How to use IRC

In other languages: čeština (cs) Ελληνικά (el) English (en) español (es) français (fr) русский (ru) 中文（中国大陆） (zh-cn) [edit]

This document covers installing and using HexChat, a popular and easy to use IRC client.

Alternative clients include:

• http://webchat.freenode.net/ (no additional software required)
• Chatzilla firefox extension
• A list of popular linux clients (outdated)

How to install HexChat

$ sudo yum install hexchat

How to connect

Upon starting HexChat you will be greeted with a list of networks. Before connecting you may want to set Nick Name to something unique.

Once that is done with freenode active hit the Connect button.

A prompt suggesting a channel to join pops up, select nothing and ignore this for now.

How to join #fedora

To join a channel you simply use the command /join #channel but #fedora specifically requires registration on this network. See https://freenode.net/faq.shtml#registering for information on how to do this.

Once you have registered and identified you can join the channel as well as others such as #fedora-meetings.

How to automate logging in and joining

To avoid identifying and joining every time you can configure the network in the network list (ctrl+s) > freenode > edit.

In order to identify for freenode you need:

• Login type to be SASL (this is default)
• User Name to match your nickserv account
• Password

See https://freenode.net/sasl/sasl-hexchat.shtml for images.

Then switch to the Autojoin channels tab on that prompt and hit Add to add various channels to join.

What are the Basic HexChat/IRC commands

• /help - Shows all commands.
• /help Command - Shows command usage.
• /nick NewNickName - Changes the NickName.
• /whois NickName - Shows basic whois info for a NickName. To see more info, use /msg NickServ info NickName
• /away AwayMessage - Leaves a message when you are away from channel. Use /back when you return.
• /quit QuitMessage - Leaves a message when you quit IRC channel.

For more information, see [1]

How to create Fedora IRC cloaks for the freenode network

• Add your IRC nick in FreenodeCloaks
• Once your Fedora IRC cloak has been created, people will not see your real hostname.
• Instead they will see something like yournick@fedora/yournick

Where can I find a list of Fedora Project IRC channels

• See https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Communicating_and_getting_help?rd=Communicate#IRC