Internet Relay Chat (IRC) FAQ

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a type of group and one-on-one chat platform. It is highly useful for getting information, support, or news about software by logging into channels dedicated to specific software. Many developers in the free and open source software worlds, such as Red Hat Linux developers, use IRC for communication and collaboration.

On Linux and Windows machines, you can use XChat.

You can download the application from the following website: http://xchat.org/

On Mac, you can use Adium.

You can download the application from the following website: https://adium.im/

After you have downloaded XChat, follow these directions:

1.) After accessing XChat, you'll see a window labeled "XChat: Network List." Fill in your desired nicknames.

2.)Then, from the Networks section, select "FreeNode" and click "Connect" in the bottom right corner of the screen. Set the port to 8001.

3.) Another window will pop up called "XChat: (your nickname) @ Freenode" and in 10-30 seconds another window labeled "XChat: Connection Complete" pops up.

4.) Select "Join this channel" and write the desired channel name in the box.

5.) Then, click "OK."

You will then be logged into the channel you specified if it exists.

After you have downloaded Adium, follow these directions:

1.) After accessing Adium, go to file->add account

2.) From there, you select "IRC" and a box will pop up. Put in your desired username in the nickname box and "chat.freenode.net" in the hostname box.

3.) Before closing the window, go to options and change the port to "8001". Close the window.

4.) Right click "chat.freenode.net" and press "connect".

5.) Go back file->join group chat.

6.) In the box that pops up list the channel name you'd like to join and leave the password space blank.

7.) Press join.

Now you're connected to the IRC channel.