talk

1. <talk, tool, networking> Any system that allows two or more logged-in users to set up a typed, real-time, on-line conversation, either by all users logging into the same computer, or more commonly nowadays, via a network.

Unix has the talk program and protocol and its variants xtalk and ytalk for the X Window System; VMS has phone; Windows for Workgroups has chat. ITS also has a talk system. These split the screen into separate areas for each user.

Unix's write command can also be used, though it does not attempt to separate input and output on the screen. Internet Relay Chat is a similar concept for interactive conversation over the Internet.

Users of such systems are said to be in talk mode which has many conventional abbreviations.

(24 Sep 1996)