Irssi is a terminal based IRC client for UNIX systems. It also supports SILC and ICB protocols via plugins.
Greatest features
You might be wondering what makes Irssi such an easy and comfortable client to use; Joost Vunderink wrote a summary of the most beneficial Irssi features.
Autologging
Irssi will automatically log any channels, queries or special windows that you want. The logfiles will be separated per IRC network, and even log rotation is supported. Log file formats, themes and destination directories can be easily configured with the Irssi log settings.
Formats and themes
Theming is a popular item in todays desktop enviroments, it's an easy yet powerful way to customize your Irssi client's look and feel. Irssi's formatting is modular which means you can just change the appearance of the objects and all items contaning that object will change into that format.
Configurable keybindings
This feature is a piece of art; it allows you to modify the default keybindings and create your own so you can customize your client. If these keybindings are tuned, you can switch through the windows in no time, execute commands and even complete objects with these bindings.
Paste detection
If you have ever pasted a bunchload of text into a wrong channel, you know how hard the consequences can be. Irssi tries to Detect when you are pasting large amounts of text, by looking at the speed that characters are entered; if such pasting is detected [TAB]-characters are sent as-is instead of being tab-completed and eventually ending up in a wrong destination window. When Irssi detects such a pasting, you will get the option to either abort the paste or execute the paste, this way you have total control of the pasting.
Perl scripting
Perl is one of the most used programming languages around the globe and integrating Perl into applications means flexible and powerful scripting capabilities.
