IRC USER message makes no sense to me

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First, please tell me if I'm not allowed to ask about this protocol here... It just seemed like the best place. Sorry if I'm wrong.

So according to wikipedia the USER message goes like the following:

USER username hostname servername :realname

What's the difference between hostname and servername? Thanks.

Diatribe answered 4/3, 2011 at 22:3 Comment(6)

The question is off-topic - you should only ask programming related questions here. – Thickskinned 4/3, 2011 at 22:5

Wikipedia is not a standards reference. Try RFC 1459. – Corcyra 4/3, 2011 at 22:7

Okay, sorry! Do I need to remove it? Also @Greg, it appeared the same in the RFC as it was on wikipedia. – Diatribe 4/3, 2011 at 22:7

If enough users vote to migrate it to superuser.com it will move there automatically. – Thickskinned 4/3, 2011 at 22:8

Can I move it myself? I hate to be annoying. :\ But I'm not sure how... – Diatribe 4/3, 2011 at 22:9

IMO, it's a programming question. The OP is implementing the protocol. A superuser shouldn't need to know this level of detail, only a coder. – Ludicrous 4/3, 2011 at 22:9

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RFC 1459 states in section 4.1.3:

Note that hostname and servername are normally ignored by the IRC server when the USER command comes from a directly connected client (for security reasons), but they are used in server to server communication.

Corcyra answered 4/3, 2011 at 22:8 Comment(0)

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USER command from RFC1459 is modified in RFC2812 which moots your question slightly.

Conduit answered 21/3, 2011 at 12:42 Comment(2)

It bugs me though that RFC2812 is only informational and doesn't define a standard, even though it obviously conflicts with the old RFC1459. So which to trust? RFC2812 might be newer, but it specifically states it's not a standard. – Poodle 2/6, 2013 at 0:8

@Poodle RFC2812 was written by the IRCnet alone, most IRCds ignore that RFC. ! are not implemented on most servers, and most clients can't handle them correctly. – Hatshepsut 9/10, 2013 at 10:40

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The "hostname" is that of the client.

Ludicrous answered 4/3, 2011 at 22:8 Comment(1)

For privacy reasons, you should not expose the client hostname. Use something else. Some clients use a hardcoded -, other use the username again, and others send localhost. It does not matter what you send. – Hatshepsut 9/10, 2013 at 10:41

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