IRC is a traditional way to instantly communicate with other Internet users. It is organized in servers and channels. IRC servers are grouped into networks. Servers from separate networks do not see each other so that users can communicate with other users only within a network.

IRC clients for GNU/Linux

In order to use IRC you need a special program called IRC client. Most popular clients for GNU/Linux are:

• xChat - popular GTK-based IRC client for multiple platforms
• Konversation - default IRC client in KDE
• irssi, BitchX and epic - console-based IRC clients
• Chatzilla (IRC client of the Mozilla Suite) and an anonymous client bundled in Opera browser.

Popular channels

First thing to do after launching an IRC client is to select a server and channel. There are many servers but for help in open source apps and operating systems (like GNU/Linux) irc.freenode.org should be the best choice. Belowe is a list of popular channels (on selected servers) you may like to take a closer look at:

• #ubuntu na irc.freenode.net - official Ubuntu Linux channel
• #debian na irc.freenode.net - para-official Debian channel

More about IRC

• IRC on Wikipedia
• IRC help