Joining In

If you don't have an IRC client installed, or don't even know what an IRC client is then you might want to try connecting to the channels using a web browser.

• Click here to join in the discussion directly in your browser

Use your IRC client (such as xchat, irssi or mIRC) to connect to the Freenode IRC network at irc.freenode.net. You can do this manually by typing:

• /server irc.freenode.net

Then join #ubuntu-classroom for the time and date of the session you want to attend. You can manually join the channel by typing:

• /join #ubuntu-classroom

To quiet various noise that happens in the IRC channels during the talk use this command (in supported clients only):

• /ignore #ubuntu-classroom CRAP NOTICES SNOTES CTCPS JOINS PARTS QUITS KICKS MODES WALLOPS NICKS DCC DCCMSGS CLIENTNOTICES CLIENTCRAP CLIENTERRORS HILIGHTS

You should also join #ubuntu-classroom-chat which is the general discussion channel for the session. Questions should be posted there. You should prefix your questions with "QUESTION:" to make them easier to spot.

Most sessions last for around an hour. Contact the #ubuntu-classroom-backstage channel on IRC if you have any problems.

For instructions on how to use the various IRC clients, see XChatHowto, Pidgin, and Irssi, respectively. General information about IRC is locate at InternetRelayChat. For Windows users just getting started finding out about Ubuntu, you can use XChat for Windows from http://silverex.info/download/ or Pidgin from http://www.pidgin.im/ (both free). For Ubuntu users of course these come from the repositories.