SorceryNet - Glossary of IRC terms

Glossary of IRC terms

*nix: *nix is an abbreviation of Unix and is used to describe all the flavors of it. Linux, BSD, and Solaris are just a few.
Administrator: An administrator is a person who (co-)owns one of the IRC servers that make up SorceryNet. He/she is the person ultimately in charge of the server and its staff. SorceryNet itself is jointly owned by the administrators. Decisions will be made by them according to the charter.
Afaik: This is an acronym for "As far as I know".
AFK: This is an acronym for Away From the Keyboard.
Akill: An akill (or autokill) is an OperServ feature which allows IRC Operators to globally ban a user from the entire network with a single command. Unlike a gline, an akill is no kept in each server's ircd.conf file, but is remembered by OperServ.
ATM: ATM is an acronym for At The Moment.
Backdoor: A back door is a secret way in: a way for someone else to control your computer. Some IRC scripts have back doors that let other users launch attacks from your computer, so people think you are to blame.
Ban: A ban is a mode that is set in a channel to keep a user, or a group of users from entering that channel. A channel operator can set a ban to keep a user from joining the channel. If they try to join the channel they will recieve a message letting them know that they can not join.
Ban Evasion: Once in a while, a user who is banned in a channel or on a network will evade a ban by changing their ident, or their hostmask, usually by changing their name, or their IP address. Anyone caught doing this should be reported immediately.
bbiab: This is an acronym for "Be Back In A Bit". Usually, someone will use this when they are in a hurry to let people know they are leaving, but will be back later.
BBL: This is an acronym for "Be back later". People use this to signify that they are leaving, but will return.
BitchX: An IRC client for Unix, originally based on ircII with the Epic script, BitchX is one of the more popular Unix IRC clients. See the list of IRC clients for more details.
Bot: Shorthand form of robot. This is a user on IRC controlled by script or program, not an actual person.
BRB: This is an acronym for "Be Right Back". Usually used when you are going to be away for just a short amount of time.
CFD: Call for discussion. Important decisions concerning SorceryNet are made in a two stage process. It starts with a certain period for discussing the issue on the public mailinglist so people can form their opinion. This is called the CFD.
CFV: Call for votes. This is the actual vote that follows the CFD. During this period, people elegible to vote can cast their vote by e-mail. After this period, the vote coordinators will announce the results on the public mailinglist.
Channel: A channel is a room on an IRC network. To get a list of channels, type /list in your favorite IRC client.
Channel Mode: IRC keeps a set of single-letter flags for each user and for each channel, and also for each user within each channel. The main channel modes are +o nick to make that nick be for a channel operator, +v nick to make that nick have a channel voice, +n to forbid people outside the channel from sending a notice to everyone inside the channel, and +t to allow the channel topic to be set only by a channel operator.
Channel Operator: Someone with a channel mode of +o, usually shown with an @-sign in front of their nick. They can kick people out of the channel, ban users from entering the channel, make other people channel operators, give people channel voice mode, set the channel topic, and generally run the channel. See also NickServ and ChanServ.
Channel Takeover: After a netsplit, sometimes you will be the only person in a particular channel, and if you leave the channel and rejoin, you'll be an operator. When the net joins up again, you can try to kick and ban everyone else, and now you "own" the channel. Unfortunately for you, if the channel has been properly registered with ChanServ, the real channel operators will quickly end your reign of terror! On networks such as EFnet, there is no recourse if you lose a channel in this way, so a number of bots have "IRC Warrior" features to prevent takeovers. These features are not needed on SorceryNet, and you should disable them.
ChanServ: ChanServ is a service provided by some IRC networks that lets you register a channel. Once you have done that, ChanServ will keep a list of people who are allowed to be operators in that cvhannel. set modes and the channel topic, and help protect you from channel takeovers.
Charter: The charter documents the rights and responsibilities of the SorceryNet administrators. It can be found on our web- or download site.
Clone: A bot programmed to connect lots of times (sometimes several hundred connections all at once) can slow down the network or even break it. Cloning is not normally allowed on an IRC network that has any other users, so if you try it, expect to make yourself very unpopular. Most networks allow 3 or 4 connections from the same network address before they start investigating.
CTCP: CTCP is an acronym for "Client To Client Protocol". CTCP is a way to send information between two IRC clients. An few examples would be CTCP PING, CTCP CLIENTINFO, and CTCP VERSION. You may have used a CTCP and didn't even know it. The /me command is really a CTCP ACTION.
Ghost: Sometimes you will be disconnected (most often because of a netsplit) and will find when you reconnect that someone else seems to be using your nick. You may use the /whois command and find out it's really you: although you were disconnected, the IRC server hasn't noticed yet. In this case, you can use NickServ's ghost command to kill your "ghost".

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