IRCnet is currently the third largest

IRC Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat an ...

network with around 25,000 users using it daily. An early 2005 record had approximately 123,110 users simultaneously connected to the network.

History

Initially, most IRC servers formed a single IRC network, to which new servers could join without restriction, but this was soon abused by people who set up servers to sabotage other users, channels, or servers. In August 1990, the server eris.berkeley.edu remained the only one to allow anyone to connect to the servers. A group of IRC server operators, with the support of

Jarkko Oikarinen Jarkko Oikarinen (born 16 August 1967) is a Finnish IT professional and the inventor of the first Internet chat network, called Internet Relay Chat (IRC), where he is known as WiZ. Biography and career Oikarinen was born in Kuusamo. While worki ...

, introduced a new "Q-line" into their server configurations, to "quarantine" themselves away from eris by disconnecting from any subset of the IRC network as soon as they saw eris there. For a few days, the entire IRC network suffered frequent

netsplit In computer networking, specifically Internet Relay Chat (IRC), netsplit is a disconnection between two servers. A split between any two servers splits the entire network into two pieces. Cause and effects Consider the graph to the right, which ...

s, but eventually the majority of servers added the Q-line and effectively created a new separate IRC net called ''EFnet'' (Eris-Free Network); the remaining servers who stayed connected to eris (and thus were no longer able to connect to EFnet servers) were called ''A-net'' (Anarchy Network). A-net soon vanished, leaving EFnet as the only IRC network. Continuing problems with performance and abuse eventually led to the rise of another major IRC network,

Undernet The Undernet is the third largest publicly monitored Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network, c. 2022, with about 36 client servers serving 47,444 users in ~6000 channels at any given time. IRC clients can connect to Undernet via the global round ro ...

, which split off in October 1992. Between May and July 1996 IRCnet was formed as a

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an fork of

EFnet EFnet or Eris-Free network is a major Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network, with more than 35,000 users. It is the modern-day descendant of the original IRC network. History Initially, most IRC servers formed a single IRC network, to which new ser ...

, when a number of operator disagreements resulted in a group of European admins declaring their independence. The reasons for the "Great Split" as it came to be called, included: * a policy disagreement about how much power system operators should have. IRCnet formed with the basis that there should be a set of rules defining what

SysOp A sysop (; an abbreviation of system operator) is an administrator of a multi-user computer system, such as a bulletin board system (BBS) or an online service virtual community.Jansen, E. & James,V. (2002). NetLingo: the Internet dictionary. Netl ...

s could and could not do. This viewpoint was opposed by many of the US-based EFnet servers. * a technical disagreement on whether the network should use timestamping (TS) or Nick Delay as a means to prevent nick collisions, according to

. * Vegard Engen, one of the European operators, stated that the immediate cause for the "Great Split" was that a major US EFnet hub had been disconnecting irc.stealth.net without warning, and thereby breaking the link to the European servers.

Characteristics

Many IRCnet servers state that "IRC is a privilege, not a right". That defines the characteristics of network usage ‒ users are normally not permitted to run bots and should avoid abusive behaviour. Servers are generally open to users from their geographic location and do not allow outside connections, however, there are few open exceptions allowing access to users not covered by any local server. Strict rules are operated for shell providers regulating, limiting or banning their connections. IRCnet operates few if any network services to service nicknames or channels. It does implement reop -channelmode that allows channel operators to set hostmasks for users to be automatically "reopped" by the server. This mode is called +R with capital R and supersedes the RFC2811 +r (lower-case r) channel mode, available only on !-channels and settable (not resettable) only by their creators. All network servers run on IRCnet's

ircd An IRCd, short for Internet Relay Chat daemon, is server software that implements the IRC protocol, enabling people to talk to each other via the Internet (exchanging textual messages in real time). It is distinct from an IRC bot that connects ou ...

with the current version 2.11 (the latest software versions are maintained a
IRC.ORG
. IRCnet's channel operators are generally free to run their channels however they see fit without the intervention of

IRC operator An IRC operator (often abbreviated as IRCop or oper) is a user on an Internet Relay Chat network who has privileged access. IRC operators are charged with the task of enforcing the network's rules, and in many cases, improving the network in vari ...

s. IRCops are primarily there to handle network and server-related issues, and rarely get involved with channel-level issues. To fight nickname collisions when splits occur on re-link IRCnet will use unique IDs. If there are two users with the same nickname on both sides of the network when servers are re-linking then both nicknames will be forcefully changed to unique ID instead to prevent collisions."IRCnet IRCD Release Notes"
IRC.org.

History

Characteristics

References

External links