IRC Survival Guide: Talk to the World with Internet Relay Chat

Having known Stuart on IRC for several years, I can honestly say that the man knows what he is talking about. Yes, this book is now slightly outdated, but the basics are covered rather well, and if you are looking to dive into the depths of IRC, this book would serve well as a history of the medium that so many have used to make friends, network for business, and even meet their spouses. It's suggested that you also pick up some of the other out-of-date IRC books, to see how far it has come in just the last decade.

I tried several other books on IRC from the library before chancing on this one in my favorite bookstore. It is many lengths ahead of the pack with clear exposition. It makes you want to sit down at the keyboard and apply what you've learned immediately. The author says knowledge of five commands are sufficient to get anyone started and then tells you how to do it. The only shortcoming is that the book was three years old by the time I read it. Some commands are no longer recognized by the leading IRC programs, mostly because they have been supplanted by improvements. Nevertheless, there is plenty of meat applicable to mIRC and Pirch, the leading programs. The development and place of IRC in internet communications are explained admirably. I will look forward to a revised version while considering my money well spent for the one I have.

1997: How I wish this book had existed several years ago! Having used irc for some time, my knowledge has increased through experience. All I knew was soon surpassed by this book, though, as it unlocked more and more arcane irc incantations. IRC is the "Internet Relay Chat" and is a multi-user global chat program that permits real-time text-based conversation on hundreds of "channels" related to particulae topics. IRC offers well over 1,000 separate conversations in many languages, 24 hours a day. The author of this book has an excellent reading style and one can easily finish the book in a single setting - with the result that one is very eager to get onto irc and try out their new found knowledge! Indeed, the book is very much like an adventure as the commands and abilities of irc unfold and slowly a .ircrc file is constructed, which control the default actions of irc. Not every irc command is explained, but there is more than enough to set one ahead of the average irc user. Pardon me now ... I'm off to use irc2002: This book still stands the test of time. No coverage of graphical irc clients, of course, but the commands are still used and useful!