Newcomers Guide to DALnet
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Introduction
Welcome to the "Newcomers guide to DALnet".
The purpose of this page is to
give you an introduction to DALnet, the IRC network. I
will try to explain what DALnet is, what advantages it
has compared to other existing IRC networks and teach
you what you need to know to get started on DALnet.
DALnet was founded in early 1995 by Sven Nielsen (Dalvenjah
FoxFire), together with MirclMax, Morpher and Lefler
when they got tired of the havoc on EFnet. The Services
were created a short while afterwards, and got added to
DALnet. Services allows persons to register their
nickname(s) and channel(s), and thus prevent other
people from taking them from you.
DALnet has several advantages compared to most other IRC
networks, you can find a list of some of them below.
30 character nicknames.
Did you always want to use your
Ohsoverylongnickname, but never been able to due to the
9 character limit most other IRC networks has? Look no
further, DALnet is the network for you. On DALnet you
can use up to 30 characters in your nickname.
Services.
DALnet provide you with an
outstanding service which allows you to register your
nickname(s) and channel(s) so that noone can steal
them from you while you are offline. No more need for
bots holding the channel for you until you return, no
more takeovers and no more fights about someone using your
nickname. DALnets Services does all this for you, and
much more.
Help.
DALnet is called "The
friendly network", and we are proud of it. If
you are in need of assistance, there will most likely be
someone available to help you, and try to solve the
problem(s) together with you.
Does this sound nice? Are you willing to give it a try?
Then continue reading, and I will explain to you how you
connect to DALnet, and how to get started with things
when you are connected.
Introduction
IRC is an acronym for Internet Relay Chat, which
is a chat system for the Internet. DALnet's services are
all donated by companies and individuals to
benefit the tens of thousands of people chatting at any
given time.
1 * Connecting to IRC
To connect to DALnet, you need an IRC client.
Regardless of your operating system, chances are there
is at least
one IRC client for it. For more information about the
wide variety of software you can use to access DALnet,
see http://www.dal.net/software/. If you can't download
an IRC client but would like to chat on DALnet, http://www.dal.net
has a java client available for public use.
2 * What makes DALnet special?
DALnet is different from other IRC networks in a
variety of ways. The most important difference is
DALnet's custom IRC Services: NickServ, ChanServ, and
MemoServ. DALnet's services are coded, maintained, and upgraded by our own staff. They are
designed to make your chatting experience more
enjoyable; for more information about DALnet's services,
please visit http://www.dal.net/services/.
3 * Basic IRC Commands
-
Leaves
the specified channel
-
/part
<#channel> <message>
-
(example:
"/part #DALnetHelp Thanks for the help!")
It might be worthwhile to note that all IRC
commands can be typed into the commandline of your IRC
client, though some have "popups" or
similar menu features. For help using your IRC client,
try a channel with the same name (e.g. #mIRC for mIRC, #pIRCh
for pIRCh) or you can try "/help" in your IRC
client.
One of the most frequently asked questions by new
users is how to register a nick. This information can be
found through http://docs.dal.net/docs/nsemail.html.
4 * Finding Help
DALnet has a large number of help channels that
deal with a variety of different topics, not all of them
necessarily IRC related. Therefore, the first step to
finding help is to determine the nature of your problem.
For IRC related problems, it's important to know
if it's a DALnet related question or not. We do not help
with problems on other networks (getting banned, identd
problems, server downtime, etc.). For DALnet related
questions it's a good idea to visit #DALnetHelp, #IRCHelp
or #Help. If you need help in another language, you can
visit the following: #DALnetAide (French), #DALnetHilfe
(German), #DALnetAyuda (Portuguese and Spanish), #DALnetYardim
(Turkish).
5 * DALnet's IRC Operators
A DALnet IRC Operator assists his or her admin in
server maintenance as assigned and helps maintain
network stability. IRCops assist users in becoming
oriented to the DALnet network, DALnet Services and in
the mediation of disputes. They may also participate in
various teams as they desire. Please note that DALnet is
not a for-profit entity and its staff members are not
paid.
For further information about the network's
administration, you can visit http://www.dal.net/admin/.
6 * Channel Operators
Persons with the @ symbol in front of their nick
are considered channel operators, who can change some
channel settings and keep order. They have the ability
to forcefully remove someone from a channel, among other
things. DALnet does not take part in how any channel is
managed, that is up to the channel's ops, and
ultimately, the channel's founder. Most ops behave
responsibly, but if there are any problems, you should
contact the channel's founder. The founder has the final
say in how their channel is run. You can find out who is
the founder of a channel with any of the following
commands:
/chanserv
info <#channel>
/quote
chanserv info <#channel>
/msg
chanserv@services.dal.net info <#channel>
7 * Security
When using IRC, you should be especially cautious
about security. Be very careful when accepting files
over IRC, do not share nickname or channel passwords
with other users, and make sure to visit
http://docs.dal.net/docs/exploits.html if you're
using any form of Microsoft
Windows.
Special
Thanks to DALnet Network : Texts From http://docs.dal.net |
