Using IRC

We would like to foment a "lab culture" in this course. It's OK to learn from your neighbors. Unforunately, we only have a small lab and we're off campus. Thus, we are also setting up other communication mechanisms. The most immediate is our class IRC server. It supports real-time chatting.
  1. Where can I find an IRC client for Windows?

    www.mirc.com

  2. Where can I find an IRC client for Linux?

    If you're using Red Hat, you already have one in the form of /usr/bin/irc.

  3. How do I get help in any IRC client?

    Type "/help" and hit return.

  4. Where can I find detailed help on IRC?

    www.irchelp.org

  5. What is the server and password?

    We'll tell you this in class or via private email.

  6. How do I set up mIRC client for windows on my local machine and access the server?

    Follow these steps:

    1. Setup the mIRC client on your local machine and run it.
    2. Goto menu File-options.
    3. When the dialog box popup, click add button.
    4. When the add server dialog box popup, set server as: [SERVER WE TELL YOU IN LCASS], and passwd as [PASSWORD WE TELL YOU IN CLASS].
    5. Finish the mIRC options dialog box.
    6. Click Connect to server.
    7. When the mIRC channels folder dialog box popup appears, click on any of the #CS395 channels. If there is no such channel, create one by clicking the add button.
    8. Double click the newly created channel and begin to chat with others online.

  7. How do I access the server from Linux?

    ircii is installed on all tlab machines. To run it, type "irc `whoami` [SERVER WE TELL YOU IN CLASS]". When asked for a password, type [PASSWORD WE TELL YOU IN CLASS]. Join or create a CS395 channel by typing "/join #CS395-whatever".