





                           A short IRC primer
                          ====================

                               Written by:
                               ~~~~~~~~~~
                      Nicolas Pioch,  (Nap on IRC)
                  < Nicolas.Pioch@grasp.insa-lyon.fr >

                           Text conversion by:
                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                      Owe Rasmussen,  (Sorg on IRC)
                      < d1rasmus@dtek.chalmers.se >

                    Edition 1.1b,  February 28, 1993.














                                Abstract
                                ~~~~~~~~

   Have  you ever wanted to talk with other computer users in other parts
of  the  world?  Well guess what...  You can!  The program is called IRC,
(Internet  Relay Chat), and it is networked much over North America, Asia
Europe, and Oceania.  This program is a substitution for 'talk', and many
other  multiple  talk  programs  you might have read about.  When you are
talking  on IRC, everything you type will instantly be transmitted around
the  world  to  other users that might be watching their terminals at the
time, they can then type something and respond to your messages, and vice
versa.  I should warn you that the program can be very addictive once you
begin  to make friends and contacts on IRC, especially when you learn how
to discuss in 14 languages...

   Topics of discussion on IRC are varied, just like the topics of Usenet
newsgroups  are varied.  Technical and political discussions are popular,
especially  when  world  events  are  in  progress.  IRC is also a way to
expand  your horizons, as people from many countries and cultures are on,
24  hours a day.  Most conversations are in English, but there are always
channels  in  German,  Japanese,  French, Finnish, and occasionally other
languages.

   IRC  gained  international fame during the late Persian Gulf War, when
updates  from  around  the world came across the wire, and most people on
IRC gathered on a single channel to hear these reports.











                                CONTENTS
                               ~~~~~~~~~~

1.     Getting started

        1.1    Clients and Servers
        1.2    How to Behave on IRC
        1.3    Privacy on IRC
        1.4    First Steps
        1.5    Screen and Keyboard activity


2.     Let's go!

        2.1    General Commands
        2.2    Communication and Private Conversations
        2.3    Channels and Public Conversations
        2.4    Channel and User Modes
        2.5    Client to Client Protocol
        2.6    Network Related Commands
        2.7    Quick Reference Panel
        2.8    Further into ircII Wizardry
        2.9    Sample .ircrc
        2.10   Writing Automatons


3.     Frequently Asked Questions

        3.1    How do I set up an IRC client?
        3.2    Which server do I connect to?
        3.3    What are good channels to try while using IRC?
        3.4    How do I get nifty effects with ircII?
        3.5    What if someone tells me to type something cryptic?
        3.6    I get strange characters on my screen, what are they?
        3.7    What about NickServ?
        3.8    I'm being flooded and harassed by a jerk. Help!
        3.9    How do I get rid of a ghosted IRC session?
        3.10   About KILL usage.
        3.11   Where can I find more?


4.     Administrativia

        4.1    Revision history
        4.2    Release sites for the IRCprimer
        4.3    Copyright (C) 1993 Nicolas PIOCH
        4.4    Credits



                             List of Tables
                             --------------

           Table  1:  Editing keys
           Table  2:  Editing commands
           Table  3:  Simple screen activity
           Table  4:  General commands
           Table  5:  Private conversation commands
           Table  6:  Channel commands
           Table  7:  Mode commands
           Table  8:  Channel modes
           Table  9:  User modes
           Table 10:  Client to client commands
           Table 11:  Network related commands
           Table 12:  Setting environment tables
           Table 13:  Environment variables
           Table 14:  Advanced commands
           Table 15:  FTP sites with IRC clients
           Table 16:  Open telnet IRC clients
           Table 17:  Open IRC servers
           Table 18:  Highlighting ircII output
           Table 19:  Nordic countries character translations
           Table 20:  IRC related mailing lists
           Table 21:  IRCprimer release sites



                           1. GETTING STARTED
                           ==================

                        1.1  Clients and Servers
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   IRC  (original code was written by Jarkko Oikarinen)  is a multi-user,
multi-channel  chatting  network.  It allows people all over the internet
to  talk to one another in real-time.  It is a functional replacement and
improvement to 'talk'; 'talk' is an old, primitive, atrocious, minimalist
sort  of  keyboard/screen  conversation tool, using a grotesque, machine-
dependent  protocol  (blah!).   IRC does everything 'talk' does, but with
better  protocol, allowing more than 2 users to talk at once, with access
across the aggregate Internet, and providing a whole raft of other useful
features.

   There  are two ways to enter IRC from a Unix system.  If you are using
the   emacs    (editor  from  Richard  Stallman  and  the  Free  Software
Foundation)   lisp  client,  you  just  have  to type "M-x irc", (if this
doesn't  work  you  may need to load the client into your emacs session).
If  you  are using the C client, (easier for beginners), then you usually
type "irc".  Non-Unix boxes have special clients, each of which has to be
configured using a special procedure. Check the manual or help screen for
more information.

   If  you  wish  to be known by a nickname which is not your login name,
type  "irc  nickname"  instead.   Each  IRC  user,  ("client"), chooses a
nickname.   All  communication with another user is either by nickname or
by  the channel that they or you are on  (more information about channels
later on).

   The  most important thing to remember about IRC is that you have to be
willing  to explore and learn to use it...  Take you time, try not to get
flustered, enjoy  yourself,  and you will soon be making  new friends all
over the world!

   IRC  is  based  on  a  client-server model.  Clients are programs that
connect  to  a  server,  a  server  is  a  program  that transports data,
(messages),  from a user client to another.  There are clients running on
many  different systems, (Unix, emacs, VMS, MSDOS, VM...), that allow you
to  connect to an IRC server.  The client which will be spoken of here is
the  most  widespread:   ircII, (originally designed by Michael Sandrof).
Other clients are similar, and often accept ircII commands.




                        1.2  How to behave on IRC
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   The  most  widely  understood  and  spoken language on IRC is English.
However,  as  IRC  is  used in many different countries, English is by no
means  the  only language.  If you want to speak some other language than
English,  (for  example  with your friends), go to a separate channel and
set  the topic to indicate that.  On the other hand, you should check the
topic  before you move  to a channel to see if there are any restrictions
about  language.   On  a  non-restricted channel, please speak a language
everybody can understand. If you want to do otherwise,change channels and
set the topic accordingly.

   It's  not  necessary  to  greet  everybody  on  a  channel personally.
Usually  one "Hello!" or equivalent is enough. And don't expect everybody
to  greet  you  back...   On a channel with 20 people that would mean one
screenful of hellos.  It's sensible not to greet, in order not to be rude
to  the rest of the channel.  If you must say hello to somebody you know,
do it with a private message.  The same applies to goodbyes.

   Also  note  that using your client facilities, (ircII "ON" command for
instance),  to  automatically say hello or goodbye to people is extremely
poor  etiquette.   Nobody wants to receive autogreets.  They are not only
obviously  automatic,  but  even  if  you  think  you  are polite you are
actually  sounding  insincere  and  also  interfering  with  the personal
environment of the recipient when using autogreets.  If somebody wants to
be autogreeted on joining a channel, he will autogreet himself.

  Remember,  people  on  IRC  form  their opinions about you only by your
actions,  writings  and  comments,  so think before you type.  If you use
offensive  words,  you'll be frowned upon.  Do not "dump" to a channel or
user,  (send  large  amounts of unwanted information).  This is likely to
get  you  kicked  off the channel or killed off from IRC.  Dumping causes
network "burps", connections going down because servers cannot handle the
large amount of traffic anymore. Other prohibited actions include:

        * Harassing another user.  Harassment is defined as behavior
          towards another user with the purpose of annoying them.

        * Annoying a channel with constant beeping.

        * Any behavior reducing the functionality of IRC.





                           1.3  Privacy on IRC
                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   You  should always keep in mind that messages you send to someone over
IRC are passed along  all the servers  between you and and the person you
are writing to.  When you're sending a letter to someone,  any postman on
the way could open it and read its contents...

   Well,  it's  the same on the network.  Any IRC-Admin could compile its
server  in "debug" mode and log whatever messages are transmitted through
his  node,  (it  has  already  been done), so a good thumb rule is not to
trust the servers.

              +-------------------------------------------+
              | IRC IS NOT A SECURE WAY OF COMMUNICATION! |
              +-------------------------------------------+

   How  to  establish  direct  communications  between  clients  will  be
explained later, (see DCC CHAT in section 2.5).  This should be used when
you wouldn't want anybody else on IRC to intercept your private messages.





                            1.4  First Steps
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Note:   ircII,  the  client  most  people  are using, has most of this
information online.  If you are stuck, type "/HELP" and hit <return>.  To
escape  from HELP mode, keep pressing <return> until your edit line, (the
line  at the bottom of the screen), is empty.  Most of the information in
this  file  can  be found typing these commands:  "/HELP INTRO" or "/HELP
NEWUSER".

           +------------------------------------------------+
           | All ircII commands begin with a "/" character. |
           +------------------------------------------------+

   The  slash  is  the  default command character.  Commands are not case
sensitive,  and  can  be  abbreviated  to  their first letters: "/SI" and
"/sign  <text>"  stand  for  /SIGNOFF and will both end your IRC session,
(more in section 2.1).

   Anything  that  does  not begin with "/" is assumed to be a message to
someone  and will be sent to your current channel, or to a person you are
QUERYing,  (the  QUERY  command  will  be  detailed  later on, maybe even
section 2.2).

   If  you  are not sure about the spelling of an ircII command, type the
prefix  of  that command, and press the ESCape key twice; ircII will give
you a listing of commands and aliases that start with that prefix.  Don't
forget the "/" in front of the command though.

        /W <ESC><ESC>
        *** Commands:
        ***     WAIT            WALL            WALLOPS         WHICH
        ***     WHILE           WHO             WHOIS           WHOWAS
        ***     WINDOW
        *** Aliases:
        ***     W

   This  is  an  example.   Your  screen  may show more aliases, and less
commands  than  shown  here, or less aliases and more commands - in other
words "your mileage may vary"...




                    1.5  Screen and Keyboard activity
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   IRC is a full-screen utility.  It takes over the screen, with the bulk
of  activity  happening  in  the top (N-2) lines, a status line, (vaguely
emacs-like),  on  the  next to last line, and your input being entered on
the  last  line.   When  typing  commands at ircII, you have a minimalist
line-editing facility in an emacs style.


                         Table 1:  Editing keys
                         ----------------------
           Key      Effects
           ~~~      ~~~~~~~
            ^P      recalls previous command line
            ^N      recalls next command line
            ^F      moves forward one character
            ^B      moves backward one character
            ^A      moves the cursor to the beginning of the line
            ^E      moves the cursor to the end of the line
            ^D      deletes the character under the cursor
            ^K      kills from the cursor to the end
            ^Y      reinserts the last stretch of killed text
            ^U      clears the whole line
            ^L      redraws the screen


                       Table 2:  Editing commands
                       --------------------------
           Keyword   Action
           ~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~
           !         recalls previous commands for re-editing
           HISTORY   displays the command history
           LASTLOG   lists the most recent messages
           CLEAR     puts some white space on your screen


   The  !   command  is  used to recall previous commands in your command
history  for  re-execution.   The !  command is unique in that when it is
used,  it  leaves  the  matching  history  entry  in  the  input line for
re-editing.   You can specify a history entry either by its number in the
history  list,  or  by  a  match  with  a given wildcard expression.  For
instance,  "/!10"  will put  entry 10 in the history list  into the input
line.  "/!/MSG" will search the history for a line beginning with a /MSG,
(a "*" is implied at the end).

/![<history number>|<history match>]
   Recalls previous commands for re-editing.

   The command history can be dumped using:

/HISTORY [<number>]
   Displays  the  command  history  on  the  screen.  You can specify the
number of history entries you wish to view as well.



   Almost  everything  happens  in  the  upper bulk  of the screen.  This
includes  both  messages from other users,  as well as  the output of the
control commands.  Normal  messages  from  other  users  appear  with the
originating nickname in  <angle brackets>.  Private messages  arrive with
the originating nickname  in  *asterisks*.  Messages you send to everyone
appear with a preceding  "> "  whereas  messages  you  send  privately to
another  user  appear  with  "-> *nickname*".  Other output  (invitations
from other users  to join channels,  and so forth),  appears interspersed
with other activity on the screen.


                    Table 3:  Simple screen activity
                    --------------------------------

  What is displayed    What you typed      Sender     Recipients
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~     ~~~~~~~~~~
  > Morning people     Morning, people     You        Channel
  <some1else> hello                        some1else  Channel
  -> *some1else* hi!   /msg some1else hi!  You        some1else (only)
  *some1else* wassup?                      some1else  You (only)



   Last ircII outputs can be recalled with:

/LASTLOG [<number of entries>|<text> [<from entry>]]
   Displays  the  contents  of  the  lastlog.  This is a list of the most
recent  messages  that  have  appeared  on  the  screen,  useful  if  you
inadvertantly  miss  messages.   If  no  arguments  are given, the entire
lastlog  is  displayed.  If the first argument is a number, it determines
how  many  log  entries  to  show.  Otherwise it is searched for in every
lastlog  entry.   The  second  argument determines how many lines back to
start display from.

        Example:

        /LASTLOG
        > Public message I send to all in the channel
        <some1else> Public message from some1else
        *some1else* Private message sent to me by some1else
        -> *some1else* Private message I send to some1else

   Finally, if your screen gets garbage from a 'talk', 'write', 'wall' or
any other form of primitive communication (smirk), hit ^L to redraw it,
or CLEAR it.

/CLEAR
   Clears the screen.





                              2. LET'S GO!
                              ============

                         2.1  General  Commands
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                       Table 4:  General commands
                       --------------------------
    Keyword   Action
    ~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~
    NICK      changes your nickname
    QUIT      exits your IRC session, (same as BYE, SIGNOFF and EXIT)
    HELP      prints help on the given command
    WHOIS     displays information about someone
    WHOWAS    displays information about someone who just left
    AWAY      leaves a message saying you're not paying attention



/NICK [<nickname>]
   Changes your nickname to whatever you like.

   Everyone  who  wants  to  talk  to  you  sees this name - also, at the
moment, nicknames are limited to 9 characters max.  Your nickname will be
the  same as your login name by default.  You can also set an environment
variable,  IRCNICK,  the  value  of which will be used instead.  Nickname
clashes  are  not  allowed;  this  is  enforced  by the servers.  If your
intended  nickname clashes with someone else's as you enter IRC, you will
not be able to enter until you change it to something else.

        /NICK Nappy
        *** Nap is now known as Nappy



/QUIT [<reason>]
   Exits your IRC session.  You can also use BYE, SIGNOFF and EXIT.  If a
reason is supplied, it is displayed to other people on your channels.

        /QUIT Lunch Time!
        poly ~ >



/HELP [<command>]
   Shows help on the given command.

        /HELP HELP
        Usage: HELP [command]
           Shows help on the given command. The help documentation is set
           up in a  hierarchical fashion.  That  means that  certain help
           topics have sub-topics under them.
        [boring stuff deleted]



/WHOIS [<nickname>]
   Shows information about someone.

        /WHOIS Nap
        *** Nap is pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr (Klein bottle for sale...
           inquire within.)
        *** on channels: @#Twilight_Zone @#EU-Opers
        *** on via server poly.polytechnique.fr (Ecole Polytechnique,
          Paris, FRANCE ! )
        *** Nap has a connection to the twilight zone (is an IRC operator)
        *** Nap has been idle 0 seconds

        /WHOIS Nappy
        *** Nappy: No such nickname


   Sometimes WHOIS won't help you much, because the person you want to
know more about just left IRC or changed nick.  However, you can use
WHOWAS to get this information for a while:

/WHOWAS [[<server>] <nickname>]
   Shows  information  about who used the given nickname last, even if no
one is currently using it.

        /WHOWAS Nappy
        *** Nappy was pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr (Artistic ventures
          highlighted. Rob a museum.) on channel *private*
        *** on irc via server poly.polytechnique.fr (Signoff: Mon Jun 22
          20:15:23)


   Very  often,  an  unsuccess call to WHOIS will lead you to try WHOWAS.
That's  why  ircII  allows you to "/SET AUTO_WHOWAS ON"; that way, a "***
<nickname>:   No  such  nickname"  message  will automagically generate a
"/WHOWAS  <nickname>".   Try  typing  "/HELP  SET  AUTO_WHOWAS"  for more
information on this topic.



/AWAY [<away message>]
   Leave a message explaining that you are not currently paying attention
to  IRC.   Whenever  someone sends you a MSG or does a WHOIS on you, they
automatically   see  whatever  message  you  set.   Using  AWAY  with  no
parameters marks you as no longer being away.

        /AWAY Gone to get a cup of coffee.
        *** You have been marked as being away

        /AWAY
        *** You are no longer marked as being away




               2.2  Communication and Private Conversation
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                 Table 5: Private conversation commands
                 --------------------------------------
      Keyword  Action
      ~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~
      MSG      sends a private message
      QUERY    starts a private conversation
      NOTICE   sends a private message
      NOTIFY   warns you of people logging in or out IRC
      IGNORE   removes output from specific people off your screen


   You can use the MSG command, (usually "M" is an alias for it), to send
someone a message that only that person can read.

/MSG <nickname>|<channel> <text>
   Send a private message to specified nickname.

        /MSG Nap This message is for Nap only.
        -> *Nap* This message is for Nap only.

        On my screen will appear:

        *YourNick* This message is for Nap only.


   If you want to send a private message to more than one person, you can
specify a list of nicknames separated by commas, (no spaces).

        /MSG Nap,Sorg This message for both Nap and Sorg.
        -> *Nap* This message for both Nap and Sorg.
        -> *Sorg* This message for both Nap and Sorg.



   Two  special  case  nicknames  are defined.  If the nickname is "," (a
comma),  the  message  is sent to the last person who sent you a MSG.  If
the nickname is "." (a period), the message is sent to the last person to
whom you sent a message.

   You  can  have  a  private  conversation by only using /MSG.  However,
typing  "/MSG <nick> <text>" or "/MSG .  <text>" gets cumbersome.  That's
where the /QUERY command comes in handy.


/QUERY [<nickname>|<channel>]
   Starts a private conversation with <nickname>.

   All text you type that would normally be sent to your channel now goes
to  the  supplied  nickname  in  the  form  of MSGs.  To cancel a private
conversation, use QUERY with no arguments.

        /QUERY Nap
        *** Starting conversation with Nap

        Blahblahblah
        -> *Nap* Blahblahblah

        /QUERY
        *** Ending conversation with Nap



   There is also another command to send messages, called NOTICE.  Unlike
MSGs,  NOTICEs  are  surrounded  by  '-'  when  printed, and no automated
responses, (such as generated by IGNORE or an automaton), will be sent in
reply.  Services, (robots), on IRC often use this form of interaction.


/NOTICE <nickname>|<channel> <text>
   Sends a private message to the specified <nickname>.

        /NOTICE Nap Better use /MSG instead of /NOTICE.
        -> -Nap- Better use /MSG instead of /NOTICE.

        On my screen will appear:

        -YourNick- Better use /MSG instead of /NOTICE.



   As you begin to make new friends over IRC, you'll want to mark certain
nicknames such that you will be warned when they signon or off.

/NOTIFY [[-]<nickname>]
   Adds or removes <nickname> to the list of people you'll be warned when
they enter or quit IRC   (in ircII versions prior to 2.2, too many people
in the NOTIFY list cause excessive slowness).

        /NOTIFY Nap Nappy
        *** Signon by Nap detected

        /NOTIFY
        *** Currently present: Nap
        *** Currently absent: Nappy



   Eventually,  you may wish some day not to see messages from a specific
user  on  your  screen.   This  may  happen when someone is dumping large
amounts  of garbage, or if someone is harassing you.  The proper response
to  such a behavior is to  IGNORE that person.  IGNORE is a very powerful
command,  and  can be used in many ways.  However the basic usage of this
tool is the following.


/IGNORE [<nickname>|<user@host> [[-]<message type>]]
   Suppresses  output from the given people from your screen.  IGNORE can
be  set by nickname or by specifying a userid@hostname format.  Wildcards
may  be  used  in all formats.  Output that can be ignored includes MSGs,
NOTICEs,  PUBLIC messages, INVITEs, ALL or NONE.  Preceding a type with a
"-" indicates removal of ignoring of that type of message.

        /IGNORE *@cheshire.oxy.edu ALL
        *** Ignoring ALL messages from *@CHESHIRE.OXY.EDU

        /IGNORE
        *** Ignorance list:
        ***     *@CHESHIRE.OXY.EDU      ALL

        /IGNORE *@cheshire.oxy.edu NONE
        *** *@cheshire.oxy.edu removed from ignorance list





                 2.3  Channels and Public Conversations
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   On  IRC,  there  are  a  lot of places where you can "hang out"; those
places  are  called  'channels', (most of the information in this section
can  also  be  obtained  by  issuing  "/HELP  CHANNEL").  You can compare
conversations  on  a  channel  to a conversation among a group of people:
you  see/hear  everything  that  is  said,  and you can reply to anything
that's  said.   What  you  type  is received by everyone who's willing to
listen  -  and  everyone  who is late will not hear what was said before,
unless  repeated  by  one  of  the  ones who were there.  (Who said "real
life" ?)

   All  channels  on IRC have names:  a "#" sign followed by some kind of
text-string,  like "#C++" or "#Asians" or "#EU-Opers".  Usually, the name
of  the channel will indicate the type of conversation that's going on in
there.  Don't count on it, though.

                       Table 6:  Channel commands
                       --------------------------
       Keyword   Action
       ~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~
       LIST      lists channels, number of users, topic
       NAMES     shows the nicknames of the users on each channel
       JOIN      sets your current channel, (same as CHANNEL)
       WHO       gives a listing of users
       INVITE    sends an invitation to another user
       LEAVE     leaves a channel, (same as PART)
       KICK      gets rid of someone on a channel
       TOPIC     changes the topic of the channel
       ME        sends anything about you to a channel or QUERY
       DESCRIBE  sends anything about you to a person or channel


   Every channel has certain characteristics, called channel modes.
These will also be explained below.  Recall the NAMES and LIST
commands; they will show you the names of the existing channels.

/LIST [[<flags>] <channel mask>]
  Lists  all  current  "channels",  number  of  users,  and  topic.   The
displayed  list  may  be  quite  long,  so  you can limit it using flags.
"/LIST  -MIN n" for instance removes channels with less than 'n' users of
the output.

        Example:

        /LIST -MIN 5
        *** #aussies   5
        *** #amiga     5        Daily Amiga Silence...join&enjoy
        *** #hottub    21       Imagine sky, high above...
        *** #tuebingen 11       Happy Borthday CHUCK!!!
        *** #Christian 6        Jesus!
        *** #Twilight_ 15       The Oper Bar & Grill
        *** #initgame  5        More players needed!!!!!!!!!!!!
        *** #Taiwan    8        Welcome good friends.
        *** #espanol   6        EMERGENCIA SE Necesitan Mujeres!
        *** #sherwood  7
        *** #francais  6        on apprend le japonais (japanese welcome)



/NAMES [[<flags>] <channel mask>]
   Shows the nicknames of all users on each "channel", (these may be very
long.  Remember to filter them with "-MIN n" or "-MAX n").

        /NAMES -MIN 5
        Pub: #twilight> Mycroft @sojge scorpio @Troy @Avalon @Nap phone
           Merlinus Lumberjak @tzoper
        Pub: #espanol   Cacique Bonjovi leopardo Carina Miguel Cisco r2
        Pub: #amiga     @gio @Radix @xterm @mama @AmiBot
        Pub: #aussies   @Bleve @GrayElf @Insomniac @Morkeleb @titus
        Pub: #hottub    baby @Aldur KnightOrc @Toasty Gwydion @Belkira
           @Aiken Edge @Spockobot @Nada @ZBot @Aurik @anna @RedBaron
           @Katzen @esashi IceWolf @Eniigma @Digger @TheHeck



   To  join in the conversation on a certain channel you may use the JOIN
command.

/JOIN [<channel>]
   Sets your current channel to the supplied channel.

        /JOIN #Twilight_Zone
        *** Nap has joined channel #Twilight_Zone
        *** Topic: The Gernsback Continuum
        *** Users on #Twilight_Zone: Nap msa tober phone @julia @SirLance
          igh @Daemon @Avalon @Waftam @Trillian @tzoper

   The CHANNEL command has the same effects. Note that if no parameters
are given, your current channel is displayed.

   Upon  entering a channel, you are given useful details about it:  list
of  users  talking  in that channel, topic...  Joining a channel does not
cause you to leave your previous channel unless NOVICE is set to ON.  See
"/HELP SET NOVICE".



  Once  in  a  channel, you may wish to get a detailed list of the people
IRCing inside.  That's where the WHO command comes in handy:

/WHO [<channel>|<wildcard expression>]
   Gives  a  listing  of  users.   "/WHO *" for the list of users in your
current channel.

        /WHO #Twilight_Zone
        Channel    Nickname     S    User@Host (Name)
        #Twilight_ Nap          H*   pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr
          (Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur)
        #Twilight_ msa          H    msa@tel1.tel.vtt.fi (Markku Savela)
        #Twilight_ tober        H    ircuser@kragar.eff.org (tober)
        #Twilight_ phone        H    mrgreen@munagin.ee.mu.OZ.AU (Third
          row seats to the Cure? WHO ME? nah.. *grin*)
        #Twilight_ julia        G*@  julie@turing.acs.Virginia.EDU
          ( Future graduate of ACME Looniversity)
        #Twilight_ SirLance     G*@  lancelot@tdsb-s.mais.hydro.qc.ca
          (Sir Lancelot)
        #Twilight_ igh          G    igh@micom1.servers.unsw.EDU.AU (igh)
        #Twilight_ Daemon       G*@  frechett@spot.Colorado.EDU
          (-=Runaway Daemon=-)
        #Twilight_ Avalon       H*@  avalon@coombs.anu.edu.au (Avalon...)
        #Twilight_ Waftam       G*@  danielce@munagin.ee.mu.OZ.AU (Daniel
          Carosone)
        #Twilight_ Trillian     G*@  hrose@rocza.eff.org ( I turn to
          stone when you are gone )
        #Twilight_ tzoper       H*@  tzoper@azure.acsu.buffalo.edu (/msg
          tzoper help)

   The  first  field  is the current channel, then nickname, status, real
name  (in internet user@host form), and a small witty comment you can set
yourself with the environment variable IRCNAME, (this will be detailed in
section  2.8).   Status  indicates  if  a  user is "H"ere or "G"one, (see
AWAY), if IRCop ("*"), and/or chanop ("@").



   It is also possible, when you are already on a channel, to ask someone
to join your channel.  The command is called INVITE.

/INVITE <nickname> [<channel>]
   Invites  another  user to a channel.  If no channel is specified, your
current channel is used.

        /INVITE Nap
        *** Inviting Nap to channel #Twilight_Zone

   If you receive an INVITE message, you can type "/JOIN -INVITE" to join
the channel to which you were last invited, or simply "/JOIN <channel>".



   To  leave  a  channel,  just issue a LEAVE command, (PART has the same
effects):

/LEAVE <channel>
   Leave a channel.

        /LEAVE #Twilight_Zone
        *** Nap has left #Twilight_Zone



   Well,  you  guessed  it,  if  there  is  a  way to invite someone on a
channel,  there's  also  the  possibility  to KICK someone out of it, for
example  if  this  person  is  behaving  like  a jerk, annoying people or
flooding the channel with unwanted information:

/KICK [<channel>] <nickname>
   Kicks  named  user  off a given channel.  Only 'channel operators' are
privileged to use this command.

        /KICK #Twilight_Zone Target
        *** Target has been kicked off channel #Twilight_Zone by Nap



   Channels have topics, that indicate the current topic of conversation.
You can change this topic on a channel with the TOPIC command.

/TOPIC [[<channel>] <topic for channel>]
    Changes the topic for the channel.

        /TOPIC The silent channel.
        *** Nap has changed the topic on channel #EU-Opers to The silent
          channel.



   At  times, you may want to send a description of what you are doing or
how  you  are  feeling  or  just anything  concerning you  to the current
channel  or  query.  It is absolutely good style to not forget the period
at the end of the sentence!

/ME <action description>
   Tells the current channel or query about what you are doing.

        /ME opens up the fridge.
        * Nap opens up the fridge.

        You can also use your own nickname as command, i.e. you can type
        the line with a leading slash:

        /Nap reaches out for the orange juice.
        * Nap reaches out for the orange juice.


   The same goal can be achieved towards a specific nickname using:

/DESCRIBE <nickname>|<channel> <action description>
   Sends anything concerning you to the <nickname> or <channel> you pass
as first argument.


 (Note:  The look of the result depends on each client version, and might
         not be exactly the same as in the examples shown here.)

   These  commands  make use of CTCP, a client-to-client protocol crafted
to  perform  specific actions,  but  not understood by all clients, (more
about  CTCP  in  section  2.5).   If  you  get  an  error  message,  your
description may not have arrived properly.





                       2.4  Channel and User Modes
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Channels can have additional constraints, which can be set by the MODE
command, (most of the information in this section can also be obtained by
issuing  "/HELP MODE").  To understand this, recall that the first person
to JOIN a channel effectively creates it  and is initially "in charge" of
the  channel,  ("Channel Operator" or "chanop").  He/She can subsequently
add those constraints, make other people chanops at leisure.

                         Table 7:  Mode commands
                         -----------------------
                  Keyword  Action
                  ~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~
                  MODE     changes channel or user mode


   Public is the default mode for a channel.  When someone is on a public
channel, he can be seen by all other users, (if his own user mode permits
this).   Anyone  can  notice  users  on  a public channel and join such a
conversation.

   Private means that, although anyone can see members of such a channel,
you  can't  tell  what channel they are on unless you are already on that
channel  with  them.   They  just  appear  as "Prv:  *" in LIST or NAMES.
Since  the number of potential channels is in the billions, this is quite
some  security  -  all  you  give away is the acknowledgement that you're
IRCing.

   If you are on a secret channel, someone who is not on the same channel
can't  even see that you are there.  Your name does not show up in a LIST
of  active  users.   The  only  indication of your presence is that, when
entering  IRC,  all new users are told that there are "NNNNN users on XXX
servers".   If someone  checks  on all users and finds less than NNNNN of
them,  he  knows  that other people are hiding on secret channels.  But a
secret  channel user still cannot be found except by brute-force checking
through  all  channels,  a  hopeless  proposition in the face of the huge
number  of  possible  channel  names.  Security through obscurity finally
means something.



/MODE <channel>|<nickname> [[+|-]<modechars> [<parameters>]]
   Allows channel operators to change channel mode, or any user to change
their personal mode, (don't use this command too often, it floods the net
with worthless information).

        /MODE #Twilight_Zone +m
        *** Mode change "+m" on channel #Twilight_Zone by Nap

        /MODE Nap -i
        *** Mode change "-i" for user Nap by poly.polytechnique.fr

        And this is how to give 'chanop' status to someone on the channel

        /MODE #Twilight_Zone +o sojge
        *** Mode change "+o sojge" on channel #Twilight_Zone by Nap



   A + or - sign  determines whether the mode should be added or deleted.
Try typing  "/HELP MODE"  to  get  further  information.  Channels can be
moderated (only chanops can talk), secret, private, with a limited number
of users, anonymous,  invite-only,  topic-limited,  with a list of banned
users...

   The  MODE  command also allows you to modify your personal parameters,
your  "user  mode".   You can check your usermode with the command "/MODE
<YourNick>"  or  sometimes  "/UMODE".   Note that user mode +i may be the
default  on  some  servers,  in  order to protect privacy of users.  This
should  not  be  seen  as  a  problem,  since any user can change his/her
personal mode whatever defaults a server may set.


                         Table 8:  Channel modes
                         -----------------------
        ModeChar        Effects on channels
        ~~~~~~~~        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        b <person>      ban somebody, <person> in "nick!user@host" form
        i               channel is invite-only
        l <number>      channel is limited, <number> users allowed max
        m               channel is moderated, (only chanops can talk)
        n               external /MSGs to channel are not allowed
        o <nick>        makes <nick> a channel operator
        p               channel is private
        s               channel is secret
        t               topic limited, only chanops may change it


                          Table 9:  User modes
                          --------------------
        ModeChar        Effects on nicknames
        ~~~~~~~~        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        i               makes yourself invisible to anybody that does
                        not know the exact spelling of your nickname
        o               IRC-operator status, can only be set
                        by IRC-ops with OPER
        s               receive server notices
        w               receive wallops (abused and deprecated)





                     2.5  Client to Client Protocol
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

/CTCP <nickname> <command> [<argument>]
   Allows you to perform certain client specific actions on the network.

        /CTCP Nap VERSION
        *** CTCP VERSION reply from Nap: ircII 2.2 *IX
           :ircII 2.2, SL0 The one you thought you'd never see.

        This can be used to get information about how long a person has
        been idle:

        /CTCP Nap FINGER
        *** CTCP FINGER reply from Nap: PIOCH Nicolas - Nap on IRC, X90,
          (pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr) Idle 0 seconds


                  Table 10:  Client to Client Commands
                  ------------------------------------
         Keyword    Action
         ~~~~~~~    ~~~~~~
         CTCP       performs certain client specific actions
         DCC        handles direct connections to remote clients
         DCC SEND   initiates a file transfer
         DCC GET    accepts a file transfer
         DCC CLOSE  ends a DCC connection or offer
         DCC LIST   shows current DCC connections
         DCC CHAT   initiates a secure chat between two clients



   There  are  many  other CTCP commands, and new ones are introduced all
the  time.   There  is  a mechanism for you to find out what you can use:
CTCP  CLIENTINFO.   To find out about your own client services, execute a
CLIENTINFO on yourself.

        /CTCP Nap CLIENTINFO
        *** CTCP CLIENTINFO reply from Nap: SED VERSION CLIENTINFO
           USERINFO ERRMSG FINGER TIME ACTION DCC UTC PING :Use
           CLIENTINFO <COMMAND> to get more specific information

   If  you are interested in this powerful CTCP mechanism, have a look in
the  various  ircII  help  files.   "/HELP  CTCP"  might tell you more...
However  the  client-to-client  protocol  has  a  very  powerful feature:
Allowing two people to exchange files.

   To  send  small  text  files,  electronic  mail  is  probably the best
solution, (don't rely on the user@host given by the WHOIS command to send
mail.     For    people   registered   on   NickServ,   you   can   "/MSG
NickServ@Service.de  WHOIS  nick" to get their E-mail address).  However,
ircII  provides  you a way to establish Direct Client Connections ("DCC")
to perform functions like sending and receiving files.



If NickA wants to send a file to NickB, then NickA should type:
        /DCC SEND NickB filename

On NickB's screen will appear:
        *** DCC SEND (filename) request received from NickA

If he, (NickB), wants to get the file, he just needs to type:
        /DCC GET NickA filename

A few seconds later
        *** DCC GET connection with NickA established
        *** DCC GET filename connection to NickA completed
will   inform  both  users  that  data  transfer  has  been  successfully
completed.



   Here's a quick overview of the subject:

/DCC <function> [<arguments>]
   Handles direct connections to remote clients.  The behavior of  DCC is
determined by the specified <function>.


/DCC SEND <nickname> <filename>
   Initiates a file transfer by direct client connection.


/DCC GET <nickname> <filename>
   Accepts  a file transfer by direct client connection.  The sender must
first have offered the file with DCC SEND.


/DCC CLOSE <type> <nickname> [<arguments>]
   Ends  an unwanted DCC connection or offer.  The <type>, <nickname> and
<arguments>  must  be  the  same  as  those shown by "/DCC LIST".  If the
arguments  are  not supplied, the oldest connection of the specified type
is closed.


/DCC LIST
   Shows  current /DCC connections with their types, status and nicknames
involved.



   More  details  can  be found in ircII online help:  try "/HELP DCC"...
for more information.

   However,  if  someone  asks you to send him a file, DON'T do it unless
you  EXACTLY  know  what  you  are  doing.  For instance,  NEVER send the
password  file  of  your  system  to  anybody.  This could grant crackers
illegal   access   to   your  machines,  and  put  you  and  your  system
administrator in much trouble.



DCC  also  allows two clients to establish a direct client connection for
chat.   This  is  a  secure form of communication, since messages are not
sent through the IRC network.

/DCC CHAT
   Initiates  a direct client connection chat to the given nick, who must
repond  with  DCC  CHAT.   Once  established, messages are sent over with
"/MSG =Nickname ...".





                      2.6  Network Related Commands
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   If  you encounter any problem, contact your local IRC-Administrator or
an  IRC-Operator.   An  IRC-Admin is a person who has access to all files
concerning 'ircd' (the server program).  An IRC-Operator or "IRC-op" is a
person  who  has  privileges  given  to  him by an IRC-Admin and tries to
maintain  a  fast  reliable IRC network.  Information on how you can find
out who he/she is, can be found below.

  Each  time  you are prompted for a server name, remember you can supply
the nickname of someone being connected on that server instead.  This may
be useful at times...

                   Table 11:  Network related commands
                   -----------------------------------
     Keyword  Action
     ~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~
     ADMIN    displays information about a server
     LINKS    shows the servers on the IRC network
     SERVER   switches your primary server
     MOTD     displays the server message-of-the-day
     USERS    prints users logged on the server machine
     DATE     shows server current date and time
     TIME     shows server current date and time
     LUSERS   gives a brief listing of users, servers and operators
     TRACE    shows the server connections of the given server
     STATS    shows some irc server usage statistics
     INFO     shows useless information about IRC
     VERSION  shows client and server version number


/ADMIN [<server>]
   Displays  the  administrative  details  about the given server.  If no
server is supplied, the server you are connected to is used.

        /ADMIN
        ### Administrative info about poly.polytechnique.fr
        ### Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, FRANCE
        ### IRC-Administrator Nicolas Pioch (Nap@IRC)
        ### <pioch@poly.polytechnique.fr>


/LINKS [[<server>] <wildcard expression>]
   Shows  a  list  of servers currently connected to the IRC network.  If
<wildcard expression> is given, /LINKS asks the given <server> for a list
of servers matching the given expression, (this list can get very long!).

        /LINKS *po*
        *** nova.unix.portal.com  7 Cupertino California, USA
        *** poe.acc.Virginia.EDU  6 University of Virginia 2.7.1f
        *** polaris.utu.fi        9 University of Turku, Finland
        *** polaris.ctr.columbia.edu 6 Columbia University, New York City
        *** csd.postech.ac.kr     4 POSTECH Computer Science Dept.
        *** cdc853.cdc.polimi.it  2 Polytechnic of Milan, Italy
        *** poly.polytechnique.fr 0 Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, FRANCE



/SERVER [<server>|<server number> [<port number>]]
   Switches your primary server to the supplied <server> at the specified
<port  number>.   If  no port number is given, the default port number is
used (normally 6667).

        /SERVER poly.polytechnique.fr 6667
        *** Connecting to port 6667 of server poly.polytechnique.fr
        *** Welcome to the Internet Relay Network, Nap
        *** Your host is poly.polytechnique.fr, running version 2.7.2g.ID
        *** This server was created Sat Jan 16 1993 at 12:16:10 MET


   Occasionally,  you  can switch servers faster than the IRC network can
send  out  the  information  that you have left your previous server.  So
don't  be  surprised  if  you are told your nickname is already in use...
Just wait a moment and set it with /NICK again.



/MOTD [<server>]
   Gives the  Message-Of-The-Day for the named server. If no server is
given, your server is used.

        /MOTD
        MOTD - poly.polytechnique.fr message of the day -
        MOTD -   _____________________________________
        MOTD -  /\                                    \
        MOTD -  \_|      Bienvenue sur le serveur      |
        MOTD -    |         Internet Relay Chat        |
        MOTD -    |  de l'Ecole Polytechnique, FRANCE  |
        MOTD -    |   _________________________________|__
        MOTD -     \_/___________________________________/
        MOTD - 
        MOTD -        |    |    |      En cas de probleme,
        MOTD -       )_)  )_)  )_)           tapez / admin
        MOTD -      )___))___))___)\
        MOTD -     )____)____)_____)\\       Nicolas PIOCH
        MOTD -   _____|____|____|____\\\__     Nap sur IRC
        MOTD - --\  Welcome on IRC !  /---------
        MOTD -   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^
        * End of /MOTD command



/USERS [<server>]
   Shows the users logged into the machine where the server is running,
(it's up to the server administrator to implement this feature or not.
It may not work on some machines).

        /USERS
        *** UserID  Terminal    Host
        *** pioch   ttyp9       rotule.polytechn
        *** pioch   ttypc       rotule.polytechn
        *** pioch   ttyq0       rotule.polytechn
        *** pioch   ttyq1       rotule.polytechn



/DATE [<server>]
/TIME [<server>]
   Shows the current time of day and date.  If a server is specified, the
time  of  day  and date are reported from that server.  DATE and TIME are
identical.

        /DATE
        *** poly.polytechnique.fr Saturday June 20 1992 -- 02: 35 +01:00



/LUSERS
   Gives  a  brief  listing of the number of servers, operators and users
matching  the  given  <wildcard  expression>,  as seen from the specified
<server>.

        /LUSERS
        *** There are 1008 users and 291 invisible on 135 servers
        *** 72 users have connection to the twilight zone
        *** There are 458 channels
        *** I have 16 clients and 4 servers
        *** 22 maximum connections, 19 clients



/TRACE [<server>]
   Shows the server connections of the given <server>.

        /TRACE
        *** Serv Class[9] ==> 134S 1331C eff.org[192.88.144.3]
        *** Serv Class[8] ==> 1S 6C Julia.Enst.FR
        *** Serv Class[8] ==> 1S 6C Eurecom8.Cica.FR[192.70.34.208]
        *** Serv Class[1] ==> 2S 0C athina.cc.uch.gr[147.52.80.102]
        *** Serv Class[8] ==> 1S 5C dafne.mines.u-nancy.fr[192.70.66.2]
        *** Serv Class[8] ==> 1S 0C cnam.cnam.fr
        *** Class 0 Entries linked: 16
        *** Class 9 Entries linked: 1
        *** Class 8 Entries linked: 4
        *** Class 1 Entries linked: 1



/STATS c|i|k|l|m|u|y [<server>]
   Shows some irc server usage statistics.

        /STATS u
        *** Server Up 12 days, 12:28:44



/INFO [<server>]
   Shows  information about the IRC creators, debuggers, slaves and a lot
of other people who no longer have much to do with IRC.



/VERSION
   Shows the ircII version number and the version number of the server.

        /VERSION
        *** Client: ircII 2.2
        *** Server poly.polytechnique.fr: ircd 2.7.2g.Nap+6(privacy).





                        2.7 Quick Reference Panel
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       Keyword      Action
       -------      ------
       !            recalls previous commands for re-editing
       ADMIN        displays information about a server
       AWAY         leaves a message saying you're not paying attention
       CLEAR        puts some white space on your screen
       CTCP         performs certain client specific actions

       DATE         shows server current date and time
       DCC          handles direct connections to remote clients
       DESCRIBE     sends anything about you to a person or channel
       HELP         prints help on the given command
       HISTORY      displays the command history

       IGNORE       removes output from specific people off your screen
       INFO         shows useless information about IRC
       INVITE       sends an invitation to another user
       JOIN         sets your current channel
       KICK         gets rid of someone on a channel

       LASTLOG      lists the most recent messages
       LEAVE        leaves a channel
       LINKS        shows servers on the IRC network
       LIST         lists channels, number of users, topic
       LUSERS       gives a brief listing of users, servers and operators

       ME           sends anything about you to a channel or QUERY
       MODE         changes channel mode
       MOTD         displays the server message-of-the-day
       MSG          sends a private message
       NAMES        shows the nicknames of users on each channel

       NICK         changes your nickname
       NOTICE       sends a private message
       NOTIFY       warns you of people logging in or out IRC
       QUERY        starts a private conversation
       QUIT         exits your IRC session

       SERVER       switches your primary server
       STATS        shows some irc server usage statistics
       TIME         shows server current date and time
       TOPIC        changes the topic of the channel

       TRACE        shows the server connections of the given machine
       USERS        prints users logged on the server machine
       VERSION      shows client and server version number
       WHO          gives a listing of users
       WHOIS        displays information about someone

       WHOWAS       displays information about someone who just left





                     2.8 Further into ircII Wizardry
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       Note: This part should be reserved for experienced IRC'ers.


   Because ircII is not a simple client program, but an Operating System,
its  programming  language  is  just  as simple as you could expect (it's
horrendous),  but  if  you  want to get into it, here's a little note for
you...

   There  are  a few Unix environment variables you can set in your shell
configuration file, but you need to find out your shell name before that.
"echo $SHELL" should give you a hint.

                Table 12:  Setting environment variables
                ----------------------------------------
   Shell type      Shell name      Command
   ~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~
   Bourne shells   sh              $ VARNAME="value" ; export VARNAME
                   ksh             $ export VARNAME="value"
                   bash            $ export VARNAME="value"
   C-shells        csh             % setenv VARNAME "value"
                   tcsh            > setenv VARNAME "value"


                    Table 13:  Environment variables
                    --------------------------------
      Name            Effects
      ~~~~            ~~~~~~~
      HOME            where your home directory is
      IRCNAME         any lunacy you want instead of your real name
                      (text that appears between parentheses in a WHOIS)
      IRCNICK         your default IRC nickname
      IRCPATH         a directory path to LOAD scripts
      IRCRC           a file to use instead of your $HOME/.ircrc
      IRCSERVER       a default server list for ircII
      TERM            your terminal type



   The command character, (usually "/"), is only necessary when you type
commands interactively, when you program things it is no more needed, it
used to be though.


                       Table 14: Advanced commands
                       ---------------------------
    Keyword         Action
    ~~~~~~~         ~~~~~~
    #               same as COMMENT except for the lenght
    @               performs variable expressions
    ALIAS           creates command aliases
    ASSIGN          creates user variables (expandable with $)
    BIND            binds a keystroke sequence to a function

    CD              changes ircII working directory
    COMMENT         does nothing, but very useful. Strange, uh?
    ECHO            displays all of its arguments
    EXEC            allows you to start subprocesses
    FLUSH           flushes all pending output from the server

    IF              standard boolean expression checker
    LOAD            loads an ircII command script file
    ON              sets up actions to occur when certain events happen
    REDIRECT        forwards the output from a command
    SAVE            saves all ircII settings into a file

    SAY             same as sending text to a channel
    SEND            same as sending text to a channel
    SET             sets a variable to a given value
    SLEEP           suspends ircII for a few seconds
    TYPE            simulates keystrokes

    WAIT            waits for all server output to finish
    WHILE           another control command to make loops
    WINDOW          lets you manipulate multiple "windows" in ircII
    XECHO           like ECHO, but takes flag arguments



   If you want to type to the channel from within an ALIAS or on BINDing,
you have to use SAY or SEND.

   The  ";"  has  a  special  meaning in ALIASes, BINDings and ONs:  it's
treated  as  command  separator,  that  means  you  can  execute multiple
commands  in  a  row  separated  by  semicolons.   The semicolons are not
considered  separators  when  you  use them interactively, (to be able to
type ";-)"), and within an ircII script file.  You can escape the meaning
of ";" in an ALIAS with "\;".

   When  you  use  ircII on a (semi)regular basis, you will discover that
every  time  you start the program you will issue the same initialization
sequence.  If that is the case, I have good news for you:  you don't have
to do that anymore!  ircII will, at startup, load a file called ".ircrc",
(full  path:   $HOME/.ircrc).  It will treat each line in that file as if
you typed it manually.

   For example, if the content of your .ircrc file is:

        JOIN #Twilight_Zone

   then each time you will start IRC, you will join this channel.



    Advanced  commands  may come in handy if you need them.  Feel free to
browse  in  ircII online help to find out more about them.  A few of them
are probably worth learning...






                           2.9  Sample .ircrc
                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   As a sample, here's part of my .ircrc file.  Since ircII2.2, this file
can be found in the "script" directory, and loaded with "/load ircprimer"

# Sample .ircrc script, from the IRCprimer v1.1
# -------------------------------------------------------------------
#    IRCII sample configuration file  (~/.ircrc)  (Nicolas Pioch)
# -------------------------------------------------------------------
# The aim of this file is to shorten all useful commands to 1 letter.

set NOVICE off
set INPUT_ALIASES off
set AUTO_WHOWAS on
set SHOW_CHANNEL_NAMES on
set SHOW_AWAY_ONCE on

# Speeds up ircII display 2 times
set SCROLL_LINES 2

# Put Hack notices down under
on ^SERVER_NOTICE "\*\*\* Notice -- Hack: *" set status_user Hack: $4-

# Modified killpath script from YeggMan
ALIAS kpath ECHO ### Last received KILL for $nkp.path
@ nkp.path = [<empty>]
ALIAS nkp.msg ECHO ### $Z -- KILL by $1 for $0 $2-
ALIAS nkp.idx @ FUNCTION_RETURN = RINDEX(! $0) + 1
ALIAS nkp.srv @ FUNCTION_RETURN = INDEX(. $MID($nkp.idx($0) 512 $0))
ON ^SERVER_NOTICE "\*\*\* Notice -- Received KILL*" {
#	if (index(. $mid(${rindex(! $11) +1} 512 $11))
        IF ( nkp.srv($11) > -1 )
            { nkp.msg $7 $9 }
            { nkp.msg $7 $9 $12- }
        @ nkp.path = [$7-]
}

# Function to strip the less significant part of an internet hostname
# $userdomain(username@host.subdomain.dom)  returns username@subdomain.dom
# This eliminates the hostname which may change frequently
alias userdomain {
  @ function_return = LEFT($INDEX(@ $0) $0)##[@]##MID(${1+INDEX(. $0)} 99 $0)
}

# Who is that ?
on ^msg * echo *$0!$userdomain($userhost())* $1-

# /w [<nickname>]                        get info on someone
# /q [<nickname>]                        query someone
# /m  <nickname> <text>                  send a message
# /n  <nickname> <text>                  send a notice
# /r <text>                              reply to last message I got
# /a <text>                              followup on my last message

alias w whois
alias q query
alias m msg
alias n notice
alias r msg $,
alias a msg $.

# /j <channel>                           join a channel
# /l <channel>                           list people in a channel
# /ll                                    list in the current channel
# /i <nickname> [<channel>]              invite someone
# /hop                                   leave the current channel

alias j join
alias l who
alias ll who *
alias i invite
alias hop part $C

# /o <nickname> [<nickname> <nickname>]  give channel op status
# /d <nickname> [<nickname> <nickname>]  remove channel op status
# /k <nickname>                          kick someone
# /mo [+|-]<modechars>                   change current channel mode

alias o mode $C +ooo
alias d mode $C -ooo
alias k kick $C
alias mo mode $C

# the "wrong person" alias! /oops <nickname> to resend message to
alias oops {
        @ _whoops = [$B]
        msg $. Whooops ! Please ignore, that wasn't meant for you.
        msg $0 $_whoops
}

alias unset set -$*
alias unalias alias -$*
alias NickServ msg NickServ@Service.de
alias NoteServ msg NoteServ@Service.de

# -------------------------------------------------------------------





                        2.10  Writing automatons
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   An  automaton,  (also  called  robot or service), is a program that is
connected to the IRC network to provide services.  Many people try to set
that up with a few ircII commands like:

on ^msg "% help" notice $0 This is LameBot 1.0

   However,  you  should know that setting up an automaton using ircII ON
facilities  is  quick  and  dirty, and should be reserved for robots that
rely  on ircII specific features such as DCC (file servers for instance).
Writing  a  program  in C, perl or any decent programming language should
take longer in the beginning, but your efforts will be rewarded.  You can
download  skeletons  of  such  programs  on  some ftp sites that keep IRC
related stuff (check in the Frequently Asked Questions part).


   Although  most  robots-writers  believe  they  have  created  a "smart
thing",  99%  of  the  robots  online  happen to be a nuisance to the IRC
community, because a few simple rules were not respected by their owners.
The main idea is that robots should neither be seen nor heard:

    * automatons should be clearly identified as such, having "bot",
      "serv" or "srv" in their nickname.

    * they should use NOTICES to communicate with the rest
      of the world, and not reply to NOTICES they get.

    * they should be able to always be killed (craziness is a
      frequent disease among robots).

    * they should be able to be killed remotely by their owner via IRC.

    * they should not give access to their owner's real files, (bandits
      have already been able to crack people's accounts through
      their robots).

    * they should not send messages to channels (unless the channel
      is dedicated to that robot).

   * they should not flood channels with MODE changes. Basically,
     if you have such a command as:

        on -JOIN "Lamer #BotTub" mode #BotTub +o Lamer

  then you are wrong. Because this is what you will get:

*** Lamer (clueless@where.the.hell) has joined channel #bottub
*** Mode change "+o Lamer" on channel #bottub by LameBot
*** Mode change "+o Lamer" on channel #bottub by StupidSrv
*** Mode change "+ooo Lamer Lamer Lamer" on channel #bottub by FloodServ
*** Mode change "+o Lamer" on channel #bottub by Dumbbot


   And  this  will  get  boring  very soon, so don't be surprised if such
robots  get  banned  from  most channels.  A good kludge is to wait until
someone  asks explicitly the robot to be opped on a channel.  This could
be:
     on -MSG "Lamer op me on #BotTub" mode #BotTub +o Lamer


   If you don't respect rules 2 and 6 above, this may happen too:

*** TalkBot (clueless@where.the.hell) has joined channel #bottub
<LameBot> Hi TalkBot!
<TalkBot> Hello LameBot! How are you?
*** Mode change "+o TalkBot" on channel #bottub by LameBot
<LameBot> Fine thanx.
<TalkBot> Thank you for the op, LameBot.
<LameBot> No problem, TalkBot.
*** Signoff: Talkbot (ircserver.irc.edu where.the.hell)
*** TalkBot (clueless@where.the.hell) has joined channel #bottub
*** Mode change "+o TalkBot" on channel #bottub by where.the.hell
*** Mode change "+o LameBot" on channel #bottub by TalkBot
*** Mode change "+o TalkBot" on channel #bottub by LameBot
<TalkBot> Thank you for the op, LameBot.
<LameBot> No problem, TalkBot.
...


See?  Remember the golden rule:

    +--------------------------------------------------------------+
    | A smart bot won't act unless explicitly asked by someone to. |
    +--------------------------------------------------------------+






                      3. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
                      =============================

                   3.1  How do I set up an IRC client?
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Here  is  a list of FTP sites from which you can download a client for
your specific Operating System.


                  Table 15:  FTP sites with IRC clients
                  -------------------------------------
                               UNIX ircII
                               ~~~~~~~~~~
              cs.bu.edu                      - /irc/clients
              ftp.acsu.buffalo.edu           - /pub/irc
              slopoke.mlb.semi.harris.com    - /pub/irc
              plod.cmbe.unsw.oz.au           - /pub
              coombs.anu.edu.au              - /pub/irc
              nic.funet.fi                   - /pub/unix/irc/ircII
              ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de  - /pub/net/irc


                               EMACS elisp
                               ~~~~~~~~~~~
              cs.bu.edu                       - /irc/clients/elisp
              slopoke.mlb.semi.harris.com     - /pub/irc/emacs
              nic.funet.fi                    - /pub/unix/irc/Emacs
              lehtori.cc.tut.fi               - /pub/irchat
              ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de   - /pub/net/irc


                                   VMS
                                   ~~~
              cs.bu.edu                       - /irc/clients/vms
              coombs.anu.edu.au               - /pub/irc/vms
              nic.funet.fi                    - /pub/unix/irc/vms
              ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de   - /pub/net/irc


                               REXX for VM
                               ~~~~~~~~~~~
              ftp.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de - /pub/irc/rxirc
              ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de   - /pub/net/irc/VM
              cs.bu.edu                       - /irc/clients/rxirc
              coombs.anu.edu.au               - /pub/irc/rxirc
              nic.funet.fi                    - /pub/unix/irc/rxirc


                                  MSDOS
                                  ~~~~~
              cs.bu.edu                       - /irc/clients
              nic.funet.fi                    - /pub/unix/irc/msdos


                                Macintosh
                                ~~~~~~~~~

              cs.bu.edu                       - /irc/clients
              nic.funet.fi                    - /pub/unix/irc/mac
              sumex.stanford.edu              - /info-mac/comm
              ftp.ira.uka.de                  - /pub/systems/mac


   For  Unix  machines,  you  either compile the source yourself, or have
someone  else  on  your  machine compile the source for you.  The current
"official"  ircII release is version 2.2.1. That means that it is said to
be quite bugfree (Hehe, you never know...) In addition to this "official"
distribution,  you  may  find  preversions of the client to come floating
around,  for people who like to track down bugs and taste things to come.
However,  you  should be aware of that those clients are being worked on,
and may not have full features working properly.

   Here are the commands to type to setup an ircII client:

        ~ > ftp
        ftp> verbose off
        Verbose mode off.
        ftp> open cs.bu.edu
        Name (cs.bu.edu:yourname) : ftp
        Password: yourname@yourhost
        ftp> cd irc/clients
        ftp> bin
        ftp> get ircII2.2.1.2.tar.Z "|zcat|tar xf -"
        ftp> get ircII2.2.1help.tar.Z "|zcat|tar xf -"
        ftp> quit
        ~ >

   You now have to go into ircII2.2.1 and read the files  explaining  how
to achieve a successful installation.  Have a look at README and INSTALL,
edit   config.h   to  define  DEFAULT_SERVER,  edit  Makefile  to  define
INSTALL_EXECUTABLE,  IRCII_LIBRARY  and the C compiler you will be using,
then type make install and wait...

   If  you  can't set up a client on any local machine, you can still use
any telnet client:

                     Table 16:  Open telnet clients
                     ------------------------------
      Area      Command                                 login name
      ~~~~      ~~~~~~~                                 ~~~~~~~~~~
      America   telnet bradenville.andrew.cmu.edu
                telnet chatsubo.nersc.gov               bbs

      Asia      telnet cc.nsysu.edu.tw                  irc

      Europe    telnet ircclient.itc.univie.ac.at 6668
                telnet irc.ibmpcug.co.uk 9999

   Please  only use telnet when you have no other way of reaching IRC, as
this resource is quite limited.





                   3.2  Which server do I connect to?
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   It's usually best to try and connect to one geographically close, even
though that may not be the best.  You can always ask when you get on IRC.
Here's a list of servers available for connection:

                       Table 17:  Open IRC servers
                       ---------------------------
              America   Canada        ug.cs.dal.ca
              ~~~~~~~   USA           csa.bu.edu
                                      ucsu.coloradu.edu
                                      irc.caltech.edu

              Europe    Finland       nic.funet.fi
              ~~~~~~    France        poly.polytechnique.fr
                        Germany       noc.belwue.de
                        Sweden        irc.nada.kth.se

              Oceania   Australia     munagin.ee.mu.oz.au
              ~~~~~~~

   This  is  by  no  means,  a  comprehensive  list,  but merely a start.
Connect   to   the   closest  of  these  servers  and  join  the  channel
#Twilight_Zone  or, if you are in Europe, #EU-Opers.  When you are there,
immediately  ask  what  you  want.  Don't say "I have a question" because
then  everyone  will  ignore  you  until you say it a few times, and then
they'll jump down your throat and rip your lungs out.  No one knows if he
can answer your question until you ask it.





           3.3  What are good channels to try while using IRC?
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   #Hottub  and #initgame are almost always teeming with people.  #Hottub
is  meant  to  simulate  a  hot  tub, and #initgame is a non-stop game of
"inits"  (initials).   Just join the fun and find out!  (German users may
try channels named after German university towns...)

   Many  IRC  Operators  are  in #Twilight_Zone, while European Operators
concentrate in #EU-Opers...  So if you join an Operator channel and don't
hear  much  talking,  don't worry, it's not because you joined, Operators
don't talk much on such channels anyways!





               3.4  How do I get nifty effects with ircII?
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   You  can  highlight  messages  you send using control chars:  parts of
text  surrounded  by  control-b (^B) will appear in video reverse to most
ircII  users for instance.  However the appearance of such effects relies
on the terminal abilities of the user you're writing to.

   In  some  cases keys are already bound to something.  For instance, ^B
is  normally  bound  to  BACKWARD_CHARACTER, so you will need to define a
"quote-character" key:  just enter "/BIND ^W QUOTE_CHARACTER" then "/BIND
^W^B SELF_INSERT" and it may work...

                  Table 18:  Highlighting ircII output
                  ------------------------------------
                           Key  Effect
                           ~~~  ~~~~~~
                           ^B   Video reverse
                           ^V   Underline
                           ^_   Bold





        3.5  What if someone tells me to type something cryptic?
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   NEVER  type  anything  anyone tells you to without knowing what it is.
There  is  a  problem with typing a certain command with the ircII client
that  gives  anyone immediate control of your client, (and thus can alter
your account environment also).  Look in the ircII on-line help each time
you can.





       3.6  I get strange characters on my screen, what are they?
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   IRC  has quite a lot of people from Scandinavian countries, }{|][\ are
letters  in  their  alphabet  (IRC is supposed to support the ISO Latin-1
8-bit  character  set,  but your client  must be able to display them...)
This  has  been  explained on IRC about a thousand and one times, so read
the following, do not ask it on IRC:

           Table 19:  Nordic countries character translations
           --------------------------------------------------
    Character  Description
    ~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~
    [, {       'a' with two dots over it
    ], }       'a' with a small circle above it
    \, |       'o' with two dots over it, or a dash ("/") through it
               ("[", "]", and "\" = upper case)

   In  addition  to  that,  Japanese  IRC'ers  use  a special ANSI escape
control  sequences  to transmit their Kanji alphabet.  This may also look
funny  if  you  get  some  of it...  Here's a sample:  [$B$?$K$7[$B;$m$K#
(nice, uh?)





                        3.7  What about NickServ?
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   To  quote  from  NickServ's  help  text, NickServ's purpose is to help
avoiding  nickname confusions on IRC.  There's no such thing as "nickname
ownership",  however NickServ sends a warning to anyone else who signs on
with  your  nickname.   If  you don't use IRC for 10 weeks, your nickname
registration expires for reuse.

   Only  a  NickServ operator can change your NickServ password.  To find
out which NickServ operators are on-line, send

        /MSG NickServ@Service.de OPERWHO

   Nicknames with a "*" next to them are online at the time.






           3.8  I'm being flooded or harassed by a jerk. HELP!
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   If  somebody is behaving like a jerk on IRC, like dumping to a channel
Mb's  of garbage, then he should be KICKed and eventually banned from the
channel, (see "/HELP MODE" for details).

   If  it's a matter of personal harassment, then you should set a proper
IGNORE on that person, (preferably on his userid@hostname).  Remember you
can use wildcard expressions for IGNORE.  More about this in section 2.2.





            3.9  How do I get rid of a ghosted IRC session?
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Sometimes  you  may  have  a  "ghosted"  IRC  session, a process still
running  on  your machine you would like to get rid of, but can't control
anymore to issue a QUIT command.  Going back to a unix shell, try listing
your processes:  ("ps -ux" or "ps -f" depending on your system)

    poly ~ > ps -ux
    USER       PID  %CPU %MEM   SZ  RSS TT STAT TIME COMMAND
    pioch    10410   1.4  0.2  839  402 pf S    0:00 /usr/local/bin/emacs
    pioch    25441   0.6  0.9 2888 1908 ?  S    0:32 xterm -ls
    pioch    25444   0.4  0.2  550  341 pf S    0:17 -tcsh (tcsh)
    pioch    10404   0.1  0.3  897  624 pf S    0:00 irisVx 5 4 10403
    pioch    25634   0.0  0.3 1022  678 p6 S    0:22 irc
    pioch    25451   0.0  0.2  953  326 ?  S    0:07 xmailbox
    pioch    25452   0.0  0.1  386  147 ?  S    0:00 xdaliclock
    pioch    25459   0.0  0.3 1109  617 ?  S    0:02 xman
    pioch    10403   0.0  0.1  574  124 pf I    0:00 mapleV
    pioch    10423   0.0  0.2  614  459 pf R    0:00 /bin/ps -ux

   Locate the line about your lost IRC session, (irc should appear in the
COMMAND field of the line), and its PID, (process number, second field of
the line here).  In this example the PID is 25634, as shown here:

    USER       PID  %CPU %MEM   SZ  RSS TT STAT TIME COMMAND
    pioch    25634   0.0  0.3 1022  678 p6 S    0:22 irc

   All  you  then  need  to  type is "kill -KILL" or "kill -9" immediatly
followed by the PID found above:  "kill -kill 25634" here.

   You  can  get  more  details  about  the commands involved here in the
standard unix manual, ("man 1 ps" or "man 1 kill").

   If  your  machine  crashed,  and  your nick is still in use on the IRC
network,  you'll have to wait 4 to 5 minutes for your server to recognize
the  fact.   Getting  an  Operator  to  kill  the  ghost  is almost never
necessary,  just  sign  on  as  another  nickname  and wait for the "Ping
timeout" or "Bad link" message, then you can change your nick back...





                         3.10  About KILL usage.
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   KILL  is  a  command restricted to IRC-Operators to deal with protocol
errors  heavily  reducing the IRC network functionality.  It's to be used
with extreme caution, if at all.

      +-----------------------------------------------------------+
      | KILL should never interfere with channel-operator status. |
      +-----------------------------------------------------------+

   If you op someone on a channel, you take the consequences.  If someone
joins  #Whatever,  you  op  them,  then  they  kick everyone and lock the
channel  with  some  "Mode  change +ib *!*@*", then suffer it:  it's your
fault,  don't go whining to an IRC-op to fix it.  If a channel is locked,
you should start a new one.

   Effective  methods  to deal with obnoxious people are IGNORE, KICK and
various MODEs on channels, such as +i and/or +b.

   If  you  have  been  abusively  killed by an IRC-Operator, abusing his
power to gain illegal channel-operator status for instance, yell!  Mail a
log  to his server IRC-Administrator, (see ADMIN), join #Twilight_Zone or
#EU-Opers for European-related problems, and explain what happened.





                      3.11  Where can I find more?
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Should  your  question  not be listed above, you may want to check the
"Frequently  Unasked  Questions", (FUQ) list, which will be shipping real
soon now, featuring replies to:

        <lamer1> Are there any good FTP sites? (1)
        <lamer2> How do I join a channel?
        <lamer3> How do I become an IRCop?


   If you have access to Usenet News, (usually through a program called
rn, trn, xrn or nn), you may want to join alt.irc debates, flamings and
whinings.

   You can also join various IRC related mailing lists.  "Operlist"
discusses  current  (and  past)  server code, routing and protocol.  Mail
operlist-request@eff.org     to     join.     Another    mailing    list,
ircd-three@eff.org  exists  to  discuss  protocol  revisions  for the 3.0
release  of ircd, currently in planning.  Mail ircd-three-request@eff.org
to  be  added to that.  There is also low-traffic mailing-lists for ircII
vmsirc and irchat clients.

                  Table 20:  IRC related mailing lists
                  ------------------------------------
   E-mail for subscriptions       What's being talked about
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   operlist-request@eff.org       Server code, routing and protocol.
   ircd-three-request@eff.org     ircd 3.0 protocol
   listserv@grasp1.univ.lyon1.fr  European IRC-Operators mailing list
   dl2p+@andrew.cmu.edu           ircII mailing list
   vmsirc-request@vax1.elon.edu   VMS IRC mailing list
   irchat-request@cc.tut.fi       irchat mailing list


   ((1) 129.0.0.1 but you already know that.)






                           4.  ADMINISTRATIVIA
                           ===================

                          4.1  Revision history
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   This  is  version 1.1 of this paper.  Version 1.0 of the IRCprimer was
released  in  postscript  form  in June 1992 because I was sick of people
asking  for  an  IRC  or  ircII  manual  (and  it was a good way to learn
LaTeX!).   During  summer  1992  Owe  Rasmussen  did  a  very  nice  text
conversion  of  the  paper.  Due to the support and many remarks I got, a
new version  is finally completed  (special thanks to Olaf Titz !), along
with Owe's plain ascii conversion.

   The primer is available in 3 formats:

                  IRCprimer.ps.Z:   Postscript version
                  IRCprimer.txt:    Plain text version
                  IRCprimer.tex.Z:  Source code.





                  4.2  Release sites for the IRCprimer
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   The  latest  version  of  the primer can be found on the following ftp
sites, thanks to their admins:

                    Table 21: IRCprimer release sites
                    ---------------------------------
                     ftp site           location
                     ~~~~~~~~           ~~~~~~~~
                     nic.funet.fi       /pub/unix/irc
                     cs.bu.edu          /irc/support
                     coombs.anu.edu.au  /pub/irc/docs


   Here's how to get the latest primer postscript version for example:

        ~ > ftp
        ftp> verbose off
        Verbose mode off.
        ftp> open cs.bu.edu
        Name (cs.bu.edu:yourname): ftp
        Password: yourname@yourhost
        ftp> cd irc/support
        ftp> bin
        ftp> get IRCprimer.ps.Z
        ftp> quit
        ~ > uncompress IRCprimer.ps.Z
        ~ >





                  4.3  Copyright (C) 1993 Nicolas PIOCH
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   This  manual  is  free; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the  terms  of  the  GNU  General Public License as published by the Free
Software Foundation; either version 2 of the license, or (at your option)
any later version.

   This  manual  is  distributed  in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT   ANY   WARRANTY;   without   even   the   implied   warranty  of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General
Public License for more details.

   You  should  have  received  a  copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this manual; if not, write to the
   

                     Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
                              675 Mass Ave,
                        Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.





                              4.4  Credits
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Interesting  informations  contained in this paper are due to the work
of various people interested in IRC improvement; I'm only responsible for
omissions and mistakes :-)

   It's  impossible  to  give here a full list, however special thanx are
due to (in analphabetical order):

 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
 |   Real life (uh ?)       IRC          E-mail                        |
 |   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       ~~~          ~~~~~~                        |
 |   Christopher Davis      ckd          ckd@eff.org                   |
 |   Christophe Wolfhugel   Zolf         wolf@grasp.insa-lyon.fr       |
 |   Darren Reed            Avalon       avalon@coombs.anu.edu.au      |
 |   Greg Lindahl,          Wumpus       gl8f@virginia.edu             |
 |   Helen Rose             Trillian     hrose@eff.org                 |
 |   Ian Frechette          Daemon       frechett@spot.colorado.edu    |
 |   Jarkko Oikarinen       WiZ          jto@tolsun.oulu.fi            |
 |   Jeff Trim                           jtrim@orion.cair.du.edu       |
 |   Jonathon E. Tidswell   Ernie        jont@cs.su.oz.au              |
 |   Karl Kleinpaste        poptart      KarlKleinpaste@cs.cmu.edu     |
 |   Matthew Alderson       thecure      thecure@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au   |
 |   Matthew Green          phone        phone@coombs.anu.edu.au       |
 |   Mauri Haikola          Mauri        mjh@stekt.oulu.fi             |
 |   Michael Sandrof        BigCheese    ms5n+@andrew.cmu.edu          |
 |   Olaf Titz              praetorius   stitz@ira.uka.de              |
 |   Ove Ruben R. Olsen     Gnarfer      rubenro@viggo.blh.no          |
 |   Ronald van Loon        rvl          rvloon@cv.ruu.nl              |
 |   Troy Rollo             Troy         troy@cbme.unsw.edu.au         |
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+

   Feel  free  to bug me with your comments, I hope I'll have enough time
to reply.

                                               Paris, February 21, 1993,
                                                    Ecole Polytechnique,

                                                          Nicolas PIOCH.
