PC Online 1996 December/PCO1296.ISO/filesbbs/content/undernet.txt

Text File | 1996-10-17 | 110.5 KB | 2,276 lines

From: [e-mail] (Mandar M. Mirashi)
Newsgroups: alt.irc.undernet,alt.irc.questions,alt.irc,alt.irc.ircii,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: IRC Undernet Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (Part 1 of 2)
Date: 17 Jan 1995 01:28:00 GMT
Organization: Engineering Computer Network, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Approved: [e-mail]
Expires: Wednesday, 15 Feb 95 19:29:33 (Z)
Message-ID: <irc/[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Mandar M. Mirashi)
Summary: This posting contains useful information regarding IRC and an
        alternative network to the EFnet - the Undernet IRC network. Please
        read this before posting to alt.irc.undernet, alt.irc.questions,
        alt.irc, or alt.irc.ircii
Keywords: IRC irc Undernet faq FAQ client server telnet internet
X-Posting-Frequency: Posted each week to the IRC newgroups
X-Content-Currency: This FAQ changes regularly.  When a saved or printed copy
   is over 2 months old, please obtain a new one.
Originator: [e-mail]
Xref: Germany.EU.net alt.irc.undernet:288 alt.irc.questions:2351 alt.irc:27020 alt.irc.ircii:1111 alt.answers:6891 news.answers:35172

Posted-By: auto-faq 3.1.1.2
Archive-name: irc/undernet-faq/part1
Version: $Id: undernet-faq, v3.2.0 1994/11/28 13:23 mmmirash Exp $


      Undernet IRC FAQ [Part I] (updated 28th Nov 1994) - Weekly Repost

                Version 1 By Paul Grant (Grant)

                Version 2-3   -   written by Mandar Mirashi (Mmmm)
                                  [e-mail]

The FAQ consists of answers to several frequently asked questions on the
IRC newsgroups. Please don't ask these questions again, they've been
answered plenty of times already - and please don't flame someone just
because they may not have read this particular posting.  Thank you.

The FAQ consists of the following sections.

I)       IRC for the newcomer
II)      The Undernet (for the newcomer)
III)     The Undernet (for the EFnetter)
IV)      The Undernet (how can you participate?)
V)       Acknowledgements/References
VI)      Undernet IRC server list

This article covers section I, and includes answers to:

1-1)  What is IRC?
1-2)  Alright, now how do I get onto IRC?
1-3)  Are there any IRC telnet sites?
1-4)  Hmm..I'm confused. What does a client do?  What's a server?
1-5)  What do I do next, once I'm connected to IRC? Is there a way to get
      online help? Why won't /help work for me?
1-6)  Okay..can you describe what a channel is? How do I join/create one?
      How do I join multiple channels?
1-7)  How do I find out:
         * Who's on a channel? (What do H and G mean?)
         * Who's on IRC itself?
         * Who's on IRC from the same site as myself?
         * more info about a person?
1-8)  What's a channel operator? How do I become one?
1-9)  Help! Someone kicked/banned me from a channel. Whom do I complain to?
1-10) Okay..can you tell me a little more about general etiquette
      (netiquette) over IRC? What do terms like "re", "brb", etc. mean?
1-11) What's a mode change? What are modes?
1-12) How do I perform an "Action"?
1-13) How do I "scrollback" in ircII? Are there any special key bindings
      available?
1-14) How do I make the output of a command in ircII pause after each
      screenful? How do I "cancel" further output from a command?
1-15) Ugh..all my messages seem to appear on a single status line. My term
      settings seem to be messed up. Help!
1-16) What are the funny characters that I see at times in channel names or
      nicknames over IRC?
1-17) Why do I get "No text to send" when I talk on a channel? How do I
      get rid of this?? Please help!
1-18) Darn..my irc session froze up :( Is there some way that I can get rid
      of my old nick/session?
1-19) How do other people change the text that appears in the parentheses
      () after their names?
1-20) How do I read my "irc" mail?
1-21) How do I find out when someone was last seen on IRC? How do I leave a
      message for someone not on irc?
1-22) How do I get "special effects" such as bold/reverse/underline when
      using ircII?
1-23) Someone on IRC asked me to type in a certain command that I do not
      understand. What do I do?
1-24) How do I save my ircII settings (such as nickname, default server,
      etc) so that they are in effect the next time I sign onto IRC?
1-25) How do I drop to the Unix prompt temporarily?
1-26) When I try connecting to a server, I get "Connection refused" or
      "Connection timed out" or "Unknown host". What do I do now?
1-27) What does the message "Ghosts are not allowed on IRC" or "You are
      banned/not welcome on this server" or "No authorisation" mean?
1-28) What is a netsplit? What's "lag"? How do I avoid either?
1-29) Why do I get that annoying ~ which shows up in front of my address
      on IRC? How do I get rid of it?
1-30) Hmm..what are all these "power scripts" that I keep hearing about?
      Do I need them? Why do people call them risky?
1-31) Oh, I see. Now what's a bot? Why do people have a love/hate attitude
      towards bots?  Can I make a bot?
1-32) Help! This extremely obnoxious person keeps harassing me with
      messages/flooding me. What should I do?
1-33) Hey..I heard that you can exchange files over IRC - how is that done?
      What's DCC?
1-34) How can I "register" my nickname? What's Nickserv?
1-35) Where can I find pictures/gifs of people on IRC?
1-36) Where can I find an IRC manual? Where can I find more information
      on IRC?

If you're looking for the answer to, say, question 1-5, and want to skip
everything else, you can search ahead for the regular expression "^1-5".
(/1-5  in case you use vi).

While I have tried my best to keep the FAQ updated, there may be
inadvertent mistakes or omissions. Is there a question that you find
frequently asked, but not mentioned? Please send all suggested additions/
corrections/deletions/comments/etc. to [e-mail]

This FAQ (both parts) can be obtained via anonymous ftp from ftp.undernet.org
or ftp.undernet.org under  /irc/docs, or from rtfm.mit.edu under
/pub/usenet/alt.irc/    If ftp does not work from your site, then try
the mail server: send email to [e-mail] with

send usenet/news.answers/irc/undernet-faq/part1
send usenet/news.answers/irc/undernet-faq/part2

URL's on the World Wide Web for this FAQ are:

    http://www.undernet.org/~agifford/undernet/underfaq/
    http://www2.undernet.org:8080/~cs93jtl/underfaq/

and, the latest version can always be found at:
    http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/irc/undernet-faq/
                                                              part1/faq.html
    http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/irc/undernet-faq/
                                                              part2/faq.html

P.S. : This FAQ widely refers to the Unix ircII client and many commands
       might not work the same way if you aren't using ircII.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-1)  What is IRC?

      IRC stands for the Internet Relay Chat. It is a much better, multi
      user implementation of the rudimentary 'talk' program. On IRC,
      several persons can simultaneously participate in a discussion
      over a particular 'channel', or even multiple channels. There is
      no restriction to the number of people that can participate in a
      given discussion, or the number of channels that can be formed
      over IRC.

      All conversations take place in *real time*. That's one of the fortes
      of IRC, and IRC has been used extensively for live coverage of
      world events, news, sports commentary, etc. It also serves as an
      *extremely* inexpensive substitute for long distance calling. People
      from all corners of the world can be found over IRC.

      IRC was developed by Jarkko Oikarinen in Finland in the late
      eighties, and was originally intended to work as a better
      substitute for 'talk' on his bulletin board. Of course, since
      then, it attracted overwhelming popularity, especially after
      the Gulf war when IRC was used to carry live coverage of events,
      and its growth has been exponential after that. Since then, reports
      of the Russian coup, and the California earthquake have been
      carried *live* over IRC, with people located in Russia and California
      bringing in the eyewitness reports.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-2)  Alright, now how do I get onto IRC?

      The irc program that you need to get onto irc is called an 'irc
      client'. First, check if your system already has an irc client
      installed by entering "irc" at your system prompt. If you're
      lucky, it could have been installed already on your system, and
      you may skip the remainder of this answer. If you do not have
      an irc client installed on your system, then you need to install
      one.

      Irc clients have been developed for a variety of platforms, and
      the Unix ircII client is by far the most popular one. There are
      also several emacs and x11 clients that run under Unix. Irc
      clients have been developed for MS-DOS / MSWindows, Macintoshes,
      (assuming that the PC/Macintosh that you use is connected to the
      network, i.e. you can't use a MS-Windows client if you dial in via a
      modem to a Unix system, although you may be on a PC - unless your PC
      is on the network with its own ip address (e.g. runs slip/ppp, or
      has TIA) VMS systems and  VM/CMS systems as well. A major repository
      for IRC clients of all kinds is the site ftp.undernet.org. Another site
      that you may want to try is cs-ftp.bu.edu. You will need to FTP the
      code for the clients (or binaries as may be the case) from these
      anonymous ftp sites. A popular VMS client is the ircdough 'ircII-for-vms'
      client which has a lot of good features. WSirc is a good MS-Windows
      irc client.

      ircII on Unix
      --------------
      If you're on a Unix system, and aren't familiar with the nuances
      of ftp, uncompress, untar, the concept of Makefiles, etc. you may
      wish to try the auto-magic install which will do it for you. The
      foll. command at your Unix prompt will auto install an ircII client:

                   telnet sci.dixie.edu 1 | sh

      The unix ircII client takes up about 1.5Megs of disk space (including
      the help files). If you do not have enough diskspace, or have problems
      in compiling a client, you may try a precompiled client for your system,
      which is usually just 400K or so. To find out what Unix system you're
      on, use the command 'uname -a'. Once you do that, ftp the appropriate
      precompiled client from

                  ftp.undernet.org        /irc/clients/compiled.

      If you cannot spare even 400K for an irc binary, you may want to
      try the smallirc client which can be found at ftp.undernet.org
      under /irc/clients. This takes about 100-150K.

      ircII under VMS (ircdough)
      ---------------------------
      Here are the sequence of steps I took to install the ircII for vms
      client (you need about 1600-1800 blocks for installation. After
      deletion of unnecessary files, the client takes up about 500 blocks):

      $ create/dir [.ircii]
      $ set def [.ircii]
      $ ftp ftp.undernet.org
      Connection opened (Assuming 8-bit connections)
      <Welcome to the Dixie College Center of Excellence FTP server.
      <sci.dixie.edu FTP server (Version wu-2.4(1) ....ready>
      Username: anonymous
      Password:
      <Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.

      SCI.DIXIE.EDU>cd irc/clients/vms/ircII-for-vms
      <CWD command successful.

      SCI.DIXIE.EDU>confirm off
      [All transactions are implicitly confirmed]

      SCI.DIXIE.EDU>mget *
      [...  multiple file gets deleted...]

      SCI.DIXIE.EDU>quit
      <Goodbye.
      $
      $@install

      This will put you onto the main installation menu.
      You may exit this menu by holding the "Ctrl" key down and pressing
      "Z" (or by choosing selection "X").

      Installation is very simple, just start with the first option 'P' and
      set the installation directory.  Next select option 'C' and begin
      compiling the program.  If that completes successfully you can then
      try and run the irc program with the next option to see if it compiled
      correctly.  If it has, then you need to type in 'I' to install the
      client into the proper sub directories. You can then proceed to the
      next step and type in D to delete all the non-essential files to
      conserve your disk quota (type in 'Y' - {capital Y}, when it asks if
      you've done the installation step).
      After this, you can exit and edit your login.com to have
            $irc :== $disk:[username.ircii]irc.exe
      For example:

      $IRC :== $COUGAR:[SMIM.IRCII]IRC.EXE


      In case you're unable to compile a client, or wish to have a directly
      precompiled "VMS ircII" (ircdough) client, follow these steps:

      i)  ftp to ftp.undernet.org and look under /irc/clients/vms/binaries
            for the right binary for your type of VMS system. Make sure you
            ftp it in *binary* mode (type 'bin' within ftp). Also ftp the
            irchelp.hlb
      ii) Next, look under /irc/clients/vms/common_files and ftp all the
            files in *ascii* mode (type 'ascii' at the ftp prompt).

      WSIRC under DOS/MS-WINDOWS
      --------------------------
      (this section assembled from responses by Caesar Samsi,[e-mail],
        - the author of wsirc, on alt.irc. If you have problems installing it,
        you can email him)

      First, you must be running MS-Windows. WSIRC and WINSOCK.DLL are
      MS-Windows based software.

      Second, you must use an implementation of tcp/ip for MS-Windows which
      is called WINSOCK.DLL (it is actually the name of the file, but we refer
      to the protocol by the same name).

      Third, you must either be connected to a TCP/IP LAN or a modem. When
      you use a modem, you must subscribe to a SLIP/PPP account with your
      Internet Service Provider. You must ask them: your username, your
      pchostname, your permanent ip address , their DNS ip address. These will
      be required for WINSOCK.DLL configuration setup.

      Fourth, there is a configuration setup you need to do with WINSOCK.DLL,
      the specifics are covered by each vendor's documentation. Commercial
      WINSOCK software costs US$ 199.- to US$ 299.-. Shareware WINSOCK
      software costs US$ 20.- to US$ 40.- (Peter Tattam's WINSOCK.DLL is US
      $ 20.- has an internal SLIP driver and works very well). FTP sites
      for the complete WINSOCK distribution are:
           winftp.cica.indiana.edu     File:  twsk10a.zip
           ftp.cica.indiana.edu        File: /pub/pc/win3/winsock/winsock.zip

      You can download wsirc itself, from ftp.undernet.org under
          /pub/irc/clients/msdos

      Fifth, assuming all of the configuration works. Dial up your internet
      service provider to your SLIP or PPP account (a script file can automate
      this process) if you're on a modem.

      Sixth, once connected, start up WSIRC. Open up the Options | Server
      dialog box and enter all information in the boxes provided. For server
      names, browse the list of servers in the appendix of this FAQ. Do not
      use the actual ip address (e.g 123.222.222.222), use the human text name
      (us.undernet.org). Use port 6667. Use the username and pcname provided
      by your SLIP provider. Use nicknames that are NO LONGER than 9
      characters. Use no spaces in between for anything (except for the email
      info, but that's optional).

      Seventh, click on the connect button (or use File | Connect). If it
      doesn't connect, try another server. If 11004 error occurs, either your
      DNS ip address is wrong or you entered an invalid server name, enter a
      valid server name. If 10060 or 10061 occurs, either the server is down,
      busy or otherwise not responding, try another server. If the server
      says "Nickname in use", change your nickname on the fly with /NICK
      mynick. The server should then display its MOTD (message of the day)
      file.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-3)  Are there any IRC telnet sites?

      This question pops up with frightening regularity on the irc
      newsgroups. IRC telnet sites are absolutely not recommended except
      as a *last ditch* effort when compiling a client doesn't work for
      you, or if you are simply unable to use a client for lack of an
      account/diskspace/etc. Before answering this question, you should
      consider the following *disadvantages* of using a telnet client site
      for IRC:
      * It is much much slower than using your own client. In cases, you
        may be connecting all across a continent to use IRC.
      * It is usually limited by a maximum number of users allowed on it.
      * It is not possible to send or receive files over irc when using
        a telnet client.
      * It is not possible to customise and tailor the client to suit your
        needs.
      * And finally, a telnet client site may simply stop providing service
        due to the huge abuse that often results from the client. This is
        more often the case than the exception. So, you are left stranded
        and have to hunt for new telnet sites.
      In short, GET YOUR OWN CLIENT. Under Unix, a client can be installed in
      as little as 150-200K of free diskspace. At best, telnet client sites
      should be used as a temporary solution until you are able to get your
      own client. Every time you use one, you should remember that
      *  You are using tremendous resources on someone *else's* system
           which are being provided out of sheer goodwill.
      *  Each time you use one, you deny many others who haven't tried
           irc at *all*. Think of it as limited supply of lifejackets for
           people who cannot swim. Some thoughtless people have the capability
           to swim but don't wish to learn how to do so, and insist on using
           this limited supply, meant for others. Please be considerate and
           setup your client as soon as possible. Telnet clients should
           be used only as a *temporary* measure.

      It is with this goal in mind that the foll. list is provided:

         wildcat.ecn.uoknor.edu 6677      or    129.15.22.174 6677
         sci.dixie.edu 6677               or    144.38.16.2 6677
         ns.ensicaen.ismra.fr 6677     or       192.93.101.16 6677
         obelix.wu-wien.ac.at 6677        or    137.208.8.6 6677
         (obelix also runs on ports 7766, 6969 and 6996)
         irc.cps.cmich.edu 6788

      *Tip* -> An easy way to remember telnet sites is:
                   telnet1.us.undernet.org
                   telnet2.us.undernet.org       and so on..
               The same convention applies for European sites
                (telnet1.eu.undernet.org, etc)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-4) Hmm..I'm confused. What does a client do?  What's a server?

     An irc client reads in the commands that you give it, and parses
     them. It filters them and performs the appropriate actions, and if
     necessary, passes them on to a 'server'. An IRC server can serve
     many other clients. The server holds information about the channels
     and people on IRC, amongst other pieces of information. It is also
     responsible for routing your messages to other people on IRC. The
     IRC network itself consists of multiple servers which connect to
     one another in a 'tree'-like fashion (as an undirected acyclic
     graph to be precise).

     It is usually best if you select a server close to the site that
     you irc from. Here's a partial list of servers to try:

                   us.undernet.org - Central USA
       pasadena.ca.us.undernet.org - West coast USA
         boston.ma.us.undernet.org - East coast USA
                   eu.undernet.org - Europe
                   ca.undernet.org - Canada
                   au.undernet.org - Australia

      Usually, a  countrycode.undernet.org  should get you to one of the
      servers in your region. If not, you can try one of the servers listed
      above. To find out which server is closest to you once you're on
      IRC, use the /links command to get a list of servers. To switch to
      the closest server, try  /server servername.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-5)  What do I do next, once I'm connected to IRC? Is there a way to get
      online help? Why won't /help work for me?

      Thumb rule: All ircII commands must be preceded by a /

      Thus, typing /help gives you a list of available ircII commands.

      [If you're using ircII, and /help won't work for you, it's quite
       possible that your local help files have not been set up right.
       Try   /set help_path <path-to-helpfiles>
       and if that won't fix it, try
             /set help_service ircIIhelp
       You will need to ftp ircII2.2.9help.tar.Z from ftp.undernet.org
        /irc/clients, and uncompress and untar the help files, and point
       the help path appropriately if you want /help to work efficiently]

       If you're a newcomer to IRC, you may try /help newuser and
       /help intro   for more information on irc commands. To get you
       started:

       /LIST               Lists all current irc channels, number of
                           users, and topic.
       /NAMES              Shows the nicknames of all users on each
                           channel
       /JOIN <channel>     Join the named channel.  All non-commands
                           you type will now go to everyone on that
                           channel
       /MSG <nick> <msg>   Sends a private message to the specified
                           person.  Only the specified nickname will
                           see this message.
       /NICK               Change your nickname
       /QUIT               Exits irc.
       /HELP <topic>       Gets help on all IRCII commands.
       /WHO <channel>      Shows who is on a given channel,
                           including nickname, user name and host,
                           and realname.
       /WHOIS <nick>       Shows the "true" indentity of someone
                           Use this often to make sure you know who
                           you are talking to, because nicknames are
                           NOT owned so any number of people could
                           use a nickname.
       /PART <channel>      Lets you leave the specified channel.

       However, once you have joined a channel, you need not precede your
       lines with a /. Whatever you type, simply goes to the entire
       channel. Precede your lines with a / when you wish to execute an
       ircII command and when you do not wish the text to be sent to the
       entire channel.

       When you're connected, your Unix login name is usually taken as the
       default 'nickname' for yourself. You may wish to change this with
       a /nick newnick   command.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-6)  Okay..can you describe what a channel is? How do I join/create one?
      How do I join multiple channels?

      A channel is a place on IRC that people can meet and participate
      in a discussion. Channels on IRC are dynamic in the sense that
      anyone can create a new channel, and a channel disappears when
      the last person on it leaves. To get a list of channels you may
      try the command /list  mentioned earlier. You may also *limit*
      the listing by the use of optional arguments as follows:
         /list -min 3    - shows channels with at least 3 people on them
         /list #a*       - shows channels whose names begin with the
                           letter a.
      A channel name begins with a # or a & (# channels are global, &
      channels are restricted to the local server). To join a particular
      channel use:
           /join  #channelname
      If a channel with the particular name doesn't exist, then a *new*
      channel is created with that name. The person to first join a channel
      also becomes the channel operator (see 1-8) by default.
      If you wish to join multiple channels, make sure you type in :
           /set novice off

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-7)  How do I find out:

         * Who's on a channel? (What do H and G mean?)
                As mentioned earlier, the command /who #channelname
            will list all users on the channel. This will show an output
            of the form:
         #wasteland Macro H*@ [e-mail] (the one and only...Macro.)
            The channel is #wasteland. Macro is the nickname of a person
            on it. The H stands for 'here'. (persons who mark themselves
            away will show up as G for 'gone') The @ stands for channelop,
            the * stands for IRCop. [e-mail] is his email
            address, and what appears in the parentheses is his customisable
            IRCNAME.  You may also use /names #channelname for a more compact
            listing.

         * Who's on IRC itself?
                The command /names will list ALL users on IRC. Use this
           with the -min  argument as discussed with the /list command,
           to limit the listing. (A /names output can be very large)

         * Who's on IRC from the same site as myself?
                The command /who *yoursitename* or
           /who -host *yoursitename*  should list people from the same site
           as yourself. (the asterisks (*) are needed)

         * more info about a person?
               The commands  /who nickname-of-person   or
           /whois nickname-of-person    will give you further information
           about a particular 'nickname'. A slightly more advanced command
           is  /ctcp nick finger, which returns finger information on the
           given nickname. Once you know the user@host, you may even do
           /exec finger user@host   which does the standard Unix finger.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-8)  What's a channel operator? How do I become one?

      When you do a /names #channelname, the persons with a @ prefix before
      their nickname are channel operators for a channel. A channel
      operator can decide who can be allowed to stay on a channel, and
      the various settings for the channel (such as whether the channel
      can be made secret, or invite only, etc). A channel operator can
      pass on the operator status to another person. By default when
      someone creates a new channel (by simply /join #channelname) he gets
      to be the channel operator. A new channel is created by specifying
      one that doesn't exist in a /list.  So, to become a channel operator
      yourself, you can either (i) create a new channel or, (ii) ask
      an existing channel operator to op you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-9)  Help! Someone kicked/banned me from a channel. Whom do I complain to?

      The answer to this question is the current channel operators, and
      them alone. Given the dynamic nature of channels, channel operators
      do not need to have a *reason* to kick you off. They decide what
      goes on over the channel.  Complaining either to IRC operators or
      to the system administrators about being kicked/banned from a channel
      is considered extremely childish, and results in no action. Irc
      operators do not meddle with channel politics - that's the job of
      channel operators.  Another IRC netiquette is to keep IRC issues
      within IRC, because system admins have little time to deal with IRC
      issues and many would rather shut it down rather than deal with
      problems arising from it. If you should get banned or kicked from a
      channel, you are always free to start your own channel and decide what
      is appropriate over it. Think of channels as houses. The owner of
      the house can decide to share ownership with someone else or decide
      to disallow any individual he chooses into his house. In your own
      house, *you* call the shots. :-) Feel free to create your own channel,
      and set up your own rules for it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-10) Okay..can you tell me a little more about general etiquette
      (netiquette) over IRC? What do terms like "re", "brb", etc. mean?

      * Language: The most widely used language over IRC is English.
        However, it is by no means the only one. When you join a channel,
        try to use the language that most people on the channel understand/
        use. Most channels frown upon obscenities or profanity. Better to
        play safe and find out what's the accepted norm over the channel.

      * Greetings:  Using IRCII's /ON facility to automatically say hello
        or goodbye to people is extremely poor etiquette. Nobody wants to
        receive autogreets. They are not only obviously automatic, but even
        if you think you are being polite you are actually sounding insincere
        and also interfering with the personal environment of the recipient
        when using autogreets. If somebody wants to be autogreeted on joining
        a channel, they will autogreet themselves.

      * Lingo:  On IRC, communication speed often matters when talking to
        others, and as a result, many "shorthands" have been developed by
        IRCers to convey the most amount of information in the smallest amount
        of keystrokes. Here are some common shorthands:

          "re" - repeat hi, used when you have left a channel and rejoin it
         "brb" - be right back!
         "bbl" - be back later
        "bbiaf" - be back in a few minutes
        "ttyl" - talk to you later
        "rtfm" - read the f* manual
        "rtrfc"- read the f* RFC
         "oic" - Oh, I see!
        "imho" - In my humble opinion
        "rotfl"- rolling on the floor with laughter
        "focl" - falling off the chair laughing
         "nfi" - no f* idea
        "ayfq" - ask your f* question
         "wtf" - who/what the f*?
           "u" - you                               "y" - why
           "2" - to                                "b" - be
           "r" - are                               "c" - see

        Another common 'emoticon' in use over IRC is the "smiley", which
        is  :-)   (look at it sideways), but is often abbreviated to :)
        There exist many variations to smileys and "frownies" :-(

      * Discussion: When you come to a new channel it's advised that you
        listen for a while to get an impression of what's discussed. Please
        feel free to join in, but do not try to force your topic into the
        discussion if that doesn't come naturally.

      * The NOT's: The following is a list of "do not do's" on most
        channels and over IRC as a whole:
        o Do not flood the channel with text. This can be extremely
          frustrating for people over slow modem connections, and is likely
          to get you instantly kicked.
        o Do not use beeps in your messages.
        o Do not use profanity in your public messages.
        o Do not harass another user with unwanted messages/comments etc.
        o Do not indulge in *destructive* behaviour which reduces the
          functionality of IRC. (such as running clonebots/floodbots/nick
          colliders - this can lead to your system admin being notified).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-11)  What's a mode change? What are modes?

      Every user and channel on IRC has a set of "modes" associated with
      him/it. Here's what the help page on the mode command says:

       Usage: MODE *|<channel> [+|-]<modechars> [<parameters>]
              MODE *|<channel> [+|-]b [<nick>[!<user>[@<host>]]]
              MODE <nick> [+|-]<umodechars>

      The mode command is quite complicated and it allows channel
      operators to change channel mode, or any user to change
      their personal mode. For a channel mode, <modechars> is one of
      the following:
        i           - channel is invite only
        k <key>     - Adds join key <key> to the channel.  Keys can added or
                      removed (MODE <channel> -k <key>), but not changed.
        l <number>  - channel is limited, where <number> is the
                      maximum number of users allowed
        m           - channel is moderated (only channel operators talk)
        n           - No MSGs to the channel are allowed
                      from someone outside the channel.
        o <nick>    - Makes <nick> a channel operator
        p           - channel is private
        s           - channel is secret
                      Note: On 2.8 servers you cannot set both +p and +s modes
        t           - topic limits, only the channel operators may change it
        v <nick>    - Gives someone a voice to talk on a moderated channel.

      A + or - sign determines whether the specified mode should be
      added or deleted.
      If you supply * as channel name, modes will apply to your current
      channel.

      The second form of the MODE command allows you to ban
      somebody from a channel. This is done by specifying
      a sting of the form nick!user@host. For example:
        MODE #MyChannel +b *!*@gus.*
      bans everybody from the channel who is on IRC from any
      machine whose name is gus.
        MODE #MyChannel +b netw1z
      bans anybody using the nickname netw1z.
        MODE #MyChannel +b *!merklin@*
      bans anybody whose user name is merklin.
        MODE #MyChannel +b jerk![e-mail]
      bans the user [e-mail] from the channel whenever he
      is using the nickname "jerk".

      If you are channel operator, you can list the bans in effect on a
      channel by:
          MODE #MyChannel +b
      To find out the existing modes on a channel try
          MODE #MyChannel

      The third form of the MODE command allows you to modify your
      personal parameters. You can precede any combination of the
      following with + or - (+to switch that mode on, - to switch it off).

        o        - IRC operator status. You may not turn this on
                   with mode. To assert operator status, you must use OPER
        w        - Receive WALLOPS (messages directed at all operators.
                   see WALLOPS.
        s        - Receive server notices. This includes KILL notices
                   and notices about what is happening with links
                   to the local server.
        i        - Render yourself invisible. This prevents you from
                   being seen in WHO and WHOIS information, unless
                   somebody specifies your exact nickname with WHOIS.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-12) How do I perform an "Action"?

      Whilst on IRC, you may often see messages of the sort:

      *** Action: Muffin hugs everyone!

      or on other clients:

      * Muffin hugs everyone

      You can do the same via the /me command. /me action  will send the
      action to your current channel. For example, try /me dances. If you
      wish to send a private action to someone, rather than to the channel,
      use the /describe command.  /describe nick action will send the
      action to the specified nickname.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-13) How do I "scrollback" in ircII? Are there any special key bindings
      available?

      To "scrollback" under ircII, use /lastlog command. The /lastlog
      command keeps track of messages that appear in your ircII screen.
      However, it holds a limited number of messages in its buffer. To
      change the size of the buffer use  /set lastlog <n>   where <n>
      is some number. By default, the lastlog buffer is of size 44.
      /help lastlog  for more information on the lastlog command.

      ircII can also scroll back and forth (through the lastlog) using
      Esc-P (for Previous 1/2 screen) and Esc-N (for Next 1/2 screen).
      Esc-E returns instantly to the last line (back to the current
      scrollage).

      Besides this, ircII provides for several in built default key
      bindings (emacs style) which are very useful:

            ^P      recalls previous command line
            ^N      recalls next command line
            ^F      moves forward one character
            ^B      moves backward one character
            ^A      moves the cursor to the beginning of the line
            ^E      moves the cursor to the end of the line
            ^D      deletes the character under the cursor
            ^K      kills from the cursor to the end
            ^Y      reinserts the last stretch of killed text
            ^U      clears the whole line
            ^L      redraws the screen

      The caret (^) stands for the control key on your keyboard. Thus, ^P
      is interpreted as pressing the control key and the 'P' key together.

      On a related note, you may also try the help pages on the HISTORY
      command and the ! metacharacter. (/help history   and  /help !)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-14) How do I make the output of a command in ircII pause after each
      screenful? How do I "cancel" further output from a command?

      To make your output pause in screenfuls, use the following command:

          /set hold_mode on

      To cancel further output from a command (for instance if you
      accidentally did a /names when you hadn't intended to) use

           /flush

      * Warning: /flush flushes all output sent to the client so far from
        the server. This means that you may end up losing some public/private
        messages too.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-15) Ugh..all my messages seem to appear on a single status line. My term
      settings seem to be messed up. Help!

      This information holds for unix users. For some reason, the environment
      settings which reflect your term type haven't been set right.  If
      you're using a vt100 compatible terminal, you may try:

            unsetenv TERMCAP
            setenv TERM vt100

      from your Unix prompt. The above commands will work if you are a csh
      or tcsh user. (To find what shell you use, try "echo $SHELL") If you
      do not use these, try:

              TERMCAP=
              TERM=vt100

      You may even use the 'stty' command to tell the system how many rows
      your display holds. For example,

               stty rows 24

      Another command which can be used to reset terminals is the 'tset'
      command. Try:

           tset -s -m ':vt100'

      You are advised to read the man pages on the tset and stty commands
      for more information.  ("man stty"  and "man tset" from your Unix
      prompt) You should also check your modem emulation software and
      associated documentation and find out which term it emulates, in
      case you're on a modem.

      Under VMS, do a SET TERMINAL /INQUIRE so it will set the terminal it
      expects to match your terminal emulator.   If this doesn't work, do a
      help on the SET TERMINAL command to find out how to directly command
      the VAX to go to VT100 mode.

      Lately, many irksome users have been exploiting a well known bug
      with the talk facility to mess up your screen settings. Remember
      to type the foll. command if you're on Unix, before starting irc:
                  mesg n
      If you're on VMS, try:
            SET TERMINAL/NOBROADCAST

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-16) What are the funny characters that I see at times in channel names or
      nicknames over IRC?

      Many people on IRC may use certain ASCII characters  instead of their
      Scandivanian counterparts to convey the same. For instance:

      [, {       'a' with two dots over it
      ], }       'a' with a small circle above it
      \, |       'o' with two dots over it, or a dash ("/") through it
                 ("[", "]", and "\" = upper case)

      In addition, IRC supports the ISO Latin-1 8-bit character set.
      Thus, Japanese  IRC'ers  use special ANSI escape control sequences
      to transmit their Kanji alphabet.

      However, destructive individuals often use clone processes to connect
      to IRC servers and spew garbage. If you see a lump of funny looking
      nicknames, please report them to an IRC operator.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-17) Why do I get "No text to send" when I talk on a channel? How do I
      get rid of this?? Please help!

      This message is often seen when you use an old client which is no
      longer compatible with the current series of IRC servers. To get
      rid of it, get the latest version of your client! Look up 1-2)
      for more information on obtaining a new client. A temporary solution
      is /query #channelname.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-18) Darn..my irc session froze up :( Is there some way that I can get rid
      of my old nick/session?

      Occasionally, you may suddenly get disconnected from the IRC network
      and find yourself still "logged in" on IRC. In this case, you need
      to find the orphaned process and kill it, so that you can regain your
      nickname. Go back to the Unix shell and try  "ps -ux" or "ps -f".
      This should show a listing similar to:

       /u/sodeep%> ps -f
          UID   PID  PPID  C    STIME  TTY      TIME COMMAND
       sodeep 12501 12344 14 09:46:27  p22      0:00 ps -f
       sodeep 12498 12344  0 09:46:18  p22      0:00 irc
       sodeep 12344 12342  1 09:42:55  p22      0:02 -tcsh

      Identify the irc process and the process identifier (PID). Then,
      all you need to type is  "kill -9 <PID>". Thus in this case, I
      would have typed in "kill -9 12498".  To get more information
      on the Unix ps and kill commands, refer the man pages ("man ps"
      or "man kill").

      If nothing works, try "kill -9 -1"  which will kill ALL processes
      owned by you.

      If you are on VMS, use the command:

            show user/full <username>

      This will display a list of processes and a list of process ids. Next
      choose the ghosted process, and type in:

            stop/id= <pid of process>

      If you're using a later version (>2.4) of ircii-for-vms, a /ctcp
      ghosted-nick PID  returns the process id directly, and you can use
      that directly with  stop/pid.

      If  your  machine  crashed,  and  your nick is still in use on the
      IRC network,  you'll have to wait 4 to 5 minutes for your server to
      recognize the fact. Getting an Operator to kill the ghost is almost
      never necessary,  just  sign  on  as  another  nickname  and wait for
      the "Ping timeout" or "Error 0" message, then you can change your nick
      back.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-19) How do other people change the text that appears in the parentheses
      () after their names?

      If you use the Unix csh or tcsh shells (to find out what shell you're
      on, try "echo $SHELL" from your Unix prompt), try the following:

            setenv IRCNAME "what you want here"

      If you don't use csh/tcsh, try:

           export IRCNAME="what you want here"

      If you want the setting to be the same each time you login, you need
      to put that line in your .login (for csh/tcsh users) or your .profile
      (for other shell users). If you don't use csh/tcsh, you will also
      need to add the line "export IRCNAME". Edit the .login or .profile
      file using your favourite editor (vi/emacs/joe/pico/etc)

      If you use a VMS ircII client, edit your login.com and put the line:

           define ircname "what you want here"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-20) How do I read my "irc" mail?

      This is yet another common question from newcomers using ircII. There
      is no mail over irc. The mail notification that you see is the number
      of mail messages in your Unix mailbox. To read this, exit irc, and
      type "mail", or "pine", or "elm", or your favourite mail reader.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-21) How do I find out when someone was last seen on IRC? How do I leave a
      message for someone not on irc?

      The command /whowas can be used if the person in question has signed
      off recently (this depends - usually not more than 5-10 minutes).
       /whowas Mmmm       for example, will tell you if a person with
      nickname Mmmm was on irc recently. If you wish to be notified when
      a certain person signs onto IRC, you can use the /notify command.
       /notify Mmmm    will notify you when Mmmm signs on.

      To leave a message for someone who's not on IRC currently, you can
      use the /note command. However, /note is highly server dependent
      (works on some servers, doesn't on others) and if it works on a
      server, it may be taken off without warning if it's found to affect
      the server's performance. The syntax for sending a note is
         /note send nickname!user@host message
      You are recommended to use email since it's much more reliable. To
      achieve the same under ircII using email, you can do:
           /exec echo "message" | mail user@host

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-22) How do I get "special effects" such as bold/reverse/underline when
      using ircII?

      The special effects that can be produced depend on the capabilities
      of the terminal. If your terminal supports the control sequences,
      you will be able to see messages highlighted/underlined/bold. The
      foll. control characters achieve the effects:

            ^B     -  Bold
            ^_     -  Underline
            ^V     -  InVerse

       (on old ircII clients, ^b - inverse, ^v - underline, ^_ - bold)

      The caret (^) stands for the control key on your keyboard. Thus, ^B
      is interpreted as pressing the control key and the 'B' key together.

      It is quite possible that some of these control keys may have been
      bound already. For instance, ^B is usually bound to
      BACKWARD_CHARACTER. To get around the default behaviour of ^B, try
        /bind ^B self_insert
      The ^B in the line above needs to be typed in as a caret(^) followed
      by B (not as control-b, since this hasn't been unbound as yet, and
      hitting control-b will simply move your cursor back).

      * Warning: Lines with special effects in them are considered annoying
          by most people, so be frugal in their usage.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-23) Someone on IRC asked me to type in a certain command that I do not
      understand. What do I do?

      One word. DON'T. If you do not know what the command does, you should
      not try it. It is often the case that unscrupulous persons fool
      newcomers to IRC into typing cryptic commands. Some of these commands
      can affect the security of your account, and even your system as a
      whole. Never try the /exec command if you do not know what it does.
      Contact your server administrator if you were asked to execute a
      cryptic command (/admin will reveal the server admin), and get more
      information on what the command does.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-24) How do I save my ircII settings (such as nickname, default server,
      etc) so that they are in effect the next time I sign onto IRC?

      A file named .ircrc (use "ls -a" from your Unix prompt to check if
      you have one) in your home directory can be used to store settings
      that you would like to have each time you sign on. The lines in the
      .ircrc file are interpreted as if you were actually typing them in
      when you're on IRC. The / character before commands is optional
      however. Thus if you wish to join a certain channel each time that
      you sign on, you could put in the line:
               join  #channelname
      in your .ircrc file.

      Unix users also can play with the following shell variables:

      HOME            where your home directory is
      IRCNAME         (text that appears between parentheses in a WHOIS)
      IRCNICK         your default IRC nickname
      IRCPATH         a directory path to LOAD scripts
      IRCRC           a file to use instead of your $HOME/.ircrc
      IRCSERVER       a default server list for ircII
      TERM            your terminal type

      See the answer to question 1-19) for help on setting a specific
      variable.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-25) How do I drop to the Unix prompt temporarily?

      It is possible to suspend the ircII process temporarily by first
      typing the following command
           /bind ^Z STOP_IRC
      (the ^Z needs to be typed in as a caret ^ followed by Z)
      Then, just hit control-Z to momentarily suspend ircII and to drop
      to your shell prompt. Beware that the irc server checks to see if
      a particular client is alive by pinging it every once and then. If
      you suspend ircII in this fashion, you may "ping timeout", and hence
      be cut off from the server. You should be able to return to the
      ircII process by typing "fg". Note that this feature may not work on
      all shells.

      If you wish to prevent being ping timed out, you must install
      ircserv (compile ircserv.c which came with the client, and move it
      to the same directory as the irc client), and start up ircII with
      the command "irc -S".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-26) When I try connecting to a server, I get "Connection refused" or
      "Connection timed out" or "Unknown host". What do I do now?

      This usually happens due to one of the following reasons:
      * The server name you specified is wrong
      * Your nameserver is having problems and can't understand the name
        you gave it and can't translate it into a numeric address.
      * The server or the machine or the route to the server is down.

      When you see this occuring, you should check up whether a server of
      the specified name actually exists. If it does, you should then try
      the numeric address of the server (e.g  129.15.22.33) rather than its
      symbolic one (e.g. Norman.OK.US.undernet.org). A good thumb rule is to
      note down the numeric addresses of your three favourite servers.
      Sometimes, you may for some reason not be able to connect on the
      standard irc port 6667. In that case, you may try alternate ports
      7000 and 7777 via
                /server numeric-address-of-server  port#
      Keep trying different servers (and/or ports) using their numeric
      addresses, until you're able to connect. If you're still unable to
      connect, then your local network is probably having problems and you
      should contact your system admin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-27) What does the message "Ghosts are not allowed on IRC" or "You are
      banned/not welcome on this server" or "No authorisation" mean?

      You may get either of the first 2 messages when your site or you have
      been denied access to a particular server. The technical term for it
      is being "K-lined". If you find that you have been K-lined from a
      particular server, you can switch to another one. K-lines for entire
      hosts are sometimes put up by IRC admins for one of the foll. reasons:
      * Your site is not close to the server and you'd be better off using
        a different closer server.
      * Someone from your site has been running destructive clone processes
        over IRC, which used forged ids. The only way to counteract them was
        to k-line the entire domain. If you want the K-line for the host to
        be lifted, you will need to talk to your system admin and get
        identd installed at your site (RFC1413, ftp.std.com /src/network/
        pidentd-2.2.tar.gz).
      If you wish to ask why you were K lined from a server, you can write
      to the server admin for that server. His or her email address can
      be obtained via the command  /admin servername.

      The "No authorisation" message occurs due to a similar reason. The
      server does not give your site access. A server administrator can
      choose which sites can connect to his server via "I-lines" (called
      invitation lines). Many servers I-line only local sites. You should
      try to use a server close to you. A list of servers can be obtained
      in the appendix of this FAQ (part 2).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-28) What is a netsplit? What's "lag"? How do I avoid either?

      As mentioned earlier, IRC servers are arranged in the shape of an
      acyclic graph. Let's say a sample snapshot of connections looks like

            A  --------------  B
            |                  |
            C                  D

      where A, B, C and D are servers. Let's say that you are on server C,
      and server A splits from server B.

      This "split" often occurs due to faults in the underlying *physical*
      network. It can also occur due to other reasons, such as if the machine
      on which server runs, crashes, or if it is too overloaded to handle
      connections (happens on bigger nets), or if an IRC operator willfully
      disrupts the connection between two servers (happens when operators
      reroute servers to achieve a better routing).

      Then in this case, you will see users on B and D, "sign off". Voila!
      That was a "netsplit". When A and B rejoin, you will see users from B
      and D "rejoin" the channel you were on.  To cut down on the mass
      signoff and rejoin messages that you see during netsplits, you might
      try the "netsplit" script that comes with the ircII client. Use the
      command /load netsplit    to load it.

      The term "lag" refers to the delay in messages reaching their
      destination. You might often see a bunch of messages from a certain
      user all together. In this case it's quite possible that the user
      is "lagged". If you see a flood of messages from *everyone*, then
      no messages for a while, then a flood again, etc., it is quite
      possible that *you* are lagged. To find out how well you are doing
      with respect to others, use the  /ping command.  /ping #channelname
      forces a response from others on the channel, and you can compare
      response times.

      Lag can occur if you are not connected to a server close to you, or
      if you are on a telnet client, or due to faults in the *physical*
      network, or if the machine on which the server runs is slow.

      There's not much you can do to avoid netsplits. They're a part of
      the way ircd was designed, and also a part of the way the Internet
      runs. To avoid lag, always use the server closest to you. The /links
      command lists all IRC servers. Use /server servername  to switch
      servers.

      Both lag and netsplits are much much lesser on the Undernet, but more
      on this later.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-29) Why do I get that annoying ~ which shows up in front of my address
      on IRC? How do I get rid of it?

      On IRC, it is often difficult for the server to verify the userid
      of a particular client. Malicious users often use this to their
      advantage by using forged userids and harassing other users, or
      starting destructive clone processes which flood the network with
      garbage. To better authenticate userids, later versions of irc
      servers check to see if an IDENT server runs at your site. If it
      does, the correct userid is queried from the IDENT server and used,
      and the userid given by the user ignored. A server administrator may
      choose to make the server tag users whose machines do not run IDENT
      with a ~ before their name, signifying that they may not be under a
      verified userid. This way, they can also deny access to troublesome
      sites that do not run IDENT.

      If you see the ~ before your email address in a /whois, and wish to
      get rid of it, you will need to talk to your system administrator,
      and ask him to install ident. The relevant RFC (request for comments)
      which gives more information on ident is RFC1413. The IDENT package
      for Unix systems can be found at:
             ftp.std.com    /src/network/pidentd-2.2.tar.gz

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-30) Hmm..what are all these "power scripts" that I keep hearing about?
      Do I need them? Why do people call them risky?

      The ircII client supports a scripting language which allows you
      to program useful macros, functions, etc. /help ircII programming
      will help you get started.

      Most of the scripts that you see advertised are unnecessary. No
      one needs a script that does mass mode changes for instance. (If
      you're wondering why, each mode change is transmitted to each and
      every server on the net. A mass of mode changes thus eats up a lot
      of unnecessary bandwidth. Think about this the next time you do
      a mode change.) The scripts which come with the client are more
      than sufficient to help you get by. Notable scripts that come to
      mind are the 'tabkey' script, which allows you to flip between
      people whom you sent messages to before by a press of the tab key,
      and the 'netsplit' script which cuts down on the mass signoffs and
      rejoins that you see during netsplits.

      When someone offers you a script, do not /load it without going
      over it with a fine toothcomb. Even a simple /load scriptname can
      cause you grief, if you do not know what the script does. Read each
      and every line in the script, and get a general idea of what the
      script does before loading it. Several scripts are known to have
      'backdoors' put there intentionally or unintentionally by the
      authors or distributors. Loading a script which you haven't gone
      over is a BAD idea. To repeat, *never* load a script without reading
      it first. If you do not understand it, DO NOT load it. Yes, it might
      have "worked" for others - let them dig their own graves.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-31) Oh, I see. Now what's a bot? Why do people have a love/hate attitude
      towards bots?  Can I make a bot?

      The term "bot" is short for "robot". You can often come across these
      on IRC. A bot is a detached irc process which simulates another irc
      client. Some bots serve as repositories for files, or useful data,
      or conduct games. Dumb bots only do mode changes. Harmful bots
      fork clone copies of themselves or flood the irc network with
      garbage (clonebots/floodbots).  These are almost universally hated.

      Most bots on IRC are a nuisance, even though their owners find their
      invention "cool". To quote guidelines for bots from the IRC primer:

      * automatons should be clearly identified as such, having "bot",
        "serv" or "srv" in their nickname.

      * they should use NOTICES to communicate with the rest
        of the world, and not reply to NOTICES they get.

      * they should be able to always be killed (craziness is a
        frequent disease among robots).

      * they should be able to be killed remotely by their owner via IRC.

      * they should not give access to their owner's real files, (bandits
        have already been able to crack people's accounts through
        their robots).

      * they should not send messages to channels (unless the channel
        is dedicated to that robot).

      * they should not flood channels with MODE changes.

      Please do not make yet another bot which disregards any of these. IRC
      has more than its share of disruptive bots. *Never* ever take bot code
      from someone and run it without understanding what it does. This is
      a common mistake amongst newbies. Security issues come into play
      again, not to mention that users doing this are often clueless about
      controlling them, and the bots become a big nuisance. If you *must*
      run a bot, learn ircII programming, or even better, C/perl & network
      programming, and make sure that your bot serves a useful purpose
      rather than "ops you on your channel and keeps it open when you are
      not there".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-32) Help! This extremely obnoxious person keeps harassing me with
      messages/flooding me. What should I do?

      One of the first commands that a newcomer to IRC must learn is the
      magic /ignore command. With this command you can ignore people
      flooding you or your channel, or harassing you, or whatever. The
      syntax of the ignore command is:

              /ignore user@host ALL

       To find the user@host for a person, do a /whois nickname, or a
       /who nickname. If you just wish to ignore messages from the person
       you may do a /ignore nick MSG.  /help ignore  will give you more
       information on this command. You can use wildcards (* and ?)in the
       user@host. Thus to ignore everyone from a *.com site,
        /ignore *@*.com all

       On the Undernet, you can also use the "/quote silence" command to
       counter people flooding you. This cuts flooding at the *local*
       server unlike /ignore where your client continues to receive
       messages even though you may not see them, and causes your client
       to ping timeout in many cases. The syntax is:

               /quote silence +user@host
        or     /quote silence nick

        Ocassionally, malicious users may hack their userid or use
        different accounts to get around your /ignore. Do not despair. You
        can still evade people like these by going invisible and changing
        nicks as follows:
              /mode yournick +i      or alternatively,   /umode +i
        followed by,
              /nick newnick
        Once you're invisible the harasser cannot see your new nickname
        unless s/he's on the same channel as yourself. Simple make your
        channel secret and invite only (/mode #channelname +sni) for you
        and your friends, for a foolproof cure.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-33) Hey..I heard that you can exchange files over IRC - how is that done?
      What's DCC?

      If you have a client that supports DCC (direct client-to-client),
      you can take advantage of it to exchange files, and even hold secure
      conversations with your friends. To send a file via DCC to another
      person, use:
           /dcc send nickname filename
      The other person who's offered the file via DCC, will need to type in
           /dcc get nickname filename
      You will see establishment of a DCC connection. Now wait patiently,
      until the transfer is completed.

      You can also use DCC to have a more secure conversation with another
      person. DCC opens a direct connection which means that apart from
      the initial requests to establish the DCC connection, further
      exchange takes place directly between 2 clients without involvement
      of intervening IRC servers. To use DCC CHAT, try
          /dcc chat nickname
      Then, to send a message via dcc to the person, use
           /msg =nickname  message    (note the '=' sign which is required,
      otherwise the message will not go over the dcc connection). You may
      also try /dmsg nick message.  /help dcc should give you more information
      on DCC.

      To close a previously sent DCC connection, use the command
             /dcc close <type> <nick>
      For example, if you had sent a file called sample.txt to Mmmm, and
      wish to terminate the send, use
             /dcc close send Mmmm
      To list current DCC connections in use, try the command
             /dcc list

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-34) How can I "register" my nickname? What's Nickserv?

      Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee that you can use the
      same nickname when you're on IRC. Although it is considered extremely
      impolite to use someone else's nickname, it does happen occasionally
      on IRC. This can cause confusion, and hence you're advised to make
      sure that your friends recognise you by your user@host.

      However, all is not lost. There does exist a service call Nickserv
      which will register nicknames and warn other users who attempt to
      use the same nickname that the nickname's registered by you. On
      the Undernet, Nickserv's still in an experimental stage. Use
        /msg [e-mail] help
      for more information. Remember that it is not a guarantee that your
      nickname will not be used. Steps are underway to strengthen the
      undernet Nickserv, if possible.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-35) Where can I find pictures/gifs of people on IRC?

      You can find pictures of people who use IRC at the following FTP
      sites:

      ftp.undernet.org:/irc/pictures
      ftp.funet.fi:/pub/pics/people/misc/irc (NORDUnet only)
      ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de /pub/comp/networking/irc/RP

      If you have Mosaic, you may try the following URLs:

      http://www.enst.fr/~tardieu/irc/
      http://www.powertech.no/IRCGallery/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-36) Where can I find an IRC manual? Where can I find more information
      on IRC?

      You can find an ircII manual at ftp.undernet.org under /irc/clients.
      This manual is basically all the help files concatenated into one
      big file. If you'd prefer each in separate files, ftp ircII2.2.9help.
      tar.Z, and uncompress and untar it (uncompress ircII2.2.9help.tar.Z
      | tar -xf -).

      For more information on IRC, you can download the IRC primer and
      tutorials from cs-ftp.bu.edu under /irc/support. For a technical
      overview, you can try reading RFC1459.  You can also join the
      Undernet mailing lists - ircnet (general irc help) and wastelanders
      (discussion of server routing/protocol/etc). To find out how to
      subscribe, send mail to [e-mail] with "help" in the body.

      If you use Mosaic, a good URL to try is:

      http://eru.dd.chalmers.se/home/f88jl/Irc/ircdocs.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------



      Undernet IRC FAQ [Part II] (updated 28th Nov 1994) - Weekly Repost

                Version 1 By Paul Grant (Grant)

                Version 2-3   -   written by Mandar Mirashi (Mmmm)
                                  [e-mail]

The FAQ consists of answers to several frequently asked questions on the
IRC newsgroups. Please don't ask these questions again, they've been
answered plenty of times already - and please don't flame someone just
because they may not have read this particular posting.  Thank you.

The FAQ consists of the following sections.

I)       IRC for the newcomer
II)      The Undernet (for the newcomer)
III)     The Undernet (for the EFnetter)
IV)      The Undernet (how can you participate?)
V)       Acknowledgements/References
VI)      Undernet IRC server list

This article covers sections II - VI, and includes answers to:


Section II: The Undernet (for the irc newcomer)
-----------------------------------------------
2-1)  Well, I understand what a server is. Now what's a net?
2-2)  So far, so good. Now, why's this net called the "Undernet"?
2-3)  How do I find the closest Undernet server to me?
2-4)  Whom do I approach if I have questions?
2-5)  What are some good channels to try?
2-6)  Say...can I join some mailing list which helps with IRC questions,
      or discusses IRC in general?
2-7)  Are there any Undernet ftp/www/gopher sites?


Section III : The Undernet (for the EFnetter)
-----------------------------------------------
3-1)  What is the Undernet? Where does the term EFnet come from?
3-2)  Why does the Undernet exist? Do we need another IRC?
3-3)  How is the Undernet IRC protocol different from/better than the
      EFnet?
3-4)  So, can you summarise the advantages of the Undernet?
3-5)  Cool! Do I need to make any changes to my .ircrc file?
3-6)  How do I get to the Undernet from the EFnet?
3-7)  Hmm..someone was foolish enough to hand out ops to an untrustworthy
      person on our channel, who proceeded to do a mass deop, and left.
      Can something be done?
3-8)  Can I move my channel to the Undernet? What are the advantages of
      doing so?
3-9)  Can I communicate with someone on the EFnet once I'm on the Undernet?
      (or vice-versa)
3-10) Hmm..can you help dispel some of the aspersions that I have heard
      about the Undernet from EFnet opers?
3-11) Who are the Undernet programmers?
3-12) What does the future hold for the Undernet?


Section IV: The Undernet (How can I participate?)
-------------------------------------------------
4-1)  So, how do I get to be an "IRC op"? Why can't I be one?
4-2)  How do I apply for a link for my server to the Undernet? What are the
      requirements?
4-3)  How do I volunteer to do some work for the Undernet? No, I'm not
      looking for an O line.  I just like being nice and helpful to people.
      How do I participate?
4-4)  I have some ideas for the future design of ircd. I may also be
      interested in doing some programming for the Undernet. Whom do I
      approach?


If you're looking for the answer to, say, question 2-5, and want to skip
everything else, you can search ahead for the regular expression "^2-5".
(/2-5  in case you use vi).

While I have tried my best to keep the FAQ updated, there may be
inadvertent mistakes or omissions. Is there a question that you find
frequently asked, but not mentioned? Please send all suggested additions/
corrections/deletions/comments/etc. to [e-mail]

This FAQ (both parts) can be obtained via anonymous ftp from ftp.undernet.org
or ftp.undernet.org under  /irc/docs, or from rtfm.mit.edu under
/pub/usenet/alt.irc/    If ftp does not work from your site, then try
the mail server: send email to [e-mail] with

send usenet/news.answers/irc/undernet-faq/part1
send usenet/news.answers/irc/undernet-faq/part2

URL's on the World Wide Web for this FAQ are:

    http://www.undernet.org/~agifford/undernet/underfaq/
    http://www2.undernet.org:8080/~cs93jtl/underfaq/

and, the latest version can always be found at:
        http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/irc/undernet-faq/
                                                              part1/faq.html
        http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/irc/undernet-faq/
                                                              part2/faq.html

P.S. : This FAQ widely refers to the Unix ircII client and many commands
       might not work the same way if you aren't using ircII.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section II: The Undernet (for the irc newcomer)
================================================

2-1)  Well, I understand what a server is. Now what's a net?

      IRC servers are connected together in a 'tree' like fashion
      (an undirected acyclic graph to be precise). A collection of
      IRC servers is called an IRC net. The command /links will
      display all servers on a net. The command /lusers will display
      the number of users, servers, and channels on a given net.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-2)  So far, so good. Now, why's this net called the "Undernet"?

      The term "Undernet" was suggested in jest by some of the original
      operators (dl, Wildthang and Whizzard) who started it. As time
      went by, the name stuck. :-) Upon hearing the name people often
      think that it's a net where something illegal goes on - which isn't
      quite the case. On the other hand, the name also imparts a mysterious
      angle to the IRC net. On the whole, it's a very friendly net with
      an easy going atmosphere. Most people are nice and helpful to
      newcomers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-3)  How do I find the closest Undernet server to me?

      Luckily for you, all Undernet servers follow names of the format:

           city.state.country.undernet.org               or,
           city.country.continent.undernet.org

      Thus, you can easily locate the closest server to you. In most
      cases, this also turns out to be closest netwise as well. The
      command /links lists all servers. Choose one which is closest
      to you, and simply type  /server servername. Also, the following
      aliases are set up, country/continent wise:
         us.undernet.org  - USA
         eu.undernet.org  - Europe
         au.undernet.org  - Australia
         ca.undernet.org  - Canada
      You can try a /server countrycode.undernet.org and see if that works
      for you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-4)  Whom do I approach if I have questions?

      You are always welcome on #wasteland - the help channel. Please
      remember that depending upon the time, #wasteland volunteers may be
      slow in responding since most peek into the window once in a while.
      However, someone or the other is sure to help you out!

      Another avenue is the [e-mail] (general irc help) and
      [e-mail] (irc oper mailing list)mailing lists - try
      mailing your question to these. You may even mail your server admin
      for more information (/admin will return information on the admin
      for that server and his/her email address).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-5)  What are some good channels to try?

      New channels are starting up on the Undernet almost everyday. Given
      the dynamic nature of channels, the channel names can vary, but a few
      are fairly stable.

       General chat: #chatzone, #chat, #friendly, #hotsex, #popcorn,
                        #ark, #gayteen, #30plus, #41plus
               Help: #wasteland, #help, #irchelp, #vmshelp
              Games: #riskybus, #jargon, #acro, #chaos, #doomsday
                        #conquest, #chessland
          Countries: #canada, #dutch, #india, #slovenija, #ireland,
                        #england, #korea, #russian, #asian
           Religion: #Christians (with TheBook, an on-line bible),
                           #Ccm, #Christian, #wicca
          Technical: #unix, #hack, #appleiigs, #linux, #linpeople
          Languages: #espanol, #francais
      Fantasy/Role-playing:  #waste

      Feel free to try any of these. New channels are created each day.
      you can check out these with a /names or a /list command.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-6)  Say...can I join some mailing list which helps with IRC questions,
      or discusses IRC in general?

      The list  [e-mail]  has been set up for people requesting
      general help regarding irc questions. The list
      [e-mail]  has been set up as a medium for IRC opers
      to communicate, and discuss ideas, amongst other things. To join
      either of these, send mail to [e-mail] with the word
      "help" in the body  which will send you back further information.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-7)  Are there any Undernet ftp/www/gopher sites?

       Undernet FTP sites -> ftp.undernet.org  (aka sci.dixie.edu)
                             ftp2.undernet.org, ftp3.undernet.org
                             ftp.eu.undernet.org (Europe)

       Undernet WWW URLs ->
          http://sci.dixie.edu/~agifford/IRC.html
          http://esquilino.enserb.u-bordeaux.fr:8001/TOP/irc/index.html
          http://http2.brunel.ac.uk:8080/~cs93jtl/Undernet.html
          http://http2.brunel.ac.uk:8080/~cs93jtl/IRC.html

          www.undernet.org is an alias for sci.dixie.edu
          www2.undernet.org is an alias for http2.brunel.ac.uk

       Undernet gopher site -> gopher.undernet.org (aka sci.dixie.edu)

          To get to the Undernet gopher site, follow these directions:
          Main menu
            -> Other Gopher and Information Servers/
              -> North America/
                -> USA/
                  -> Utah/
                    -> Dixie College Science Gopher (St. George, Utah)/
                      -> IRC (Internet Relay Chat)/


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section III : The Undernet (for the EFnetter)
=============================================


3-1)  What is the Undernet? Where does the term EFnet come from?

      The Undernet is a separate collection of IRC servers on a different
      network. The servers follow a much better server-server protocol,
      while maintaining the same server-client protocol. It's much smaller
      than its counterpart the EFnet, and was designed to supplement the
      EFnet. The term EFnet stands for eris-free net. (eris.berkeley.edu
      was a server on the net which is now no longer there) The small size
      of the Undernet also works to advantage and is often considered by
      many as a good thing. On the Undernet all the operators know one
      another, people are more friendly and there are (as yet) no unsavoury
      characters.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-2)  Why does the Undernet exist? Do we need another IRC?

      Why not? At the moment the EFnet IRC is overloaded with users. There
      are frequent netsplits involving not just the odd servers, but in
      increasing cases a significant number of servers. Too much pressure
      is put onto the EFnet IRC due to the (unforeseen) explosion of users
      it has gained. Many people don't ask _if_ the EFnet irc will survive,
      but when will it go...

      For this reason the Undernet stands out as a Good Thing (tm). It can
      help take the load off of the EFnet IRC and prolong its day of
      judgement, hopefully for long enough that a solution to its problems
      can be found. The Undernet consists of some very highly motivated and
      dedicated people enthusiastic to make a success of their venture.

      There is another reason why the Undernet is here. EFnet IRC is becoming
      more and more politicized, day by day. With various EFnet IRC admins
      forming groups against one another, the amount of co-operation between
      them has become almost nil. The time which they could spend in serving
      you, the user, is instead spent in endless bickering.

      Undernet is a net where the operators are friendly easy going folks, and
      are always happy to help the users as far as possible. Abusing users is
      *highly* frowned upon, and opers follow a certain "Undernetiquette".
      Feel free to ask any questions that you may have, and though you may
      not always be guaranteed of an answer, we will surely do our best to
      help you in any way whenever possible, and in making your stay more
      comfortable.

      Yet another goal of the Undernet is to provide a better environment
      for users to communicate in, with protection against malicious users
      who try to work *against* IRC and its principles. The Undernet has an
      improved server-server protocol which disallows netsplit op riders,
      with no channel desynchs, or intentional nick collides possible.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-3)  How is the Undernet IRC protocol different from/better than the
      EFnet?

      As time has gone by, Undernet IRC programmers have come forward with
      innovative solutions to stem some of the problems plaguing the
      current EFnet. A lot of creative solutions have been coded  by our
      major ircd programmer - Run ([e-mail]), and implemented
      on the Undernet servers. These include:

      * TSpre8 - This patch makes it impossible for anyone to abuse
        netsplits and ride ops and do mass deops on your channel or lock it
        up. Mode changes are followed with a channel creation TS (timestamp)
        which is used to then reverse invalid mode changes.  TS pre8 also
        includes code which makes it difficult for even irc admins to hack
        their server to do fake mode changes without HACK notices being
        sent to all opers. TSpre8 also enables oper wallops.

      * bquiet - This patch prevents someone banned on the channel to send
        to it or change nicks. Extremely useful since /kick is almost never
        needed, and counters annoying nick changing automatons with a
        single ban until they flood themselves out.

      * silence - This patch cuts off flooding at the *local* server. Thus,
        unlike /ignore where your client continues to receive floods (even
        though you don't see them) and gets ping timed out, silence enables
        you to completely get rid of intentional flooders. To use silence,
        the syntax is: /silence +user@host   or /silence nick.

      * ANC - The anti-nick collide patch foils intentional nick colliders
        who try changing servers during netsplits on the EFnet and obtain
        the same nick in order to collide you when the net rejoins. With
        the anc patch, this is no longer possible, and the person who
        signs on *later* is rejected from the server.

      In addition to the above obligatory patches for all Undernet servers
      (all developed by Run), many Undernet servers also run the foll.
      optional patches:

      * ban - Developed FIRST on the Undernet by SIO, it was soon adopted
        by some servers on the EFnet. This patch allows you to see who
        set bans and when on a channel.

      * To - topic info - Also developed first on the Undernet by SIO, this
        patch allows you to see who set the topic on a channel and the time
        that it was set.

      * S - Signon time  - Another Undernet first, coded by SIO, this patch
        allows you to see when another person on the same server as
        yourself, signed on.

      The foll. patches which are also optionally installed, are more of
      interest to IRC admins:

      * KL - Kill line comments - Developed by Mmmm. Allow you to specify
        a comment on the K line instead of the plain stupid error message
        of "ghosts are not allowed". You may even choose to have a file
        output to a K lines client.

      * TT - Trace times - Developed by Tonto. Appends a number indicating
        in milliseconds, the amount of time lapse since the server last heard
        from the server/ client. Depending upon your Y lines setup, you can
        use this as a judge to determine ping timeouts.

      * Cl - Client connect - Developed by Twilight1. Notifies you of local
        client connects/disconnects. Useful for spotting clone bots.

      * sw - /stats w - Developed on the EFnet by mlv. Lets you gather
        statistics on average client connects per hour, day, etc. and keeps
        track on maxconnections on the server so far.

      * MC - mixed case - Developed by Jon2/mlv. Helpful patch to disallow
        users with mixed case userids (usually fake) from connecting.

      * OF - oper fail - Developed by Jon2/bry. Notifies local opers when
        a local user tried to /oper and failed.

      For more information on these patches and how they work, you can
      ftp to ftp2.undernet.org and fetch /irc/servers/README.patches

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-4)  So, can you summarise the advantages of the Undernet?

      The Undernet offers users the following advantages:

      * Lesser lag due to more intelligent routing based solely on ping
        times and traceroutes.
      * Fewer netsplits (these too are attended to by an automatic
        routing service which reconnects on splits).
      * No netsplit op riders to harass channels.
      * No channel desynchs and servers telling you that you aren't opped.
      * No nick colliders.
      * All the useful patches discussed in the earlier answer are
        implemented on most servers.
      * User friendly operators willing to help you.
      * Innovative new services such as MURC (check out channel #waste)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-5)  Cool! Do I need to make any changes to my .ircrc file?

      Yes, you will need to add the following lines to your .ircrc if you
      use ircII, and would like to take full advantage of all the patches.

# Ban patch
on ^367 * if ([$4] != []) {echo *** $1 \($3 - $stime($4)) $2} {echo *** $1-}

# Topic info patch
on ^333 * echo *** Topic for $1 set by $2 on $stime($3)

# Signon time patch
on ^317 * if (index(012345679 $3) != -1) {echo *** $1 has been idle for $2 seconds.  Signon at $stime($3)} {echo *** $1 has been idle for $2 seconds.}

# TSpre8 - channel creation time
On ^329 "*" echo *** $1 : created $stime($2)

# handy aliases for the silence command and a required on raw_irc
alias silence quote silence
alias sile quote silence
on ^raw_irc "% SILENCE %" echo *** $*

# If you use Daveman's toolbox or any auto rejoin line, remove the old
# on raw_irc for KICK, and use the foll. one instead: (Run)
# [Remove the # symbol at the beginning to uncomment the lines of course]
#
#on ^raw_irc "% KICK % % *" {
#    if ([$3]==[$N])
#      {
#        //quote join $2
#        echo $mid(11 5 $stime($time())) * You have been kicked off channel $2 by $left($index(! $0) $0) \($mid(1 256 $4-)\)
#       }
#     {
#        echo $mid(11 5 $stime($time())) * $3 has been kicked off channel $2 by $left($index(! $0) $0) \($mid(1 256 $4-)\)
#      }
#                           }

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-6)  How do I get to the Undernet from the EFnet?

      It is very easy to switch to the Undernet if you're currently on the
      EFnet. Simply use the command,
            /server servername
      or if a port is specified  (all European Undernet servers run on
      port  7000)
            /server servername port#

      Sometimes, the "symbolic" name for the server may not work, and you
      may need the "numeric" address (a string of numbers) instead. Listed
      in the Appendix is a list of Undernet servers along with their
      numeric addresses and ports wherever relevant.

      All Undernet servers are registered in the undernet.org domain. Also,
      they follow the format: city.state.country.undernet.org or,
      city.country.continent.undernet.org E.g US servers are
                *.US.undernet.org
      and european servers are
                *.eu.undernet.org
      This will make it easy for you to remember how to get to the Undernet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-7)  Hmm..someone was foolish enough to hand out ops to an untrustworthy
      person on our channel, who proceeded to do a mass deop, and left.
      Can something be done?

      The Undernet has a special service known as Uworld which takes care
      of reopping channels, and is accessible by operators. However, strict
      guidelines are in effect for its use. An oper will refuse to use
      Uworld if there already exist chanops on the channel. Uworld can be
      used if a channel has lost channel ops for some reason *and* channel
      users are unhappy about it *and* they are decided upon who's to be
      opped. To make sure that users realise the responsibility of the
      decision of sharing ops with someone else, a time delay may occur
      before the channel is reopped. Above all, it is *your* responsibility
      that you do not lose ops on your channel - an oper is not *obliged*
      to reop channels who lose ops due to carelessness on behalf of the
      current chanops.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-8)  Can I move my channel to the Undernet? What are the advantages of
      doing so?

      You're welcome to start up your favourite channel on the Undernet as
      well. Consider the many advantages. Much better facilities for
      chatting, without the annoyingly frequent netsplits; much lesser lag
      (check with /ping #channelname for yourself :); protection against
      netsplit op riders who try to disrupt channels; no channel desynchs;
      amongst the other advantages listed earlier.  We may even be able to
      set up a gateway service between the same channels on both nets, if
      all channel members are willing. (email [e-mail],
      if you wish to do this; or email [e-mail] or
      [e-mail]). Undernet operators are always willing to
      help you in this endeavour, so don't hesitate to ask us.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-9)  Can I communicate with someone on the EFnet once I'm on the Undernet?
      (or vice-versa)

      Occasionally, a few gateway services can be found on the Undernet
      which allow you to communicate to someone not on the same net, or
      which link channels. These include 'ul' - programmed by Tonto
      ([e-mail]), || - programmed by Wildthang (dvmitche@mailhost.
      ecn.uoknor.edu), Orac - programmed by Ensor ([e-mail]),
      and miscellaneous others (including some by Run). Look around if
      any of these is present, and if so, try /msg servicename help.

      You can also be simultaneously on *both* nets if you use ircII. Try
      the command:
                    /window new server servername
      where servername is the name of a server on the other net. This will
      split your screen into two windows, with each window on different
      servers. If you specify a server on a different net, then you will be
      on different nets. You can use Ctrl-x p  (hit ctrl-x, release, then
      hit p) to flip between windows. (if that doesn't work, you may try
      /window goto 1 and  /window goto 2) Type /help window   to get more
      extensive help.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-10) Hmm..can you help dispel some of the aspersions that I have heard about
      the Undernet from EFnet opers?

      Not surprisingly, many EFnet opers resent the existence of the
      Undernet, and go to great lengths to deny it the credit it deserves.
      Some of the often quoted "statements" are:

      * "The Undernet is lame."

        Response: The word "lame" seems to have permeated into the
        vocabulary of most EFnet operators. So much so that the Undernet's
        dubbed "lame" without any concrete reasons, out of *sheer*
        prejudice. Many do not even make an effort to understand the
        philosophy behind the Undernet before wantonly flaming it.

      * "The Undernet has no users" or "The Undernet has more servers
         than users".

         It's often amusing for most Undernetters to see this argument
         from the horse's mouth. To quote from a previous version  of the
         doc/US-Admin/Networking document: (those doubting the validity
         of this quote can ftp any server version before 2.8.16, and
         verify it for themselves)

         "In August of 1990, IRC suffered a critical split in viewpoints of
          key people in the IRC hierarchy. The result was IRC split into two
          networks, EFnet (Eris Free network) and Anet (Anarchy network). This
          split continues today. There is some debate over whether IRC will
          ever reunite, however, neither side is willing to bend from their
          standpoint.  Currently, there are about 95 servers on EFnet (and
          the same number of users) and 15 servers on Anet (and about half the
          number of users)."

         Thus in August 1990, the EFnet had 95 users on 95 servers. Many
         opers who trumpet its userbase of "thousands of users" seem to
         neglect this very fact. (On a sidenote, the Anet no longer exists
         and died after a few months of existence) It took many years for
         the EFnet to arrive at its current userbase. Not to mention that
         after the death of the Anet, it had almost no competition from
         other nets until 1993. While it may not make sense to have as many
         servers as users, a skeletal network was needed with servers in
         good locations to provide access points to users.

         The Undernet has long since crossed the "users == servers" ratio.
         People who tell you this are mistaken, and haven't checked up
         since July '93. The user record at the time of writing (July 94)
         stands at 239 users on approximately 25 servers.  (Note 1: New
         record = 570 in Nov '94)

      * "The Undernet was formed by people who couldn't get to be IRC
         operators on the EFnet"

        Wrong. The Undernet was formed by people who already were IRC
        operators on the EFnet. It was started as an experiment to get away
        from the ways of the EFnet.

      * "The Undernet servers are run on-the-sly with no approval from
         system administrators"

        Wrong again. System admin approval is a standard prerequisite for
        sites requesting new links. In many cases, the people running
        servers are sysadmins themselves. While this statement may have been
        true in the early days of the Undernet, it is no longer the case.

      * "The Undernet solutions to protocol work only on a small net. They
         do not work on large nets."

        This was an oft quoted remark by people who were prejudiced against
        Undernet ircd developments, for the sole fact that they stemmed
        from the Undernet. To prove this wrong, we need to consider the
        foll.: First of all, all test ircd versions on the EFnet are run
        on a test net *much* smaller that the Undernet. Secondly, the pre-
        releases that run on the EFnet are by *no means* bug free. Thirdly,
        a TSpre7 server ran on the EFnet for *six* months without any
        major problems. It would have worked optimally if everyone had
        changed to TSpre7, but the fact that it ran without major problems
        for such a long time speaks for itself. In fact, it was much much
        more trouble free than the server versions which had either the oper
        bug in it, or the server/nick collide bug.

      * "The Undernet operators are clueless and know nothing about
        routing."

        This perhaps is the most humorous of all allegations :-) On the
        Undernet, all routing decisions are done based on maps of the
        physical nets and subnets (NSFnet, ANSnet, Alternet, Midnet, CICnet,
        Suranet, Cerfnet, Barrnet, Ebone, etc), and on the basis of pings
        and traceroutes. This is very unlike the EFnet where links are
        often handed out to someone else due to nepotism. Further, the
        Undernet now also has an automatic router designed by Run, which
        keeps track of ping times between servers and the average net
        mean ping time.

      PS: The statements mentioned above should not be taken as reflective
          of *all* EFnet opers. To be fair, some EFnet opers have no
          problems with the existence of the Undernet and have even been
          supportive. We can only show our deep appreciation for their
          impartial opinions.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-11) Who are the Undernet programmers?

      The Undernet programming team has many members - all of them very
      enthusiastic and deeply dedicated to the cause. Here's a brief
      description of what each person does/codes/maintains:

      * Run ([e-mail]) - Our magic ircd programmer. He
        coded the foll. important patches:
         o TSpre8    o ANC    o bquiet   o silence
        In addition, Run also maintains Undernet's automatic Router. He
        also coded Underworld.nl, a backup for Uworld.

      * WildThang ([e-mail]) - Our magic "user services"
        programmer. Wildthang is the coder for Uworld, Murc, quick
        ircIIhelp, and telnet client services. The Undernet hosts the
        world's first MURC (Join #waste on the Undernet to find out what
        a murc is :). Wildthang's also the coder for the gateway service ||.

      * SIO ([e-mail]) - Coder for the Undernet Nickserv. Also
        coded the ban, topic and signon info patches which are found with
        the .mu versions of the server.

      * hop ([e-mail]) - Our magic ircII client enhancer. Hop
        has done an extensive facelift to current ircII versions. His latest
        version was ircII2.3.17+10.4. The UPDATES file which reflect new
        additions to the client is 500 lines in size! You can ftp this from
        ftp2.undernet.org under /irc/clients

      * Mmmm ([e-mail]) - He's responsible for
        maintaining the auto-magic ircII install on sci.dixie.edu. He also
        codes and maintains the smallirc client, and does minor  ircd
        patches and releases.

      * Karll ([e-mail]) - Multipurpose programmer. He has
        coded useful routines for both ircd as well as hop's client.

      * Tonto ([e-mail]) - He was the author of the gateway service
        'ul'. He's also done some ircd programming for the Undernet.

      * dl/President/S_Avatar/TheJester/epa/Snarf - these are our other
        programmers who have chipped in useful things from time to time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-12) What does the future hold for the Undernet?

      All of us envisage a bright future for the Undernet. Userbase has
      been slowly rising. So has the stability of servers in general.
      More and more improvements have been done to the protocol in
      general, and have proven successful.

      Given the surprising success of the Undernet, many attempts have
      been made to imitate it in the form of other nets. Other nets such
      as the Lamenet, 3l33tnet, IAOnet, dalnet, idealnet, etc sprung up in
      recent years.  None of these however have exhibited the originality of
      ideas or creativity  shown by innovative Undernet programmers.
      A famous saying goes: "Imitation is the best form of flattery".

      We hope that you will take time to visit us on the Undernet, and
      share in its bright future. The final goal of Undernet ircd
      programmers is to eliminate or minimize all problems that plague
      the current EFnet. The journey has just begun....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Section IV: The Undernet (How can you participate?)
=================================================

4-1)  So, how do I get to be an "IRC op"? Why can't I be one?

      The Undernet admins do not give ops to people who *ask* for them.
      If you participate in the net by helping people, and in general
      following proper Undernetiquette, you might merit attention and
      your name may be suggested on the wastelanders mailing list. IRC
      ops are scrutinized carefully before being added. Basically, no
      ops are handed out to people who (i) are hardly around or (ii)
      ignore pleas for help or (iii) want ops just for kill power or
      (iv) want ops because it gives them a sense of "power" over other
      users, and to look "cool". Remember, asking for ops only makes your
      case *worse*. If you're worthy, and other feel that you're competent
      enough, you'll be approached to volunteer for oper. IRC ops are
      expected to have been on IRC for a long time, and must possess an
      adequate amount of knowledge to help Undernet users. They are also
      responsible for keeping servers connected and abiding by the general
      guidelines of the Undernet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4-2)  How do I apply for a link for my server to the Undernet? What are the
      requirements?

      At the time of writing this document, the Undernet will not consider
      any more links unless you're situated in an exceptionally good
      location (read "one hop off the T3 backbone in the US, or other
      equivalent backbone networks in Europe/elsewhere"). Use traceroute
      and ping to determine your location. If you feel you are eligible
      for a link, read the files in the /irc/newlinks directory at ftp.
      undernet.org. Post your proposal to the wastelanders mailing list
      - [e-mail]. Remember, all Undernet servers *must*
      run with the approval of the system admin at that site. If you do not
      receive a response within a week, you can safely assume that the
      Undernet cannot provide you links (though usually, a response, either
      positive or negative will be sent). For a more elaborate discussion,
      you may join #wasteland and talk to other IRC admins to discuss your
      proposal.

      *NEW* -> With the formation of committees on the Undernet, the
      Routing/Servers Committee handles all routing/link decisions. Make
      sure you send a copy of the newlink document to [e-mail]
      as well.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4-3)  How do I volunteer to do some work for the Undernet? No, I'm not
      looking for an O line.  I just like being nice and helpful to people.
      How do I participate?

      The Undernet is *always* looking for people like you. We are always
      short of volunteers to help other people. Have you benefitted from
      your experience with the Undernet? Have you enjoyed your time on
      IRC here? We encourage you to give back to the net what you got from
      it. You are encouraged to help. Even if you lurk around on #wasteland
      and familiarize yourself with frequently asked questions on the
      channel, and their answers, it would take a BIG load off many of the
      operators who were quite selflessly devoted to helping you, when you
      started off. You can join the wastelanders mailing list (mail
      [e-mail] with the word "help" in the body for
      information on how to subscribe). Please do what you can. Every little
      bit counts!

      *NEW* -> The Undernet has set up a Users' Committee to receive
      input from users like yourself. To subscribe to the mailing list,
      send mail to [e-mail] with "sub user-com <yourname>"
      in the body. The Recruitment Committee and the Documentation
      Committee, membership of which is open to all, are in the process
      of being set up at the time of writing.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4-4)  I have some ideas for the future design of ircd. I may also be
      interested in doing some programming for the Undernet. Whom do I
      approach?

      The Undernet is always on the search of new solutions to existing
      problems. If you think you can help us in this endeavour, welcome
      aboard! Subscribe to the wastelanders mailing list (send mail to
      [e-mail] with "sub wastelanders <yourname>" in the body)
      and tell us about your ideas. After a period of discussion, and
      depending upon everyone's views, we may give you the "go ahead"
      to program it! Yes, watch *your* code being run on servers around
      the world, with your name in our acknowledgements. The Undernet
      programming team is a tightly knit set of enthusiastic individuals.
      Feel free to participate.

      *NEW* -> The Undernet has set up an ircd coders' committee. To
      subscribe to the mailing list, send mail to [e-mail]
      with "sub coder-com <yourname>" in the body.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
=================

* First off, to Jarkko Oikarinen (WiZ) for this wonderful invention.
* To the telnet site maintainers at bradenville where I first accessed irc.
* To the ircII coders (Mike Sandrof, Troy Rollo, Matthew Green, Ian
  Frechette, Jeremy Nelson).
* To Run for his magic improvements to Undernet ircd.
* To Wildthang (Danny) for his advice as a friend and as an awesome
  Undernet irc services programmer.
* To Fizzy (Adrian Hall) for the impetus he lent to the Undernet.
* To TikTok (Donna) who's gonna bear the misery of proofing this.
* To all wastelanders/Undernetters for helpful tips and comments.
* Thanks to all others who have helped me in this faq - you are too
  numerous to mention - you know who you are.
* Thanks also to my critics and enemies. Without your existence, I
  wouldn't have had the inspiration to go on.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REFERENCES
==========

* The ircII help pages.
* RFC1459
* IRCprimer by Nicholas Pioch.
* alt.irc FAQ by Helen Trillian Rose Davis.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPENDIX: The Undernet Server List
==================================


Updated:  26th Nov 1994

----------------------
Explanation of entries
----------------------
  line  1: server name and port number
  line  2: machine name and IP numeric
  line  3: location

--------------------
Undernet server list
======================

NORTH AMERICA (some of these also run on ports 7000/7777)
=============
CANADA
------
  server: Montreal.QU.CA.undernet.org 6667
 machine: aiken.info.polymtl.ca 132.207.12.13
location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

USA
---
  server: Pasadena.CA.US.undernet.org 6667 (temporarily unavailable)
 machine: cancun.caltech.edu 131.215.48.152
location: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

  server: Norman.OK.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: vinson.ecn.uoknor.edu 129.15.22.33
location: University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma, USA

  server: Boston.MA.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: iota.coe.neu.edu  129.10.22.11
location: Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

  server: Albany.NY.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: helios.acm.rpi.edu 128.213.5.17
location: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, USA

  server: Manhattan.KS.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: fubar.ksu.ksu.edu 129.130.8.12
location: Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, USA

  server: Milwaukee.WI.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: rush.cc.edu 140.104.4.169
location: Carroll College, Waukesha, WI, US

  server: StGeorge.UT.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: sci.dixie.edu 144.38.16.2
location: Dixie College, St. George, Utah, USA

  server: Tampa.FL.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: vampyr.cas.usf.edu  131.247.31.19
location: University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.

  server: Davis.CA.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: syrinx.ucdavis.edu  128.120.2.16
location: Davis, CA, USA

  server: Austin.TX.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: foghorn.cc.utexas.edu 128.83.108.32
location: Austin, Texas, USA

  server: Rochester.MI.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: oak.oakland.edu 141.210.10.117
location: Rochester/Detroit, Michigan, USA

  server: SanJose.CA.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: jive.rahul.net  192.160.13.4
location: San Jose, California, USA

  server: Washington.DC.US.undernet.org 6667
 machine: irc01.irc.aol.com  152.163.173.25
location: Washington DC, USA

CHILE
-----
  server: Santiago.CL.undernet.org 6667
 machine: 146.83.1.1
location: Reuna, Red Universitaria Nacional


EUROPE  (most of these also run on port 7000)
=======
  server: Lausanne.CH.EU.undernet.org 6667
 machine: anatsg1.unil.ch 130.223.201.6
location: University of Lausanne, Institute of Anatomy, Lausanne,
Switzerland

  server: Caen.FR.EU.undernet.org 7000
 machine: ns.ensicaen.ismra.fr 192.93.101.16
location: Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Ingenieurs de Caen, France

  server: Paderborn.DE.EU.undernet.org 6667
 machine: pbhrzx.uni-paderborn.de 131.234.128.204
location: University of Paderborn, Pderborn, Germany.

  server: Delft.NL.EU.undernet.org 6667
 machine: sg.tn.tudelft.nl 130.161.188.188
location: Netherlands

  server: Vienna.AT.EU.undernet.org 6667
 machine: olymp.wu-wien.ac.at 127.208.3.30
Location: Vienna, Austria

  server: Ljubljana.Si.Eu.undernet.org 6668
 machine: cmir.arnes.si 193.2.1.67
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia

  server: Oslo.No.EU.undernet.org 6667
 machine: eros.nki.no  128.39.107.112
Location: NKI Ingenioerhoegskolen, Oslo, Norway

  server: Gothenburg.Se.EU.undernet.org 6667
 machine: alcazar.cd.chalmers.se  129.16.79.30
Location: Chalmers Tekniska Lekskola, Gothenburg, Sweden

  server: Oxford.UK.EU.undernet.org 6667
 machine: sable.ox.ac.uk 163.1.2.4
Location: University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.


AUSTRALIA
=========
  server: Wollongong.NSW.AU.undernet.org 6667
 machine: gorgon.cs.uow.edu.au 130.130.64.75
location: U of Wollongong, Dept of Computer Science, Wollongong, Australia


TEST SERVERS / SERVICES
=======================
Delft2.NL.EU.undernet.org
Uworld.undernet.org
Underworld.nl
undernet.org  (Nickserv)
Fantasy.Worlds.Murc.undernet.org  (Murc)
Router.nl.eu.undernet.org  (Router)