COM 125 WEEK 2: Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

For most of us, our introduction to the World Wide Web was followed closely by Internet Relay Chat (IRC). IRC gave birth to the modern chat movement. IRC is the most widely used Internet chat system, a program developed by a graduate student named Jarkko Oikarinen at the University of Oulu, Finland. It has influenced other chat programs later on such as Instant Messaging (IM), AIM, ICQ and MSN.

During the summer of 1988, Oikarinen was working at the university Department of Information Processing Science, where he administered the department's Sun Unix server "tolsun.oulu.fi", running on a public access bulletin board system called OuluBox. Due to inspirations by Jyrki Kuoppala's "rmsg" program and Bitnet Relay Chat, Oikarinen decided to improve the existing multi-user chat program on OuluBox called MultiUser Talk (MUT), written by Jukka Pihl based on the basic talk program then available on Unix computers. He called the resulting program IRC, and first deployed it at the end of August, 1988. (Oikarinen, 1993)

Unlike conventional website-specific chats, IRC is actually a network of servers that are connected to each others constantly, creating an interconnected network between these servers. Users can then login to any of these servers by using an IRC client with the most popular IRC client at the moment being mIRC. After being connected and selected their nickname, users join to channels or chatrooms. There can be virtually unlimited number of chatrooms. Each chatroom can have unlimited number of users. Each user can be connecting to the channel from different IRC server or from same server or mix of these. Normally each channel has one or more operators who are allowed to remove users them from the chatroom, assign other users as operators, change chatroom's topics. Certain chatrooms also require a password and it can be hidden from public channel listings or require an invitation from existing channel users before a new user can join. (Wikipedia, 2007)

One often-talked-about event in the history of IRC is the gulf war. In early 1991, live reports were available and more than 300 concurrent users were experienced for the first time. IRC became well known to the general public when its use skyrocketed as users logged on to get up-to-date information on Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, through a functional IRC link into the country that stayed operational for a week after radio and television broadcasts were cut off. (Haxx, 2002)

Apart from being a network of interconnected servers and the protocol for servers and clients to communicate with, there are several IRC networks where servers are interconnected to other servers within that network. However that particular network is not connected to other IRC networks, thus creating separate IRC networks. Biggest IRC networks at the moment are called EFNet, IrcNet and QuakeNet.

Although IRC does not support graphics or audio, it supports file transfers between connected users, using a method called DCC to transfer data. IRC has influenced other chat programs to be developed. Companies begin developing their own applications, each with their own proprietary protocol and clients. (Wikipedia, 2007) Companies like Microsoft, Google and Yahoo, have all jumped onto the bandwagon by developing their own instant messaging engines. One of the more popular ones today are AIM and MSN, with active users of 53 million and 27 million respectively worldwide. (Reimer, 2006)

Biggest difference between IRC and instant messaging applications is the fact that all the users on channels normally see everything other users talk. It is real-time, public conversation area unlike discussion forums which are not real-time and instant messaging is normally only between two parties, although most of the IM applications support IRC-style group chats as well. In addition to this, IRC also supports IM-style private messaging between users as well and many old-time IRC users see IM applications as just a sidekick of IRC phenomenon.

Although IRC is limited as compared to today's sophisticated chat systems, these early programs were a brand new use of computer technology and a huge step forward for the time. It seemed almost as magical to the people who developed and used them as the Internet does for us today. IRC opens the doors to the realm of chat programs and set the bar for the current chat programs we use currently.

References:

Daniel Haxx (24 September, 2002). “History of IRC (Internet Relay Chat)”. Retrieved January 27, 2007 from http://daniel.haxx.se/irchistory.html

Jeremy Reimer (27 September, 2006). "Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger get together". Retrieved January 27, 2007 from http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060927-7846.html

Internet Relay Chat (24 January, 2007).” In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia”. Retrieved January 27, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat

Jarkko Oikarinen (November 2005) “History of IRC”. Retrieved January 27, 2007 from http://www.irc.org/history_docs/jarkko.html