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Internet Relay Chat lore Version 1.02: September 2007 |
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Searching through the line noise of one million
conversations per second Main IRC Topics Related Topics | ||||||||||
"Gewohnlich glaubt der Mensch, wenn er nur Worte hort, Es musse sich dabei doch auch was denken lassen"
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IRC is a medium used to talk and transfer files among other users. A very basic description would be to say its a cross between ICQ and a p2p file sharing application, IRC however was created long before those projects were even a thought in their developers head. Something which may also come as a surprise to many is that IRC is older than the web itself. Created in the summer of 1988 by Jarkko Oikarinen, the first webpage didn't appear till late 1990, making IRC over 2 years older, a history of IRC page can be found here. In today's Internet, IRC takes a side channel to the web user wise, but by no means should it be overlooked.
So what does this mean to the seeker you're asking?. IRC is nearly as abundant with files and information as usenet is, even more so in some circumstances, the only major difference is that usenet is archived and stored on 3rd party servers. IRC is totally real-time. The aim of this page is to teach how to find files and information on IRC, if you're looking for how to "chat" your in the wrong place, try here instead.
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This is not a comprehensive list of IRC clients, but rather a round up of the more popular ones, a more complete list can be found here.
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Name |
Platform |
License |
Comment |
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Windows |
Shareware (Simplistic Protection, updated recently from a JNZ/JNE but still a pathetic protection) |
mIRC is the de facto standard client as far as windows goes, some users even think mIRC is IRC. | |
Windows |
Freeware (GPL) |
HydraIRC is an open-source IRC client with an attractive and easy to use interface. It supports DCC Chat and File transfers and connecting to multiple servers. | |
Windows |
Freeware |
qwIRC distinguishes itself by being the one and only client to feature a built-in IRC-based multimedia file search and sharing engine. | |
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Windows |
Freeware (GPL) |
Source bought by a GPL aficionado, and is now open source. | |
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GNU/Linux and UNIXvariants running X11, also
has a windows version. |
Freeware (GPL) unless using windows then Shareware |
One of the easier to use GUI *nix clients available. | |
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Command Line GNU/Linux and UNIX variants, has a
windows port running under cygwin. |
Freeware (GPL) |
An easier to use client than its more famous rival BitchX. | |
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Command Line GNU/Linux and UNIX variants, has
ports to windows, macOS and others. |
Freeware (GPL) |
The most well known *nix IRC client, even if only for the /quit messages ;) |
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While not always directly useful to finding files, they are indirectly useful to finding the channels which may have the files you seek.
[Netsplit.de] | [luth.se] | [SearchIRC]
[gogloom]
[PacketNews] | [IRCDig] | [IRC Klipper]
For example, search for "book" or "warez"
Formally Known as xgoogle
Try for instance http://gogloom.com/search?q=help
Online as of September 2007 but search is throwing up errors.
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Tools to Help In Retrieving Files
| Name | Platform | License | Comment |
Windows |
Freeware (GPL) |
Avarice is a free program that allows you to download just about anything. Based on Bottler, Avarice is a fully-skinnable multi-server IRC client that allows for simplified XDCC access. | |
Windows (mIRC) |
Freeware |
A mIRC script that allows easy browsing of fserves. | |
Windows |
Freeware |
dotGET is a client for IRC that attempts to use IRC like a p2p network. | |
GNU/Linux, UNIX variants running X11 |
Freeware (GPL) |
Buttler is a *nix version of bottler. | |
Windows (mIRC) |
Freeware |
dccAssist is a mIRC script that watches channels for XDCC packets and reports them into a mIRC @window | |
GNU/Linux, UNIX variants and Windows (Maybe :) |
Freeware (BSD) |
The TirNabOt is built on a main class wich handles common irc events. It is nearly full RFC compliant. Due to its modular structure, adding new modules is an easy task. Moreover, the use of PHP makes it easy to modify and adapt to different needs. |
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