and ].










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Today the largest IRC Networks are ], ], ] and ]. They run various implementations of serversoftware, but the basic protocol is the same, and all networks can be accessed by the same IRC Clients. Today the largest IRC Networks are ], ], ] and ]. They run various implementations of serversoftware, but the basic protocol is the same, and all networks can be accessed by the same IRC Clients.










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Popular IRC clients: Popular IRC clients:









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Revision as of 16:38, 4 December 2001

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) was created by Jarkko Oikarinen in August 1988. It was first written to replace a program called MUT (MultiUser Talk) on a BBS called OuluBox in Finland. Jarkko Oikarinen found inspiration in Bitnet Relay Chat which operated on the Bitnet network.







IRC has a decentralized network of servers that can be accessed by special client programs. The protocol for IRC is open, and there are many client (and server) implementations.




The IRC protocol is a plaintext protocol, which means that it is fully possible to use IRC via telnet, although quite inconvenient. It also means that it is possible to intercept and read the communication between client and server, and even hijack and inject the connection. This is unfortunate, as there has been quite a lot of takeover wars on various IRC Networks.

The IRC protocol was originally defined in RFC 1459 but has been updated in RFC 2810, 2811, 2812 and 2813.







Today the largest IRC Networks are EFNet, Undernet, IRCNet and Dalnet. They run various implementations of serversoftware, but the basic protocol is the same, and all networks can be accessed by the same IRC Clients.







Popular IRC clients: