README.md

ICBIRC(8) - System Manager's Manual

# NAME

**icbirc** - proxy IRC client and ICB server

# SYNOPSIS

**icbirc**
*host*\[:*port*]\[/*room*]

# DESCRIPTION

**icbirc**
is a proxy that allows to connect an IRC client to an ICB server.
The proxy talks IRC via standard input and standard output,
so it's suitable to be run with
inetd(8),
and connects to the ICB server specified in the command line, optionally
joining automatically a room.

Commands from the IRC client are translated to ICB commands and forwarded
to the ICB server.
Messages from the ICB server are translated to IRC messages and forwarded
to the IRC client.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and ICB (Internet Citizen's Band) are two separate
chat protocols.
ICB is an older and simpler protocol, basically a subset of IRC.
The two most significant differences (from the client's perspective) are:

*	an ICB client can only join a single channel (called group).
	Joining a second channel automatically parts the first channel.

*	an ICB channel can only have a single operator (called moderator).
	Giving operator status to a second client automatically removes
	operator status from the first client.

# SUPPORTED COMMANDS

**icbirc**
supports the following IRC commands:

CAP LS, CAP REQ, CAP END

> Basic IRCv3 capability handling is present for compliance with a wider
> range of IRC clients.

PASS

> Set the default group, used during login.

NICK

> Set or change nickname.

USER

> Supply additional user information (like ident), used during login.

LIST

> List all groups.

WHOIS

> Shows information about a user.

WHO

> Lists matching users.
> Arguments starting with '#' are interpreted as channel names
> (listing all users in the specified channel), anything else
> is used for a simple string search within users' 'nick!ident@host'.

JOIN

> Join a group.

PRIVMSG

> Send an open or personal message.

NOTICE

> Same as PRIVMSG.

TOPIC

> Set group topic.

KICK nick

> Boot nick from group.

MODE +o nick

> Pass moderation to nick.

QUIT

> Close client and server connection, wait for next client connection.

Additionally, the command RAWICB can be used to send custom ICB
commands.
The proxy automatically prefixes the correct command length and
replaces commas with ICB argument separators.
For example:

RAWICB hm,nick,msg

> Send msg to nick.

# EXAMPLES

Connect to the ICB server
'default.icb.net'
on the default port 7326, accepting IRC commands on standard input and
faking IRC server messages on standard output:

	$ icbirc default.icb.net

Like the previous, but join automatically the group (channel)
'slackers':

	$ icbirc default.icb.net/slackers

Run
**icbirc**
with
inetd(8),
suitable for connecting with IRC clients that don't support talking
IRC on a pipe:

	6667 stream tcp nowait user /usr/local/bin/icbirc icbirc example.com

'user'
needs to be changed with a valid, local user name.

# SEE ALSO

*Internet Relay Chat Protocol*,
RFC 1459.

*Internet Relay Chat: Client Protocol*,
RFC 2812.

*Internet Relay Chat: Channel Management*,
RFC 2811.

*ICB Protocol*,
ftp://ftp.icb.net/pub/icb/src/icbd/Protocol.html.

*The History of ICB*,
http://www.icb.net/history.html.

*General guide to Netiquette on ICB*,
http://www.icb.net/\_jrudd/icb/netiquette.html.

# HISTORY

The first version of
**icbirc**
was written in 2003.

# AUTHORS

**icbirc**
was written by
Daniel Hartmeier <daniel@benzedrine.cx>
and is maintained by
Omar Polo <op@openbsd.org>.

# CAVEATS

ICB is not IRC.
Depending on the ICB community on a particular server, netiquette rules
vary greatly from common IRC rules (or lack thereof).

Client scripts or other forms of automated client actions might generate
noise or violate ICB community policies, and lacking support for some
commands might confuse the script.
Clients should be properly configured and tested on a dedicated server
before connecting to a public server.

In particular, WHOIS and WHO filtering is done on the proxy.
Each such request causes the proxy to fetch the entire user list from the
ICB server (there are no ICB commands that take filters), hence
automatic WHOIS requests from the IRC client can cause unwanted load on
the ICB server
(turn off 'WHOIS on JOIN' in the IRC client, if enabled).

# BUGS

On ICB, a moderator (channel operator) can leave the group (channel) and
rejoin later, preserving his status, as compared to IRC, where the channel
would be left operator-less in this case.
The proxy does not currently detect the operator status on rejoin in this
case, and the IRC client will (temporarily) show the channel op-less.

OpenBSD 7.4 - August 20, 2023