IRC
Introduction to IRC
IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat, and is a way for people to communicate in real time with each other. Much discussion is held on IRC as it allows for instant messaging, unlike the forum.
IRC works just like a typical chatroom, with rooms (we'll call them channels) existing on networks, which are made up of different servers. Channels are characterised with a hash key before the name, such as #PPBE and #PPI
The Pirate Party Belgium channel (together with some others) is hosted on the offical Pirate Party worldwide network, Piratpartiet. To access channels you need an IRC client to connect to an IRC server. You can either use a local installed program (IRC client) or a webservice. We recommend using (and learning how to use) a local IRC client, as you can customize it. This also means that you are accessing the Pirate network directly, making it more secure and enhancing your privacy.
The clients
The four main IRC clients are:
Tip: When you're installing or configuring your IRC client, it will ask you for your nickname and some other information.
Be informed that all the people on the server (also from other channels) can see this info.
If you want to be a little more secure, don't use the username from your machine as nickname.
Always use SSL for irc.pirateparty.be/6697
Most important commands
Most GUI clients have menus and mouse functions or keyboard shortcuts to handle most of the settings, but they are program specific.
These commands should work on most clients.
/server irc.pirateparty.be - Connect to the PirateIRC server.
/join #ppbe - Connect to the #PPBE channel (You can also join other channels)
/nick nickname - Changes your nickname
/msg nickname message - Sends a personal message (PM) to somebody on the network
/ignore nickname - Ignores the user, and stops them from being able to write you messages. However, this user can still see your messages.
/away - Sets your status to away, to notify other users you are not available. You can also add a reason behind to the commmand /away eating
/part - Leaves the current channel
/me action - Shows you performing an action, for example /me dances will be shown as * bliss dances
/whois nickname - Shows a little more information on the user, such as their name and which channels they are in
Authentication and Privacy
We would like to recommend the following steps in order to conceal your ip, and have your nickname of choice registered to you.
First off, you should register with NickServ.
/msg nickserv register <password> <email-address>
In a couple of minutes you will receive an email with a code you need to msg to NickServ in order to complete registration.
Once that is done, you can select a 'vhost' (virtual hostname) to conceal your ip.
/msg hostserv offerlist
You will have a list that shows you the available vhosts.
Choose one like:
/msg hostserv take be.pirate
Activate it like:
/msg hostserv on
From now on, you will automatically get the vhost upon identifying to NickServ.
It is advisable to auto-ID to NickServ by sending your NickServ password as server password.
You should have a 'server password' option in the server setup dialog of your client.
If not, you can always use the command to connect with server password like:
/server irc.pirateparty.be 6697 mynick:myNSpassword
or just
/server irc.pirateparty.be 6697 myNSpassword
Do note that when you are not using SSL your NickServ password will always go over the wire in cleartext!
Webchat
There is a webclient provided on https://webchat.pirateirc.net
You can easily fill in your nickname and enter #ppbe for the channels.
More Info
There is a .onion link available for Tor users, and IPV6 ready servers.