Chat

Multi-user real-time chat. Three separate systems share the "chat"
label:

1. Local chat

Users on this BBS talking to each other in real time. Terminal
only — main menu → Chat → Local Chat/Multinode. There is currently
no web equivalent of local chat (the web Chat menu only has MRC Chat
and IRC — see below).

Multinode chat is a lightweight broadcast: /list to see who's
connected, /w <slot> <msg> to whisper a specific node, /q to quit
back to the menu.

2. IRC — three separate, unrelated things use this word here

• ANetIRC (terminal door) — a full personal IRC client built into
  the terminal Chat menu (SASL, bookmarks, scrollback). This is what
  most callers mean by "IRC chat" on this BBS. See IRC Client for
  the closest write-up of the connection flow (same underlying idea,
  different implementation).
• IRC Client (web) — a personal, per-user IRC connection at
  /irc/ — you pick your own server, nick, and channels, same as
  running your own IRC client, but in the browser. See IRC Client.
• IRC Bridge — a sysop-configured relay between one MRC room and
  one external IRC server/channel, so MRC and IRC users can talk to
  each other. There's no admin web UI for this; it's a database row
  plus its own systemd instance. See IRC Bridge.

3. MRC (Multi-Relay Chat)

A BBS-scene chat network — connects sysops and users across many
BBSes through one central hub. Default ANetBBS connects to the public
hub at mrc.bottomlessabyss.net:5001. Both the web (/mrc/) and
terminal MRC clients talk through the same local bridge, so web and
terminal users share rooms and a single trust identity.

See MRC for the full command reference — it's grown a lot of
terminal-side features (nick sidebar, status bar, ticker, ignore
lists) that are easy to miss if you only skim this page.

Etiquette

• Local channels: keep on-topic; sysop sets the topic.
• MRC/bridged channels: assume people on the other side don't know
  what BBS they're talking to. Mention it when relevant.
• Be patient — async typing means a lull doesn't mean nobody's
  there.

Quick MRC command reference

/me action, /topic [text], /who, /afk [msg] / /back,
/msg <user> <text> (DM). /help asks the hub for its own help
text; for the local command list inside the client, use /helpserver
(alias /h or /?). Full list, including /set//twit//shield,
is on the MRC page.