Difference between revisions of "IRC"

From OSGeo
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(→‎Infrastructure: SAC IRC channel is now on libera.chat)
(→‎Web based IRC: Add libera.chat option)
Line 18: Line 18:
 
IRC uses a TCP/IP port which is often blocked in environments with strictly managed internet access.  In these environments it is still possible to use http based clients such as:
 
IRC uses a TCP/IP port which is often blocked in environments with strictly managed internet access.  In these environments it is still possible to use http based clients such as:
  
* http://webchat.freenode.net/
+
* https://web.libera.chat/ - For Libera.Chat channels
* https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.freenode.net
+
* http://webchat.freenode.net/ - For Freenode channels (being migrated over Libera.Chat)
* <s>http://irc.telascience.org/</s> - NOT AVAILABLE
+
* https://kiwiirc.com/client/
* <s>http://www.mibbit.com/</s> - BLOCKED BY FREENODE
 
  
 
=== Matrix bridges ===
 
=== Matrix bridges ===

Revision as of 14:23, 15 June 2021

Much OSGeo related communication happens in IRC (Internet Relay Chat), an instant messaging protocol. Lots of general information on IRC is available in Wikipedia.

Clients

IRC requires IRC client software. There are a wide variety of clients available:

Desktop IRC clients

Browser IRC plugins

  • Chrome has several IRC apps/extensions, including CIRC
  • The ChatZilla client is available for Firefox users on all platforms. (not supported as of Firefox Quantum version in 2017)

Web based IRC

IRC uses a TCP/IP port which is often blocked in environments with strictly managed internet access. In these environments it is still possible to use http based clients such as:

Matrix bridges

Many IRC channels are also bridged to Matrix rooms

IRC ops may find the following document useful to make life easier for Matrix users: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-appservice-irc/wiki/End-user-FAQ#i-am-a-chanop-and-have-a-spam-problem-how-can-i-fix-it-without-affecting-matrix-users

Channels

The primary OSGeo channel is #osgeo on the irc.freenode.net network. Generally speaking you would connect to irc.freenode.net and then issue the "/join #osgeo" command or possibly follow the irc://irc.freenode.net/osgeo URL.

Other channels of interest:

Infrastructure

Projects

Local Chapters

Initiatives

Events

Other

NickServ

Due to spam the FreeNode channels now require you to identify a nickname with the "NickServ" bot before you are able to post any messages.

Etiquette

  • Don't ask to ask, just go ahead and ask your question.
  • Don't paste large chunks of text into IRC channels. If you want to present a code or configuration file snippet to others to look at use a "pasting service" like http://codepad.org/ or http://osgeo.pastebin.com/ to host the snippet, and then paste the url to it into the IRC channel.
  • If you want the attention of a particular person, include their nick in the message and they will generally be alerted (flashed, bell rung, etc).
  • Give folks a while to respond. They are usually multi-tasking and might not look at IRC for a while.
  • If an active conversation is going on, wait for a lull to raise a different topic (a minute of inactivity for instance)

Logs

Many popular OSGeo related channels are logged. The #osgeo channel logs are at:

http://irclogs.geoapt.com/osgeo

Other logs may also be found under:

http://irclogs.geoapt.com/<add project name>

Some channels (ie. #mapserver and #osgeo) are also logged on IRSeek (http://www.irseek.com), an IRC search engine.

Administration and Ops

The "osgeo" group on freenode now has Mateusz, Angelos, jmckenna, and strk as primary contacts and co-founder of all of the currently registered channels [1]:

 #osgeo
 #osgeo-commits
 #osgeo-fr
 #osgeo-gr
 #osgeo-gsoc
 #osgeo-it
 #osgeo-kansai
 #osgeo-ro
 #osgeo-sac
 #osgeo-uk

See also