A distributed messaging system built for "CB-style" chatting.

The term "IRC" refers to many things: a protocol for IRC clients and servers to communicate, the clients and servers themselves, the networks made of IRC servers, the community of users of those networks, and the set of IRC networks in general.

An IRC network is composed of one or more servers linked together (in order to spread the load and minimize traffic over slow links). All users on a network can communicate with each other, but not with users on other networks. There are a handful of giant IRC networks, with millions of users; and there are a large number of very small networks, each with dozens to thousands of users. On each network, users can join channels to discuss different topics. The oldest channels on the major IRC networks have been around for a long time, and are often more of a social club than a topical discussion.

See "IRC Prelude" at http://www.irchelp.org/ for more information.
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