Internet Relay Chat history

Creating XDCC (or Xabi DCC) by Xabi Feb 2016 https://www.reddit.com/r/irc/comments/44pyg8/original_xdcc_author_here_its_amazing_xdcc_is/czs6bge


Well, ths history is simple. I used to be on IRC all the night talking with people all around the globe in the early 90s. Before XDCC I coded some irc bots and other kind of scripts, and people usually ask me if I can send them these files. My computer (in the university) was a DEC vt100 terminal (just text), so trying to send files to your friends using DCC was a pain (CTRL-Z on IRC, ls, …, DCC send …). So I decided to make my live easy in order to avoid sending files “by hand” to everyone. The first script was very simple, just send files on CTCP request, then I added packages, and people lists.

You also must note that English is not my 1st language, so added all the commands and instructions (in English), was not easy for me.

One day someone told me that my script was being distributed with a backdoor. This backdor allowed orther people to remote execute commands on you computer. Not funny.

The name of the script “XDCC” comes from “Xabi DCC” not “eXtended XDCC” (which is also a good name), but you know I was young :)

At the end, I also reprogrammed some parts on the ircII client in order to get more info about the file transfers, so XDCC could also show you the transfers speeds, ETA, etc.

Good times, I really miss programming all the night with my friends, and play doom in the university network.