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yv__ Services on Internet, , Section, , 5.4 Internet Relay Chat (IRC), 5.4.1 Introduction, , Chat is oe t immediate ways to communicate with others via the Internet. Chat means, that you hold live keyboard “conversations” with other people on the Internet — that 1s, you, e words on your computer and other people on the Internet can see those words on their, computers immediately, and vice versa. You can hold chats with many people simultaneously, all over the world,, , There are number of ways to chat on the Internet. One of the most popular one is called IRC, or Internet Relay Chat. There are a number of topics called “channel” for which you can chat, with many people all over the world. When you join a channel you can see what other people, on the channel type on their keyboards. In turn, everyone in the channel can see whatever you, type on your keyboard. You can also hold individual slide conversations with someone., Channels live on different servers around the world. Some servers have only a few channels,, and others have many of them., , IRC is an Internet application that was developed by Jakko Oikarinen in Finland. Most but, not all all conversations are in English. If somebody ask you for your password during in IRC, session, do not be tempted to give it. Somebody is trying to trick you into giving away, important information about your system that he or she might be able to use against it., , 5.4.2 Model used for IRC, , IRC follows a client / server mode, which means that both client and server software are, required in order to use it. Many IT clients are available for different kinds of computers, so, whether you have a PC, a Macintosh, or a UNIX workstation, you will be able to use RCs, , 5.4.3 Chatting on IRC, , Your IRC client communicates with an IRC server on the Internet. You log on to a server, using the client and pick a channel on which you want to chat. When you type words on your, keyboard, they are sent to your server. Your server is part of a global IRC server network., Your server sends your message to other servers, which in turn, send your messages to people, who are part of your channel. They can then see and respond to your message. Many Web, sites use proprietary chat software that does not use the IRC protocol, but enables you to chat, when you are on the site. Another kind of chat is called instant messaging. In this kind of, chatting, you communicate privately, one-n-one, with another person. You can create special, lists to that you are informed when your “bud-dies’” come online ready to chat and they are, informed when you come online., , 5.4.4 Working on IRC, , When you want to chat, you make a connection to the Internet and then start your client, software. Next you need to log on to an IRC server located on the Internet. Many IRC servers, are located all over the world. They are connected together in a network so that they can send, messages to one another. The servers are connected in a spanning tree fashion, in which each, me is connected to several others, but all the servers are not directly connected to one, another., , When you connect to a server, you choose a specific channel to join and choose a user name, to identify yourself when you chat. Many channels are available that cover different topics., , 61