WeeChat

{{Infobox software

| name = WeeChat

| logo = Weechat logo.png

| screenshot = WeeChat 3.4 screenshot.png

| caption = WeeChat 3.4 with the default configuration

| collapsible =

| developer = Sébastien Helleu

| released = {{Start date and age|2003|06|26}}

| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q2000469|P348|P548=Q2804309}}

| latest release date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q2000469|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}

| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q2000469|P348|P548=Q51930650}}

| latest preview date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q2000469|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}

| programming language = C

| operating system = Linux, BSD, OS X, GNU Hurd, Microsoft Windows (using Cygwin)

| size = 17.2 MB

| language = 14 languages{{cite web| url = https://weechat.org/doc/devel/ | title= WeeChat translations | website = WeeChat | access-date = 2021-09-04}}

| genre = IRC client

| license = GPL-3.0-or-later

}}

WeeChat (Wee Enhanced Environment for Chat) is a free and open-source Internet Relay Chat client that is designed to be light and fast. It is released under the terms of the GNU GPL-3.0-or-later and has been developed since 2003.

WeeChat comes with a default ncurses interface, and it is possible to use other interfaces (e.g. Glowing Bear,{{cite web|title=Glowing Bear - A web client for WeeChat|url=https://github.com/glowing-bear/glowing-bear|website=github.com|publisher=glowing-bear.org|access-date=16 December 2015}} a web frontend) through the use of the relay plugin.{{Cite web|url=https://weechat.org/files/doc/stable/weechat_user.en.html#relay_plugin|title=WeeChat user's guide|last=Helleu|first=Sébastien|website=weechat.org|language=en|access-date=2017-09-27}}

Features

WeeChat's features include:{{cite web

| url = https://weechat.org/about/features/

| title = WeeChat :: about :: Features

| access-date = 2014-01-28

| publisher=weechat.org

}}

IPv6
SSL
Proxy connections
The screen can be split up to display multiple windows at the same time.
Incremental text search
Aspell support for spell checking
Scripting support for many languages (Perl, Python, Ruby, Lua, Tcl, Scheme with GNU Guile, JavaScript with V8 (JavaScript engine), PHP)
FIFO pipes for remote control
Support for multiple character encodings
User-defined aliases and shortkeys

Supported platforms

WeeChat supports most platforms and operating systems, including Linux, BSD, macOS, Debian GNU/Hurd, HP-UX, Solaris, QNX, Haiku, and Microsoft Windows (via the Cygwin library and API).{{cite web

| url = https://weechat.org/news/77/20131019-WeeChat-in-Cygwin/

| title = WeeChat in Cygwin

| access-date = 2014-08-06

| date = 2013-10-19

| publisher=weechat.org

}}

Binary packages and builds of WeeChat are available for installation as well as the source code for self compilation.{{cite web

| url = https://weechat.org/download

| title = WeeChat: Downloads

| access-date = 2009-04-14

| date = 2009-03-04

| publisher=weechat.org

}} This includes most Linux distributions and BSD package management systems, such as Debian,{{cite web

| url = http://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=weechat&searchon=names&suite=all§ion=all

| title = Debian: WeeChat packages

| access-date = 2009-04-14

| publisher=packages.debian.org

}} Ubuntu,{{cite web

| url = http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=weechat&searchon=names&suite=all§ion=all

| title = Ubuntu: WeeChat packages

| access-date = 2009-04-14

| publisher=packages.ubuntu.org

}} Mandriva Linux,{{cite web

| url = http://club.mandriva.com/xwiki/bin/view/rpms/Application/weechat

| title = Mandriva: WeeChat packages

| access-date = 2009-04-14

| publisher=mandriva.com

}} Fedora,{{cite web

| url = https://admin.fedoraproject.org/pkgdb/packages/name/weechat

| title = Fedora: WeeChat packages

| publisher = fedoraproject.org

| access-date = 2009-04-14

}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Gentoo Linux,{{cite web

| url = http://packages.gentoo.org/package/net-irc/weechat

| title = Gentoo: WeeChat packages

| access-date = 2009-04-14

| publisher=gentoo.org

}} Arch Linux,{{cite web

| url = http://www.archlinux.org/packages/?q=weechat

| title = Arch Linux: WeeChat packages

| access-date = 2009-04-14

| publisher=archlinux.org

}} FreeBSD via the FreeBSD Ports system, OpenBSD via the Ports collection, as well on NetBSD via Pkgsrc.{{cite web

| url = http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/ports/irc/weechat/

| title = FreeBSD Ports: WeeChat

| access-date = 2009-04-14

| publisher=freebsd.org

}}

Reception

In his review for Free Software Magazine, Martin Brown graded WeeChat with 43 points out of a possible 50, noting that "At first glance, WeeChat is not as friendly or easy to use as Rhapsody", but, "There’s a lot of hidden power built into the application", including Python, Perl, Ruby and Lua extensions which can be selected at installation.{{cite journal |journal=Free Software Magazine |issue=7 |title= Free IRC clients : Choosing the best IRC client for your needs |first=Martin|last=Brown|date=2005-09-07 |url=http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/free_irc?page=0%2C1 | access-date=2014-01-28}}