I spend quite a lot of my time on Freenode as it has so many useful channels and people that can help you.

I use Textual IRC client and I use ZNC network bouncer to always keep me logged in to the servers as well as it keeping history logs when I am away.

Here are the IRC channels I often frequent:

IRC commands

Textual keeps a command reference here.

• /list - Open channel list.

• /msg *nickserv set <yourNSpassword> - Lets Nickserv autologin you. Can then run /nick <your-nick> to login.

Notes

• If I ever get issues with logging in and me being Guest. I can:

  • /msg NickServ RELEASE <nickname> <password>

  • /nick nikivi my nick

Links

• ​IRC Gitter - Connect to Gitter with Textual.

• ​BotBot - IRC logs.

• ​WhatsApp web <-> IRC gateway​

• ​picobounce - IRC bouncer that does just what I want and no more.

• ​Irssi - Modular chat client that is most commonly known for its text mode user interface, but 80% of the code isn't text mode specific.

• ​Pounce - Multi-client, TLS-only IRC bouncer. (Lobsters)