Hello all!

Please give a warm welcome to ngIRCd Release 23~rc1, our just published first release candidate for the next "feature release" of ngIRCd, the lightweight and portable Internet Relay Chat server for small and private networks.

There have been 56 commits since our last stable release, ngIRCd 22.1. The NEWS file lists these new features:

• Use "NOTICE *" before registration instead of "NOTICE AUTH". "AUTH" is a valid nickname so sending notices to it is probably not a good idea. Use "*" as the target instead as done with numerics when the nick is not available. This mimics the behavior in Charybdis, IRCD-Hybrid, InspIRCd 2.2, Plexus 4, etc. Closes #217. The "NoticeAuth" configuration variable (ngircd.conf) has been renamed to "NoticeBeforeRegistration" accordingly, but the old name is still supported for compatibility reasons. • Implement new channel mode "N" (regular users can't change their nick name while on this channel). Closes #214. • Keep track of who placed bans, invites, and excepts. Idee and implementation by LucentW, Thanks! Closes #203. • Implement numeric RPL_LISTSTART(321). lightIRC and other clients expecting RPL_LISTSTART should now behave correctly. Idee and implementation by LucentW, Thanks! Closes #207. • Streamline the effect of "MorePrivacy" option: Update documentation in ngircd.conf(5); don't hide channels for IRC Ops on LIST and don't hide IP addresses/host names on WHOIS when "MorePrivacy" is in effect. This closes #198. • IRC operators now can kick anyone when "OperCanMode" is set. Idee and implementation by LucentW, Thanks! Closes #202. • Implement user mode "I": Hide channels on WHOIS: this mode prevents ngIRCd from showing channels on WHOIS (IRC Operators can always see the channel list). Idee and implementation by LucentW, Thanks! Closes #197. • INVITE command: Implement ERR_USERNOTONSERV(504) numeric and make sure that the target user is on the same server when inviting other users to local ("&") channels. Idea by Cahata, thanks! Closes #183. • MODE command: Always report channel creation time. Up to now when receiving a MODE command, ngIRCd only reported the channel creation time to clients that were members of the channel. This patch reports the channel creation time to all clients, regardless if they are joined to that channel or not. At least ircd-seven behaves like this. This closes #188. Reported by Cahata, thanks!

Please test this release candidate thoroughly and report all glitches, problems, errors, and regressions you encounter! Best is to file bugs and feature requests here:

• ngIRCd Bug Tracker: http://ngircd.barton.de/bugzilla/

You can find more information on our homepage at http://ngircd.barton.de/ and its mirror http://ngircd.mirror.3rz.org/.

The primary download locations are:

• http://ngircd.barton.de/pub/ngircd/ • http://ngircd.mirror.3rz.org/pub/ngircd/

And as usual: a big THANKS to all users, bug reporters, contributors, packagers, testers, and supporters: Your work is highly appreciated!

Have fun! Alex