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Diffstat (limited to 'chat.sr.ht/bouncer-usage.md')
| -rw-r--r-- | chat.sr.ht/bouncer-usage.md | 49 |
1 files changed, 43 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/chat.sr.ht/bouncer-usage.md b/chat.sr.ht/bouncer-usage.md index e0e42e0..a085935 100644 --- a/chat.sr.ht/bouncer-usage.md +++ b/chat.sr.ht/bouncer-usage.md @@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ For full details, refer to the [soju(1)] man page. Information about common use-cases is provided here. +[soju(1)]: https://soju.im/doc/soju.1.html#IRC_SERVICE + ## Connecting with a third-party IRC client Check out the [quickstart for experienced IRC users][quickstart] for details on @@ -12,11 +14,10 @@ configuring your own IRC client for use with chat.sr.ht. ## Managing your IRC networks -The webchat at [https://chat.sr.ht](https://chat.sr.ht) provides a UI for -managing your bouncer networks. Third-party clients with soju support may detect -the bouncer and offer similar functionality. If not, you can also message -BouncerServ to configure soju. Use `/msg BouncerServ help` for a full list of -supported commands. +The webchat at [chat.sr.ht] provides a UI for managing your bouncer networks. +Third-party clients with soju support may detect the bouncer and offer similar +functionality. If not, you can also message BouncerServ to configure soju. Use +`/msg BouncerServ help` for a full list of supported commands. To add a new IRC network via BouncerServ: @@ -26,7 +27,43 @@ To add a new IRC network via BouncerServ: See [soju(1)] for details on the supported options. -[soju(1)]: https://soju.im/doc/soju.1.html#IRC_SERVICE +[chat.sr.ht]: https://chat.sr.ht + +## Authentication + +In IRC, communicating with a user requires knowing their "nickname" ("nick" for +short). Traditionally, IRC would allow users to pick any nick they like -- even +one commonly used by someone else. Today, in order to "register" a nick so that +others cannot use it, a system called SASL is used. chat.sr.ht uses SASL to +automatically log you in to the networks you use, and prompts you for your login +details when you first connect to a new network. + +SASL can be manually configured for soju(1) using BouncerServ; see the `sasl` +command (try `help sasl`). + +Note that IRC networks are independent with regards to nickname registration; +you must register your nickname manually for every IRC network you use. Beware +that your nickname may be registered by someone else on a network already, and +that nickname registrations may be inconsistent across the networks you use (a +nickname may be registered on one network but available on another). + +Unfortunately, not all networks support SASL. There are alternative methods for +nickname management, which are not recommended but in such cases necessary. The +effectively-universal but now-legacy system is NickServ, an IRC bot which can be +messaged to control it (to try using it, send it the message "help"). Note that +there is an independent instance of NickServ on every network. To log in using +NickServ, you have to message it an "IDENTIFY" command every time you connect to +a network. This can be automated using advanced configuration within soju(1) +(BouncerServ provides the `-connect-command` option within `network` for this). +CertFP is another commonly-available system, but can be difficult to set up for +the first time -- see the [libera.chat guide][libera.chat-certfp], and then the +`certfp` command within BouncerServ. + +[libera.chat-certfp]: https://libera.chat/guides/certfp + +> [The OFTC network](https://oftc.net) is relatively popular, and currently does +> not provide SASL support. This is why chat.sr.ht does not prompt the user for +> SASL-based login details when connecting to it. ## Detaching from channels |