What Does Eris Free Network Mean?
The Eris Free network (EFnet) is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network that was designed by IRC inventor Jarkko Oikarinen in early 1990. It grew to be one of the most widely used IRC networks with more than 40,000 registered users, 15,000 channels and 60 servers worldwide.
Techopedia Explains Eris Free Network
EFnet was created to circumvent IRC servers that did not require login credentials to access chat rooms/channels or set up IRC servers. At the time of its conception, eris.berkeley.edu was the last server that supported the previous IRC model. EFnet added a Quarantine Line (Q-Line) specification to eliminate the IRC servers that ran on the eris.berkeley.edu operational model. The IRC servers that added Q-line specification became part of EFnet.
EFnet requires connection of a client-end application with the IRC network. Each EFnet IRC channel was managed and monitored by administrators that specified policies and controls for user access.
mIRC is a popular utility for Windows and EPIC for Unix-based systems.