Categories: Internet/Intranets

Continued from Introduction

As with just about every other Internet technology, including e-mail and the Web alike, IRC operates on a client/server basis. A computer connected to the Internet full-time (the server) hosts IRC connections, and users anywhere in the world connect to that machine through a piece of special software (the client) to take advantage of what the server offers. That would be completely ineffective if only one client could connect at any given time, but again, as do other Internet technologies, IRC servers allow multiple simultaneous connections. With this in mind, the principle behind IRC is quite simple: More than one person is connected to the same machine, so let them all talk to one another.

In a way, it's a bit like George Carlin's viewpoint about telephone callers on hold. Why, he wonders, can't everyone on hold be linked together, so they have someone to talk to? Nice idea, and certainly something that download sites especially should think about. If you and ten other people are simultaneously downloading software from TUCOWS, why not chat it up while you're waiting?

IRC wasn't the first real-time communications tool on the Internet. Before it came along, Unix users had access to a program called Talk (it's still available). But Talk has a very limited feature set, and only two people can be connected to one another at any given time. IRC goes far beyond these limitations, not only in allowing more than two simultaneous users, but in making a wide range of other features available as well. These features include nicknames, public or private discussions, channels and rooms, and the ability to kick offensive users off a server and even to deny them future access.

IRC made its early reputation as a technology for socializing, but over time it has developed uses in business as well, particularly in the areas of technical support and customer service. It's possible for businesses to set up their own Chat networks (see below for a discussion of IRC networks), but they can also make use of the existing networks and restrict participation.

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Published as Internet Tools in the 05/27/97 issue of PC Magazine.