Internet Relay Chat

[Jeremy Cooper]

> Note that IRC, unlike MUDS, has been designed to ensure 'true-names'. While
> you do use nicknames, anyone can find out the machine name and user ID you are
> logged in from, with a /whois. Anytime you join or leave a channel, your full
> machine name and user ID is displayed to everyone, along with your nick. This
> is different from any (possibly pseudonymous) e-mail address you register for
> incoming mail.

Site name may be true, but there is no insurance that the user ID is 
right.  IRC asks the client for the username at startup.  It is possible 
to recompile IRC and have it search for a environment variable containing 
the user ID you wish to use (or put it on the command line if you like.)  
I have done this myself.
                   _  .  _ ___ _  .  _
===-|)/\\/|V|/\/\ (_)/_\|_|\_/(_)/_\|_| Stop by for an excursion into the-===
===-|)||| | |\/\/  mud.crl.com 8888 (_) Virtual Bay Area!                -===