rymirc is Rymnet's text chat: public, signed channels plus direct messages, with a client in both rymsh (terminal) and rymwin (desktop). There is no chat server anywhere — see “How this actually works” below for what that means in practice.
From rymsh (terminal)
Log in first, then start a chat session:
rymsh:/home$ login yourname yourpassword rymsh:yourname@/home$ irc
This opens a full-screen chat view. Commands, typed at the > prompt:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/join #channel | Switch to a channel, fetching its recent history. Creates it implicitly if nobody's posted there yet. |
/msg <user> <text> | Send a private direct message to one user (see “Direct messages” below). |
| (plain text) | Sent to whichever channel you last joined. |
/help | Show this command list inline. |
/quit or Ctrl-C | Leave and return to the rymsh prompt. |
Example session:
> /join #general > hello everyone > /msg rob hey, got a minute? > /quit
From rymwin (desktop)
Open the Start menu and choose Chat (greyed out until you're logged in). The window has a channel list on the left, a Join field to add or switch channels, the message scrollback in the center, and a compose box at the bottom — type and press Enter or click Send. A Direct Message... button opens a small compose window for a private message to one user.
Direct messages
A DM isn't a special chat feature — it's the same sealed, signed mail every other part of Rymnet uses (see the rymsh Guide page's Email section), just sent through a chat-styled input instead of the full compose form. Only the recipient can decrypt it; a relaying peer sees ciphertext.
How this actually works
There is no presence system in Rymnet — no way for your node to ask “where is this other person connected right now.” Chat doesn't try to answer that question; it sidesteps it, the same way Rymnet's mail already does:
- Sending signs your message and broadcasts it to every peer you have configured. Any of them will relay/store it for any channel name, without needing any relationship with whoever eventually reads it.
- Reading checks your own local disk first, then asks every peer you have configured for anything new in that channel, and merges/deduplicates the results.
No routing table, no lookup, no central directory of who's online — just relay-and-poll. The honest tradeoff: this is near-real-time, not instant. Messages from other people typically show up within a few seconds (both clients poll automatically while a channel is open), not the moment they're sent.
Trust model
Channel messages are signed but not encrypted — public, like a .rym site's content, not confidential like mail. Anyone relaying or reading a channel can see what was posted; what's cryptographically guaranteed is who posted it. A message showing [unverified] means its signature didn't check out against that username's currently registered identity — treat it the same way you'd treat an unverified sender in the Mail app.