Connecting to a .onion IRC server without Tor installed? reddit / irc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pg1989 · 2012-03-11 18:44 I'd like to connect to an IRC server that has a .onion URL. Is there a way to accomplish this without installing Tor outright? I don't really need to use Tor in my day-to-day, so I'd like to avoid the hassle of setting it up, etc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bunburya · 2012-03-11 19:00 There are a number of services that allow you to access .onion websites in a plain browser: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.onion#WWW_to_.onion_proxies I'm not sure how well this would work with IRC rather than HTTP but it's worth looking into. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- m1ss1ontomars2k4 · 2012-03-11 22:56 That is impossible. It is literally impossible. The .onion domain probably resolves to an IP address on the Onion network, and you can't reach that IP address in real life. Even if you could find the machine's IP address IRL, it wouldn't be listening on that IP anyway. It'd be like being told there's a back entrance to a building, but you don't want to go around back and you keep knocking on the front door where no one can hear you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- boxmein · 2012-03-24 14:21 Just use the Tor Browser Bundle. Wait 'til Tor is running and go into the IRC. Just a hint: Tor's onion links are "hidden services" only accessible through Tor. That's why people use them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PriceChild · 2012-04-06 19:34 Installing tor is pretty simple with their bundle. There's no installing, just extract and run. The default setup also doesn't relay or let you become an exit node either so no worries about that hitting you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- noflag · 2012-06-04 07:27 It would be useless in this situation ---------------------------------------------------------------------- noflag · 2012-06-04 07:28 Tor Browser Bundle uses a random port, so it would be a pain in the ass for a new user to set up the proxy in the IRC program. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- noflag · 2012-06-04 07:28 wat ---------------------------------------------------------------------- noflag · 2012-06-04 07:29 If you're using it for IRC, TBB is a pain in the ass. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- noflag · 2012-06-04 07:34 Disclaimer: People say this a lot about Tor, but it's main IRC network is literally 90% child porn or credit card fraud, and the main public channel is usually dead. You can access a lot of clearnet IRC networks with it, though, like Freenode. That aside: You should install Tor. There's really no setup. It would be the easiest option. Another option would be using the Tor Browser Bundle, and installing Chatzilla in its Firefox. I haven't tried this, but it should work. If your computer is on 24/7, you should consider running a Bridge. It allows people in nations that block Tor use you as a bridge to get on. It also isn't an Exit, so it can't get you into trouble. I'll walk you through some of this if you want.