COM125 Week 2: Welcome to IRC

One of the main reasons for the creation of the Internet was to allow an alternative for communication. It was supposedly used for military purposes, to allow communication through computer networks. With the continual technological growth of the Internet, it has brought about a whole new wave of communication.

The expansion of the Internet also brought about the development of the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web allows users to read and write via computers who are connected to the Internet. Since the evolution of the World Wide Web in 1980, it has been morphing into a form of communication that the inventors of the web never expected. Through this growth, it spawned IRC which is also known as Internet Relay Chat.( Wikipedia, 2006)

Internet Relay Chat is a form of real time chat. It allows many-to-many communication through “channels”. These channels are like discussion forums that allow people to communicate with one another. For example, if a user of IRC is in a channel, he/she may type a message in that particular channel and all the users in the channel may see the message. However, IRC users may also choose to have more privacy as it permits the user to have one-to-one communication which also includes the function of data transfer and file sharing. (Wikipedia, IRC)


In a realistic fashion, IRC is an alternative to communicating with people instantaneously without the hassle of affording long distance and conference call charges. With the ability to chat with someone from any part of the world, IRC has diminished the obstacle of distance and conveniently, minimize costs too.

How then, does IRC work? IRC uses the TCP/IP protocol in a client/server model. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP) were the first two networking protocols that were relatively distinct in the Internet world (Rayome & Romig, 1998). The TCP/IP model is in fact a concept of a layered description for communications and network protocol design (Wikipedia, TCP/IP). So, when using IRC, a request is made by the user/client in which the server receives. The server would then establish a socket for the client/server communications so that the server can listen to user/client requests.


There are various IRC networks that run in a particular fashion different from the others. When a client uses a particular network, they can only communicate with people on that network and not with others on different networks. These networks however, comprises of a myriad of IRC servers and the IRC client is a program that links that specific IRC server to permit the relaying of communications between clients of the identical network.

Once, the user has chosen to run a IRC server or application, the client of that application would then execute the commands of the user. These commands are instructed by the user by typing them out. Normally, these commands are responsible for the transference of messages and also to retain connection with the IRC server should the user become inactive. (Rayome & Romig, 1998)
Most people who use the internet back then, use emails and some even participated on Usenet newsgroups or visited forums in AOL. It is without doubt, that in that era, these technologies had their positive strengths. The one limitation or flaw that these technologies suffered from was the inability to communicate at real time. The messaging system that E-mail uses lacks the spontaneity of a real live interaction. Though this may be an advantage because it would mean that people can reply at their own discretion but if time were of the essence, being able to instantaneously reply and converse with someone would seem extremely beneficial.

IRC has been an increasingly popular activity on the Internet since its creation by Jarkko Oikarinen in Finland in 1988. You could almost equate it to the Internet’s counterpart of the CB Radio (Citizen’s Band Radio) (Wikipedia,IRC). But the uniqueness of IRC is that it allows people from various parts of the world to actively take part in real time conversations. The evolution of instant messaging today based on client-to-server IRC protocols are derived from the protocol that was used in the irc2.8 version of the IRC2sever. Today, application programs such as ICQ, mIRC and Messenger are such widely used methods of communication that most of us take for granted. These services boast of audio/video sharing, data/file transfers, real time live feed of visuals and audio, and VoIP (Voice over IP).

It is without a doubt, how important communication is. That is why we constantly and relentlessly devote so much effort into improving the various forms of communication. IRC has been one of the prototypes of the instant messaging that spawned the likes of most of the messaging programs we use today.

References

History of World Wide Web (5 September, 2006). In Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Retrived January 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_the_World_Wide_Web&oldid=73974490

Internet Protocol Suite. In Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 26
, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCP/IP

TCP/IP model. The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 26, 2007 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCP/IP_model


History of the Internet (20 August, 2006). In Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_the_Internet&oldid=70771572

J. Rayome & S. Romig (May 22, 1998). “IRC on your dime? What you really need to know about Internet Relay Chat” Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/302851-mpSM9L/webviewable/302851.pdf