IRC - hpgDesigns/hpgdesigns-dev.io GitHub Wiki

IRC is short for Internet Relay Chat, and is a medium of instant communication in the form of chat. You connect to an IRC server, and then select one or more chat rooms, called channels, to join. In each of these channels you will usually find many people. Anybody in that channel may then post a message to the channel and it will instantly be shared with all the other members of the channel. As such, it's a much faster means of communication than, say, forums, and you are more likely to find someone with an answer than asking one person at a time. Additionally, IRC offers a way to have a private 1-on-1 conversation with an individual user on the server, which is usually used when two people wish to communicate more without filling up the channel with their chat.

Please also be aware that not everyone on the channel may have an answer or may even be presently watching the channel, so you may not get an answer right away. It may help to clarify your question, or re-ask your question periodically if it gets lost among other messages.

  • DO NOT flood the channel by rapidly posting your question over and over again. Only one person's ever done this; kicking him is a sport, and it's always in season.
  • DO keep your messages relatively short, clear, and somewhat on-topic.
  • DO NOT private message individual channel members without their prior consent, with exception of channel operators.
  • DO prepend your messages with the name of the person that your message is primarily directed to, such as a person who asks for a clarification. Most chat clients handle this by highlighting lines with a person's own name on them, so that those lines stand out more.
  • DO NOT include the names of persons that your message does not involve. This is tantamount to waking a group of slumbering bears. Although it might wake them up, it will also make them grumpy.

A lot of people sign on and ask, "Is anyone here?", then part a few minutes later. Channel members, especially developers, try to keep busy. As such, we do not always check the channel frequently enough to see such messages. If you have something to say to someone, address them so their client gets their attention.

ENIGMA's IRC

  • Server: freenode.net
  • Channel: #enigma (The # sign is usually mandatory. On freenode, # is for official channels, and ## is for unofficial)
  • Description: The official ENIGMA IRC channel, for any discussion remotely relating to enigma. Devs frequent the channel.
  • Webchat: If you don't have a suitable IRC client, freenode provides a web interface, freenode webchat
  • Bots:
    • ChanServ is an IRC service bot that provides administrative commands to channel owners. He may be toggled as visible or invisible in the channel; we've chosen visible to remind users that the channel is an official channel and administrative functions are at our fingertips should anything get out of hand. ChanServ never says anything in the channel.
    • EnigmaBot is a resident bot, maintained by User:IsmAvatar and written in Java. Commands are prefixed by either an exclamation mark (!help) or the bot's name (EnigmaBot: help), or through private message (no prefixing necessary then) and are usually business-related. EnigmaBot also possesses a set of C++ processing commands.
    • Thundercleese is another resident bot, maintained by User:SirXemic and User:IsmAvatar and written in Perl. He is responsible for logging the channel and reporting when someone commits to the repositories. Commands are prefixed by an at sign (@help, @logs) and are usually amusement-related.
    • dickkkk is an unofficial bot, maintained by User:HUMPHREY, written in Java, and loosely based off of EnigmaBot. Commands are prefixed by the dollar sign ($help) and are usually miscellaneous, like searching logs for a quote.
    • JoshDreamland usually shares his account with a javascript processor, accessed by prefixing some javascript code with js:, for example: js: 1+1 will cause Josh to reply 2.