Ircjr
| IRCjr[1] | |
|---|---|
| |
| Author(s): | Michael Brutman |
| Programming language: | C/C++ |
| Platform: | PC DOS, MS DOS, FreeDOS, DR DOS |
| Status: | Active |
| License: | GNU General Public License v3 |
| Latest release: | October 29th, 2011 |
| Homepage: | http://www.brutman.com/mTCP/IRCjr.html |
IRCjr
IRCjr is a small, lightweight IRC client for DOS that is capable of running well on anything from the slowest original PCs and clones to the latest emulated and virtal machine environments. The TCP/IP code is built into it so all that is needed is the packet driver for the Ethernet hardware that you are using.
TCP/IP parameters for the TCP/IP portion of the code can be set using static configuration or using the DHCP client included in the mTCP [2] distribution, of which IRCjr is one of the applications.
IRCjr is open source as of May 2011. Earlier versions were free but source was not provided. The mTCP project [3] is hosted at Google Code. IRCjr can be downloaded from there, or found in the current FreeDOS distribution [4] .
Features
- CGA, MDA, EGA, and VGA display support with resolutions from 80x25 to 80x50
- Standard 'split-screen' layout: chat area on top, 1 status line, 3 lines for user input
- User configurable backscroll buffer
- Toggleable beeper, timestamps, and logging to a file
- Fast - very usable on the oldest 8088 based systems
- Multiple channels, each in their own virtual window
- Client-to-Client protocol message ("/me", "/version", and "/ping")
- Runs on DOS 2.1 and up in less than 256KB
Tested machines and environments
Partial list of machines
- Early machines: IBM PC, IBM PC XT, IBM PC AT, IBM PCjr, IBM Convertible, Compaq Portable 1, Hyundai First Step, DG One, other clones
- IBM PS2 series (including Model 25, L40SX laptop, etc.)
- Pentium class and higher: Pentium 133, 166, Pentium II, Dell Optiplex GX270, Acer Aspire One, etc.
- Emulation environments: DOSBox (with HAL9000 "megabuilds"), VirtualBox, VMWare, SWSVPKT with Windows XP, Fake86
If it runs DOS and it is a close BIOS compatible machine, it will probably work. I have not found a machine that it does not work on yet.
Partial list of network cards:
- Ethernet cards: AMD PCNet, NE1000, NE2000, 3Com 3C503, 3C509, Davicom 9008, Intel 8/16, Intel EtherExpress, WD8003, SMC 80x3 series, Accton EN166x, RTL 8008, RTL 8019, UMC UM9001L, too many to list (ISA, PCI, emulated, etc.)
- Parallel port adapters: Xircom PE3 series
- Serial port: PPP and SLIP
In general, if it is Ethernet or emulates Ethernet and it has a packet driver it works. This includes SLIP and PPP packet drivers that provide Ethernet emulation. But you need to have the packet driver.