A few general questions about IRC reddit / irc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3ricG · 2012-01-21 02:18 I have a few "beginner" questions: 1. Is there a rule for idling? Should I assume channels usually allow it? 2. How to I use/setup a bouncer/bnc? How exactly do they work? 3. Does idling in a channel use a lot of bandwidth? If I leave IRC running on a VPS, how much bandwidth will I end up using? 4. How do I use bots that are in a channel? 5. What are the channel codes (like +x)? I've used IRC for a number of years, I just never really got "into" it untill more recently. Thanks for any advice! EDIT: added 4. and 5. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Squid_Tamer · 2012-01-21 03:08 WARNING: I am not an IRC expert. I spend maybe a few hours a month loosely participating in a few channels. 1: I've never been on a channel that cares if you're idling. On smaller channels you'll might want to set your nick to yourname|away or something, so someone doesn't want to talk to you. On bigger channels nobody cares. 2: I don't know, I'll leave this for more experienced users. 3: IRC is basically just what you see. Usually if someone says something with 100 characters in it, the packet contained little more than 100 bytes. (Message + Username + Channel name). Occasionally the server will ping your computer too, which is the length of a small message. So unless there is an _incredible_ amount of traffic on the channel, it really shouldn't add up to much. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SamT_ · 2012-01-21 03:23 A bouncer basically works as both a client and a server. You need a place, such as a VPS, to run your bouncer from. It connects to the server as a client, and you connect to the bouncer as a server. It sits in the channels all day so you don't have to. You will be able to appear online and will be able to read a playblack of what happened in the channel after your return to the channel. I use a bouncer called [ZNC](http://wiki.znc.in/ZNC), the docs there are meh, but it's possible to get it working from. You will connect to the server via your bouncer as an IRC server. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- synthetic_h8 · 2012-01-21 03:44 1: no one cares if you idle in most places. there are even competitive idling channels (idle rpg, etc) 2: google is your friend, a bouncer is basically an always on irc proxy. it's best to run one on a shell or a vps. 3: depends on the channel. more traffic is more bandwidth. 4: typically a command like !help or ask someone 5: [channel modes](http://www.unrealircd.com/files/docs/unreal32docs.h tml#userchannelmodes) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- sje46 · 2012-01-21 04:53 >Is there a rule for idling? Should I assume channels usually allow it? There are no "rules for IRC". There are only server rules and channel rules. There should be a link to rules in the notice when you join or in the topic or something...be sure to read them. The vast majority of channels don't care if you lurk. >How to I use/setup a bouncer/bnc? How exactly do they work? I don't know. >Does idling in a channel use a lot of bandwidth? If I leave IRC running on a VPS, how much bandwidth will I end up using? Don't know about VPS, but I use ssh and I doubt it's that much bandwidth. But IRC is really just text. That's it. [This is IRC](http://i.imgur.com/tUG4c.jpg). It's just your client taking that stream of text and displaying it neatly for you. >How do I use bots that are in a channel? Depends on the bot. Usually you do something liek $help or !help. >What are the channel codes (like +x)? They're called modes, actually. They do different things. +p puts it on private, +m makes it moderated (only people with voice or ops can speak), +t is topic lock (only ops can change the topic), etc. https://www.alien.net.au/irc/chanmodes.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- trua · 2012-01-21 10:10 > On smaller channels you'll might want to set your nick to yourname|away or something, so someone doesn't want to talk to you If you do that on any of my channels, I *will* kick you. That shit is very annoying. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- trua · 2012-01-21 10:15 >Is there a rule for idling? Should I assume channels usually allow it? Generally nobody cares. IRC is usually not a democracy though. Sometimes an op might go through their logs and determine that hey, this guy has been just sitting there for a year and a half and never said anything, might as well kick them out. Unlikely though. >Does idling in a channel use a lot of bandwidth? If I leave IRC running on a VPS, how much bandwidth will I end up using? IRC is 1980's technology. It is typically very low-bandwidth. Negligible. >How do I use bots that are in a channel? Usually a bot will have a command syntax, something like a prefix character followed by a command word. You could just try and ask the bot directly: message the bot privately with something like "!help" and it will probably answer with a list of commands. Alternatively, you could just ask on the channel what the bots do, who owns them, and how they work. >What are the channel codes (like +x)? They're called *modes*. [Here is a list on Wikipedia.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC#Modes) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jesst · 2012-01-21 14:14 >I use a bouncer called [1] ZNC, the docs there are meh, but it's possible to get it working from. I think you accidentally a word there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jesst · 2012-01-21 14:16 There is a reason the /away command exists! Use it :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2012-01-21 16:52 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tehjamez · 2012-01-21 16:54 No they didn't. It's possible to get it working from the docs there, even though they are shit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonno_FTW · 2012-01-21 23:43 It's even worse when they have to announce to channel when they go away and when they return. Then they go back to idling. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- go4it7arh · 2012-01-22 08:05 For clarification, a VPS is a [Virtual Private Server](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_server), which is the same as a dedicated server except that it's virtual so it's cheaper. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bonch · 2012-05-27 17:45 Nobody cares about your channels.