IRC bot
|
|
An IRC bot is a set of scripts or an independent program that performs special functions on Internet Relay Chat.
Usually, an IRC bot is deployed as a detached program running from a stable host. It sits on an IRC channel to keep it open and prevents malicious users from taking over the channel. Due to the nature of the IRC protocol, the bot appears to be a normal user. It can be configured to give channel operator status to privileged users when they join the channel, and can provide a unified channel operator list.
Most of these features, of course, require that the bot itself is a channel operator. Thus, most IRC bots are run from computers which have long uptimes (generally running a BSD derivative or Linux) and a fast, stable internet connection. As IRC has become popular with many dial-up users as well, special services have appeared that offer limited user-level access to a stable Linux server with a decent connection. The user may run an IRC bot from this shell account. These services are commonly known as shell providers.
A bot can also perform many other useful functions, such as logging what happens in an IRC channel, giving out information on demand (very popular in IRC channels dealing with user support), creating statistics, hosting trivia games, and so on. These functions are usually provided by user-writable scripts, often written in a scripting programming language such as Tcl or Perl, added to the bot in question.
IRC bots are particularly well-used on IRC networks without channel registration services like ChanServ, such as EFnet and IRCnet, and on networks that may prevent your channel being registered due to certain registration requirements (minimum user count, etc.), such as Undernet or QuakeNet.
Popular IRC bots include Eggdrop, EnergyMech, Infobot, blootbot, and Supybot.id:IRC bot fr:Robot IRC