Desperate need: FreeBSD IRC client similar to mIRC

[Lord Evermore]

Okay, my office now has an IRC server up for internal communication and to talk to people in one of our other offices. However the ONLY way that we can access it is from our shell accounts on that same machine, for security reasons. Our manager doesn't want to open it up to anything else because we don't want anyone not within our department to be able to access it (nobody outside of our department has shell accounts on that box).

Currently the only IRC client we have installed though is BitchX. BitchX may be a good enough client for some people, but I quite frankly hate it. I don't like having a single text-mode window to work in, it's a pain to deal with multiple channels, and it looks exactly the same as all my other shell windows (except for the colors) so I type in the wrong window occasionally.

So what I need is an X-Windows IRC client similar to mIRC (or if somebody has ported it, mIRC itself). Basically I just want to be able to have multiple windows within the same session so that all the channels are separated, and have the list of people in the room on the side or top or something.

 

[Pepsi90919]

http://www.xchat.org/

 

[Lord Evermore]

Apparently my manager already nixed XChat as a possibility due to some security issue (don't know what it was).

 

[nd]

Ask him about the security issue -- trust me, if it's a real issue then it's already been made public and an update likely been released.

First of all, BitchX is nearly perfect and handles multiple channels very well. I don't use it very often these days for the simple reason that I hate switching between console and X so often (and BitchX in an xterm isn't very nice for me).

I recommend X-chat still. Why can't you install it yourself in your home directory and run it?

Edit: Remember, there's virtually NO security risk if you install the IRC client under your own account (not root). The only possibilty for security breaches there would be a hole in the kernel or libc or something (in which case, you're screwed anyways).

 

[urbantechie]

I use Tracer Script. Works great.

 

[Soybomb]

I don't use any other than bitchx myself, but look through FreshMeat you can always find good stuff there!
good luck

 

[Lord Evermore]

Unfortunately my manager has also been out of the office for a while and doesn't expect to be back in really soon due to a car accident. Plus I don't want to keep bitching about it, otherwise he will get annoyed with me quickly (that's the one thing that I do that he doesn't like).

BitchX does not handle multiple channels well, IMO. At least not for my tastes. It handles them okay for a single window text program. But I don't like it. Too easy to screw it up.

 

[nd]

Lord Evermore,

It's pretty simple. It shows you on the prompt which one you're currently "active" in, and you press ctrl-x to rotate between the ones. Some scripts have features to make seperate windows for seperate channels, too. I never had any problems with 'screwing up'.

Furthermore, you can simply run multiple BitchX sessions if you want to make them completely independent (or use screen)... of course, then you have multiple connections.

I'd just go ahead and install X-Chat under your home directory for now, and maybe ask him about installing it as root for everyone later on.