#lugod - LUGOD IRC Channel

The Linux Users' Group of Davis has its own IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel, "#lugod" on the "irc.libera.chat" network of servers. The channel was originally created on the now-defunct freenode network in October 2001 by Bill Kendrick, and now lives on at libera.chat

(As of September 2021, LUGOD now also has a Discord server.)

Disclaimer

The Libera.chat IRC network is a public space, and LUGOD is not responsible for what people say on it. You may wish to read Network Policy Document for more information about the network.

Web-based IRC

Text-based IRC

One way to log-in is to issue the following command on your Linux system:

irc nickname irc.libera.chat

...where "nickname" is a 1- to 9-letter handle. (Most Linux distributions come with a text-based IRC client, like "irssi", installed. If not, they're very easy to find.

Once logged onto the "irc.libera.chat" IRC server, type this command into your IRC client:

/join #lugod

Your screen will look more-or-less like this while you're in the channel:

The top area of the screen shows you messages and other information regarding the channel, as well as responses to any IRC commands you issue (see below).

Below this is a highlighted status bar showing you your nickname, what channel you're in, the current time, etc.

The very last line is where you type messages. You can type more characters than the width of your screen. The IRC client will scroll, and when your message appears in the message area, it will be word-wrapped.

Graphical IRC

Under Linux

A number of LUGOD members enjoy using:

X-Chat (GTK-based)

Konversation (Qt/KDE-based).

(You can read some older documentation on how to set-up X-Chat to let you easily connect to #lugod.)

Under Windows

• xchat
• pidgin

Under MacOS

• pidgin
• Colloquy
• limechat

IRC Commands

There are better places to learn how to use IRC, but here are the most common and useful commands:

• /join #channel - Enter into a particular channel.
• /who #channel - Show a list of all users in a particular channel.
• /who lugod/officers/* - Show a list of online LUGOD officers.
• /whois username - Get info about a specific user.
• /leave #channel - Leave a channel that you've joined.
• /msg nickname message... - Send a private message to another user on the IRC server.
• /me action - Send a message in the third person. (Example: "/me has to go now")
• /quit - Quit IRC.
• /help - Get help from your IRC client!

Graphical IRC clients will have many of these commands available using their graphical interface.

If what you type does not begin with a forward-slash ("/"), it will be sent to whatever channel you've joined, so be careful!

Common IRCisms

Here's a short list of acronyms. If someone uses one not listed that you don't understand, don't be afraid to ask what it means.

• afaik - As far as I know
• afk - Away from keyboard
• aka - Also known as
• bbiab - Be back in a bit
• brb - Be right back
• fyi - For your information
• imho - In my humble opinion
• imo - In my opinion
• lugod - Linux User Group of Davis, obviously!
• re - Hello again

Like e-mail, "emoticons" (also known as happy faces) are popular on IRC. They usually involve characters that look like this:

:) :^) <:^( >:^P

But sometimes people use these kinds of faces:

^_^

Hostname Cloaks on Libera.chat

Libera.chat offers the ability to have a hostname cloak. This is primarily to show your affiliation and support for a group or project that you're associated with on the network. LUGOD now has cloaks available for officers as well as active members of our IRC channel!

For more information about getting a LUGOD cloak of your own, contact the "root" (president) or "sys" (vice-president) officers.

To find a list of club officers online on Libera.chat, use the command: /who lugod/officers/*

Kicking and Banning

People known as operators (ops) have the ability to remove people from an IRC channel. If you are rude, abusive or in any other way distruptive, you will be removed by an operator. Please realize that just because you're behind a monitor, you can't act anyway you feel. Even IRCers have feelings (and tempers!)