If you have never tried out the Internet Relay Chat, you should do so now:

• Get a IRC-client (“Chat-program”, maybe Xchat, which is available for Linux and Windows.)
  • the Free Windows (98/ME/2000/XP) version is xchat-2.0.10c.exe , newer versions are shareware.
• Pick a nickname,
• connect to the irc.freenode.net server,
• wait until you see the line “End of /MOTD command.”,
• issue the command “/join #LBo” (without the quotes, case matters)

You should see something like this:

Whatever you type in the edit-box next to your nickname will be sent to all other people (and programs) in that channel (“chatroom”).

In the next picture, you can see how an ongoing conversation looks. At the bottom of the window, you also see another tab named “#LBo-flood”. This is another channel I joined using the command ‘/join #LBo-flood’. If I needed to supply a configuration file or anything longer than 10 lines of text at once, I would click on that tab first, then paste the file into the edit-box and finally go back to #LBo and notify people there that more details are to be found in #LBo-flood.
By doing it like that, the normal flow of the chat is not disturbed, and it is easy to switch from discussion to the details and back if needed.

In that picture, you can also see how another person enters the channel. The list on the right shows all persons/chatbots that are logged in at the time. Which does not really mean they are present at the keyboard… :) While in the #lbo-flood channel, you can direct output from the command line interface by typing (in the regular area you usually write in):

/exec -o command argument
/exec -o cat /etc/fstab (an example)

without the -o, the command will display in your window but not on the channel.

To do this with Konversation:

/exec cmd command argument
/exec cmd cat /etc/fstab (an example)

• Note, the /exec command does not work with some irc clients.
• Fails with ChatZilla, Gaim
• Works with the following
  • GUI Clients: X-Chat, Kopete, Konversation
  • CLI Clients: Irssi, BitchX

We have decided against logging the IRC-sessions officially. The benefit of having the logs available on the webpages is not big enough to justify the decreased privacy and the discussion that might arise from it, even though IRC is not private at all.

Be aware of the fact that anybody who is logged into a channel can log the conversation. In fact, you can do it yourself if you configure your IRC-client accordingly.

IRC is not a private media like the telephone. Think about it as if you’re speaking with a loud voice on a busy street. (And, of course, act accordingly :)