Online chat
From Free net encyclopedia
Online chat can refer to any kind of communication over the internet, but is primarily meant to refer to direct 1 on 1 chat or chat rooms, using tools such as instant messenger applications—computer programs, Internet Relay Chat, talkers and possibly MUDs, MUCKs, MUSHes and MOOes.
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Types of online chat
Internet Relay Chat
The oldest form of online chat is Internet Relay Chat or IRC, where a user logs in using a client such as mIRC or a Java application in a web browser. IRC is built around the system of channels, which one can connect to and talk in, and different IRC servers may have different channels. IRC is an open protocol that uses TCP and is defined according to RFC 1459. IRC is one of the oldest uses of the Internet.
Talkers
Talkers, which derived originally from MUD games, use telnet software to connect to a chat room or talker, in a similar way to how IRC works. However, talkers have several rooms, and it is possible to go to a room and lock it privately. Talkers are very secure in terms of privacy and anonymity, with your IP address and personal details not being displayed to anyone other than administrators, and the ability to easily and securely ignore any other user. The first intranet talker was created in 1984, with the first internet talker, Cat Chat being created in 1990. Talkers were most popular between 1992-1998, with the most popular talkers being Surfers, Resort and Foothills, all of which used ew-too code. NUTS is a popular alternative to ew-too that was created in 1992, and by 1996 it was the most popular code base, with the most popular NUTS talkers being Crossroads and Ncohafmuta. NUTS is much easier to use than ew-too, and users can simply type and the text appears on the screen, whilst being more powerful than ew-too. The advent of ICQ in November 1996 effectively spelled the death of talkers, with the only concern being ICQ's major security fears. When talkers had their own major security fears in relation to administrators using their talkers to spy on users in 1998 and 2000, talkers quickly lost their popularity and by 2000 they were all but extinct.
ICQ and other Instant messenger programs
ICQ was released in November 1996 as a way to make Unix's y-talk program work for Microsoft Windows, and quickly became very popular. Other instant messenger programs such as AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! instant messenger and MSN messenger, which are more web-based now make instant messenging the more popular type of online chat experience. Whilst your IP address cannot be seen directly in ICQ, it is in fact visible when using a hacking tool, and it can be used to hack a person's computer using a trojan horse or flooding the computer. Instant messenger programs have improved searching capabilities, but are not very good at multi-person chat capabilities, in comparison to IRC or talkers. Instant messenger programs usually do have an ignore ability, but this can be circumvented easily by quickly creating another account. Instant messenger programs are a good way to meet people in your area, and are often used to find someone to meet in person, something which was not easy to achieve on talkers or IRC or earlier chat programs.
Other forms of online chat that are not usually referred to as online chat
MUDs
A MUD, or a multi-user dungeon, is a multi-user version of dungeons and dragons for the internet, and is an early use of the internet. In a MUD, as well as playing the game, people can chat to each other. Talkers were originally based off MUDs and the earliest versions of talkers were primarily MUDs without the gaming element. Other derivations of MUDs were used that combined gaming with talking, and these include MUSHes, MOOs and MUCKs.
Discussion boards
Besides real-time chat, another type of online community includes Internet forums and bulletin board systems (BBSes), where users write posts (blocks of text) to which later visitors may respond. Unlike the transient nature of chats, these systems generally archive posts and save them for weeks or years. They can be used for technical troubleshooting, advice, general conversation and more.
See also
- Internet Relay Chat
- Chat room
- Talker
- ICQ
- Instant messenger
- Paltalk
- Talk (Unix)
- MUD
- MUSH
- MUCK
- MOO
- Live Support Softwareca:Xat
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