New IRC protocol

This is a front page for the IRC protocol I have developed on and off over the past few years, intended as a replacement for the current IRC protocol. Comments are welcome, to achurch@achurch.org. I would particularly appreciate suggestions on the following unresolved points (marked with "FIXME" in the document):

Is there a better algorithm for avoiding out-of-order message arrivals when dealing with redundant links?
The nickname collision resolution algorithm (section 5.2.1) may not be sufficient in all cases.

Note: This is not an official RFC--it just plays one evenings.

Revision: 16 November 2003
irc3-20031116.txt (191219 bytes)
diff-20031116.txt (25907 bytes)

Revision: 8 February 2002
irc3-20020208.txt (188971 bytes)
diff-20020208.txt (16000 bytes)

Revision: 15 October 2001
irc3-20011015.txt (185177 bytes)
diff-20011015.txt (32901 bytes)

Revision: 11 July 2001
irc3-20010711.txt (181231 bytes)
diff-20010711.txt (33212 bytes)

Revision: 15 April 2000
irc3-20000415.txt (178116 bytes)
diff-20000415.txt (13521 bytes)

Revision: 30 March 2000
irc3-20000330.txt (173340 bytes)
diff-20000330.txt (51827 bytes)

Revision: 4 January 2000
irc3-20000104.txt (200511 bytes)
diff-20000104.txt (18985 bytes)

Revision: 2 October 1999
irc3-19991002.txt (199301 bytes)
diff-19991002.txt (13728 bytes)

Revision: 29 September 1999
irc3-19990929.txt (196890 bytes)
diff-19990929.txt (32518 bytes)

Changes:

String lengths are now always 32 bits long, and now have a maximum length of 4,294,967,295 bytes rather than 2,147,483,647 bytes (section 2.1).
Destinations on remote networks no longer include a "senderaddr" parameter, as that would make no sense (section 2.2.2).
Added section 2.2.5, defining the format used for sending messages between networks.
Added a features parameter to supplement the version-id parameter in the user (section 3.1.2) and server (section 3.1.3) messages; also added version-id and features parameters to the remote server message (section 3.1.4). Added RPL_FEATURES to each of the messages to allow the server to return its own features value.
Removed server-id parameter from remote server message (section 3.1.4).
Fixed examples for channel ban message (section 3.3.8) to match the message format.
Removed SHOULD in section 3.5.1 (connect message) since there is no fundamental reason why using actual server names for the server-to-connect identifier is preferable to any other method.
Added a "minimum number of clients" parameter to the list message (section 3.6.3).
Minor changes and clarifications.

Added a network address parameter to the server-server user message (section 3.1.2), and made the "@" character illegal in usernames and hostnames
Changed silence (section 3.4.3) and kill (section 3.4.6) messages to use server/client ID pairs instead of nicknames, both for reduced message size and to avoid nickname change race conditions.
Added silence list message (0x0362/0x03E2, section 3.4.3).
Modified channel ban (section 3.3.8) and silence (section 3.4.3) messages to use separate parameters for nickname, username, and hostname mask strings (since delimiter characters might appear in the masks themselves).
The who message (section 3.6.1) now matches real-names as well; also added channel parameter to who message reply.
Removed expiration time parameter from network/server ban statistics reply parameter lists (section 3.6.12), since they're not defined in the first place.
Fixed numbering collision between ERR_WAS_NO_SUCH_USER and ERR_ALREADY_IN_CHANNEL, and added ERR_NOT_ON_SILENCE_LIST.
Minor changes and clarifications.

Added requirements for text transmission (section 2.5).
Changed usage of messages in section 3.6 to use the regular message format (not replies with text strings) to return information.
Added RPL_*_END replies to signal the end of information responses for section 3.6 messages.
Added servername and extra parameters to who message (section 3.6.1).
Minor changes and clarifications.

Added sections 1.6.2 and 2.2.4 to resolve the FIXME regarding cyclic networks.
Removed definitions of MUST, SHOULD, etc.; the document now only references RFC 2119 for the meanings.
Removed ESC from list of allowable control characters, and added space and 0xA0, in section 6.5 (special characters in names).
Minor changes and clarifications.

Added client ID and hostname parameters to server-server user message and removed version ID parameter.
Non-local clients get an idle time of -1 in a whois response.
Flag bit 9 (32-bit string lengths) removed due to redundancy.
Inter-network message passing protocol clarified.
Added note about network name collisions (section 5.2.4).
Finished section 6.5 (special characters in names).
Minor changes and clarifications.

Removed Unicode support due to problems with the standard.
Added option for servers to limit allowable characters in names.
Added CR and LF to the list of recommended invalid characters for nick/server/channel names.
Added section 6.5 discussing problems with special characters in names.
Revised names message response format (section 3.6.2) to consistently include an 8-bit status value at the beginning of every nickname.
Removed appendix C (requirements list) as it was getting long and had the potential to become inconsistent with the main text.
Minor changes and clarifications.

Changed channel names to be the same as RFC1459 (beginning with # or &) to avoid race conditions with setting CMODE_LOCAL. Removed CMODE_LOCAL and ERR_CANNOT_CHANGE_DIST_LOCAL.
Minor changes and clarifications.

Made timestamp definitions consistent and extended them to 64 bits. Added sections 2.4 and 6.4.
Clarified statistics type 0x6D (section 3.6.12).
Minor changes and clarifications.

Added time message (0x050E, section 3.6.15).
Added recommended stats requests (section 3.6.12).
Added format for links response (section 3.6.13).
Minor changes and clarifications.