Idling

Idling (Engl. To idle = lazy running, idle, idle away) doing nothing called a user over a long period in a chat room . The term is most commonly used in connection with Internet Relay Chat (IRC) or other chat systems. A computer is also called idle when the main processor has no processes to process and is idling . The length of time that has passed since the last activity is called the idletime .

Reasons for prolonged idling in chats are usually a distraction of the chatter by other activities on the computer or the physical absence from the computer. With IRC, users are often automatically logged in as soon as their computer is switched on and connected to the Internet without actually chatting. The use of bouncers , which are logged in instead of the user on IRC and idle there around the clock, is also widespread .

Excessive idling is not welcome on some IRC networks and channels . For this reason, some IRC scripts regularly reset the idletime by sending a message to the user at irregular intervals. In this way, the user can conceal any excessive idling, but also whether he is currently present or not.

In the meantime, the verb idlen is also increasingly used in the sense of “staying in an (IRC) channel”. It does not matter whether the user is active or inactive. So you can find in larger IRC networks z. Often, for example, the request to "idle" a newly created channel to help the owner reach a certain number of users that is required to request an IRC bot made available by the network operators . This request to "idle" does not mean that you should be inactive in the channel concerned. On the other hand, the formulation also suggests that it is sufficient to be present in the channel and that active participation is not absolutely necessary.