Downloading Files from IRC/Some Notes for Beginners

This is meant to be a beginner's survival guide for using IRC, more of a quick summary of some important points than an in-depth guide.

Terminology

 * IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat
 * IRC Channel a channel is a group (or chatroom) related to a particular subject matter, Channel names are preceded by the "#" sign, for example: #lounge
 * Topic the text displayed when entering a channel, usually the channel's description
 * On-Join message usually a welcome message or other text
 * Op or Moderator a channel's boss, sets and enforces the channel rules and have the ability to kick and/or ban users from the channel.
 * Idle to sit in the channel and not discuss anything. (this would probably describe what most IRC user's do....)
 * Kick to remove someone from the channel
 * Ban to remove a user's ability to rejoin a channel
 * Bot a nick that is run by a script or program
 * Nick the name you use to chat with

Basic Etiquette

 * When joining a channel, before you do anything, read the channel's topic and on-join messages, along with (if listed in the topic) any website and/or "!rules" trigger
 * IRC started as a means for people to chat with one another in real time over the internet. A majority of IRC channels are still the same way today, as a means to chat with other people. IRC is not purely for downloading files.
 * All IRC channels ARE NOT the same. What might be acceptable in one channel may be completely off limits in another. This could include using certain triggers, idling and even the language used inside the channel, among other things.