Basics
You can start talking in the channel when Snak displays the "You have joined
the channel" message.
Normal messages that you send are seen by all channel members, but you can also
send messages that are only seen by a particular recipient. Those are called private
messages and are explained below.
Busy IRC channels can be confusing because there are usually several threads of
conversation going on at the same time. Like at a party you will have people gather
in small clumps and talk about something. The difference is that unlike a party
you hear all the threads, all mixed together. It takes a little bit of practice
to keep the threads separated but IRC does have the advantage that the text is
preserved in your windows. That way you can scroll back and forth in the conversation
that streams into your computer until you get a handle on what is going on.
When you join a channel you should probably wait in the background without jumping
into the fray until you know what the other members are talking about.
In addition to public and private messages that are basically conversational you
will see a third kind, called action messages that are used more for "environment".
You can use those messages to describe moods or opinions that are intended for
the whole channel. Action messages are issued by the /me command that is described
later in the chapter on basic IRC commands.
Lag
The server to which you send your messages is responsible for passing them on
to other servers which in turn send it to the IRC clients of the other channel
members. Normally this happens almost instantaneously but sometimes you will experience
what is called "lag". Lag means that one of the servers between you
and the other channel members is overloaded and need to delay the messages.
When the delay clears up you will suddenly see a surge of messages in your window
and you will wonder what happened. Normally conversations in IRC are pretty much
real time but in a lagged situation a significant amount of time (10 seconds to
a minute or more) will pass before your messages reach the other members and vice
versa.
Basics