EPIC

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~~NOTOC~~ 
======Welcome to EPIC!====== 
EPIC is a IRC client that has been under active development for 25+ years in 5 generations. It is stable and mature, and offers an excellent ircII interface for those of us who are accustomed to the ircII way of doing things.

======How to get EPIC====== 
===Git==== 
EPIC is distributed as source code, and is very portable.  It should compile on any unix-like environment using any compiler.  Just clone it and run './configure' and 'make install'!

To get EPIC5:     
git clone http://git.epicsol.org/epic5.git

To get EPIC4:     
git clone http://git.epicsol.org/epic4.git

====Source Releases==== 
Proper EPIC releases are distributed as tarballs:
   * http://ftp.epicsol.org/pub/epic/EPIC5-PRODUCTION/epic5-2.1.12.tar.xz
   * http://ftp.epicsol.org/pub/epic/EPIC4-PRODUCTION/epic4-2.10.10.tar.xz

====Binary Packages==== 
Many OS distributions include an EPIC binary package.  It will probably be called "epic5" or "epic"

====Release Notes====
Visit [[release notes]] for changes that have happened to EPIC.

=====Script Packs (or, How do I know if I need EPIC4 or EPIC5?)===== 
EPIC's out of the box experience is pretty austere, trying to be a lot like ircII was in 1993.  That doesn't work for most people, so there are a variety of "Script Packs" which use EPIC's programming power to create a sophisticated user experience.  Each Script Pack works on either EPIC4 or EPIC5, and you can either choose EPIC4 or EPIC5 and then try all the script packs that support it; or you can look at all the script packs, and use whichever EPIC it supports.

======Using EPIC====== 
To start up EPIC, provide it a nickname and a server you want to connect to
     epic5 mynick irc.server.com 
EPIC will connect to "irc.server.com" as "mynick".  If "mynick" is already in use, EPIC will find another nickname for you to use.

There are a lot of command line options and variations so you can visit [[command line options]] for more details.  You can also see that list by running
       epic5 -h

=====Are you having problems with output on EPIC5?====== 
EPIC5-1.1.8 and later support UTF-8, which is harder to get working than you might think.  Please visit the page [[Getting utf-8 working]] if you're having any problems typing or seeing things correctly.

=====Some FAQs===== 
====What is IRC?==== 
IRC is the internet's oldest real-time multi-user chat system.  You connect to an IRC Server, which is part of an IRC Network, and join Channels.  You can talk to the other users who have joined the same channel on the same network.  Because there are many IRC Networks, you will want a client that easily connects to and manages multiple networks for you.   The IRC platform is completely open in every way.  It was not created by a company, and there are no patents or other license issues.  It is published as RFC1459, and there are many IRC server implementations of it, all of which are compatable with EPIC (or any other IRC client).  There are literally thousands of servers and hundreds of networks for you to connect to and talk to people on.

=====Why does EPIC exist?===== 
EPIC exists because we want irc to be fun!  You can always find a "better" irc client, for some value of "better", but you probably won't find one that lets you have more fun exploring your geeky tendencies.

=====Who uses EPIC?===== 
The scripters who are creating irc experiences, and the users who enjoy those experiences.  You don't really use EPIC as much as you are using an EPIC Script. If you have problems using EPIC, contact the author of the script you are  using.

=====Help with EPIC===== 
EPIC comes with [[help_root|help pages]], which you can help us maintain!

=====Programming EPIC===== 
EPIC comes with a mature, stable programming language which behaves a lot like TCL.  Visit [[epic_scripting]] to get started with the adventure!

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