Many things have been said about IRC. Some people say it's a place where hackers meet. Some say its better than yahoo chat. I'm a user of MIRC and I've learnt some few things from it.

What do u think about IRC? What can you get from IRC? What are the IRC command necessary to be learned before joining the IRC [channels]? Everybody is free to post.

Mirc is meant for hackers, and you could get alot of shit i will rather stop here

There are a lot of IRC channels where you can get real-time help for various programming languages and open source software packages!

Mirc isn't a tool for hackers, it's just a client to connect to IRC servers.

Many hackers might use it but equally you could say many peadophiles use yahoo chat.

I actually a netmin on an irc server irc.r-type.ca (I manage corellia.r-type.ca) we have a fairly small but strong user base (100+ usually)
You can and join if you want, i'm usually in #r-type

Hydra IRC is the best IRC client. It's very lightweight yet has a solid IU! Better than even MIRC.

Instant download (645kb) http://www.hydrairc.com/download.php?directory=files&file=HydraIRC.exe

I have known no better client than irssi. www.irssi.org I think the link is (try .com if that doesn't work) irssi is a CLI coded client, which means, that it's a command line interface, and there is no pretty colours. All chat servers have seperately sold idiots, like with yahoo and your regular spammer, IRC has its own field of idiots, which usually are idiots that range from skiddiez to boasters.

A nice GUI client I've found to be the best on both Microsoft and GNU/Linux is xchat. It's a well coded C client, www.silverex.info/download == for windows, and www.xchat.org for linux, there's a limited trial version on xchat from the xchat.org site for windows users. Hence the free version is on the other link. Servers like freenode would be best for users such as yourself. As you grow in IRC so shall your vision of servers and clients. Have fun.

Ok, let's me explain why HydraIRC is the best IRC client.

IRSSI is a text mode IRC client that runs only on Linux. Who uses text-mode clients in the 21st century? And how many Internet-enabled terminals in Nigeria have Linux?

XChat is a supposedly good graphical IRC client. The free version for Windows weighs 5.1mb, but the default version for windows is not free.

MIRC is supposedly a good graphical IRC client. It weights 1.61mb and it's has a 30 day trial.

HydraIRC is my recommended IRC client. It weighs just 645kb, is very user friendly, and looks like this:
http://www.hydrairc.com/index.php?page=screenshots

Here's what one user had to say about Hydra IRC:
This program is better than all the Windows IRC clients around at the moment, even if it is not finished. The interface is very simple to navigate and use, and speedy also.

That was in 2003. Also, unlike the other IRC clients, HydraIRC is 100% free. Please take me seriously whenever I stick out my neck to recommend a product. Thanks.

IRC isn't meant to look friendly.
IRSSI is compatible with windows, via using cygwin "www.cygwin.com" CLI chat clients are the best, as far as sec. is concerned most GUI clients are vulnerable, that is not to say, however that text based clients aren't. If you run linux and want to try out a text based yahoo client, made by a mate, "http://larvalstage.com/zinc" , It's very decent.
Does HydraIRC have UTF-8 support, Seun? I'm mildly curious,

Why should anyone have to download Cygwin just to connect to IRC and participate in programing forums when a 643kb program with a sweet interface can do it?

I'd much rather use irssi anyday over HydraIRC. The same way I'd use Gentoo Linux as opposed to Microsoft(TM) Windows(TM) XP home edition. It's a matter of choice.
Besides, there's an irssi version for msdos, "http://www.ircreviews.org/clients/trumpet.html"

well, i used to used snak on my mac. it's also IRC. like f0d said, IRC's are not made to look friendly. i was given a 30day trial. I'm still a little bit confused about them since i just started with them. it has a lot of commands on it to get what you want e.g,bot this ,bot that, can get annoying after some time. but usually when i get into them rooms, it's ok. chatting with people becomes easier. it's actually cool though,

Seun or anybody, does any of you know of IRC's on mac that are 100% free? am trying to get my hands on one.

another thing about IRC's. they are used for downloading huge files. take for instance a dude that wants to download a file or game of 600MB on a P2P with a biterate of 5KB/s. that poor dude, is going to wait till judgement day to get that file. it's easier with a fast link and a larger bitrate when using IRCs. something of 600MB could be gotten in like 5hours compared to the dude growing white beards waiting on his p2p

I've tried quite a few different client for mac and I find xchat to be the best (specifically xchat aqua)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/xchataqua/

hey i`ve been banned from the channel #ccpower tottaly.What do i do to get back to the channel

Get a proxy.
http://tor.eff.net
Uh, why're you in a channel called #ccpower? Thats a kinda gay channel name.

People usually don't get banned for no reason (at least on my network anyway)
Abujaboy it depends on what type of ban it is (xLine or channel ban) and you're more likely to piss off the staff even furthur if you try and use a proxy (get banned on our network and attempt to connect with a proxy = not coming back)

Haha, dude, nah, if you have a proxy or another shell account you'd get in be it K-lined or not. I suppose you'd have to change your username in IRC though, but servers like freenode are commonplace for such thingz, and I don't go to such places
Seun, you go to irc.squeakfreak.org right?

@All, nice one there,i have been finding this hread or topic for ages.What is the best client i can use withTor and how can i connect it with Tor and make it to work fine.I like MIRC and IRC chat.can any one teach me?