When comparing ii vs irc.c, the Slant community recommends ii for most people. In the question“What are the best IRC clients for UNIX-like systems?” ii is ranked 9th while irc.c is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose ii is:
ii is a minimalist FIFO and filesystem-based IRC client. It creates an irc directory tree with server, channel and nick name directories. In every directory a FIFO in file and a normal out file is created. The in file is used to communicate with the servers and the out files contain the server messages. For every channel and every nick name there are related in and out files created. This allows IRC communication from command line and adheres to the Unix philosophy.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Everything is a file
ii is a minimalist FIFO and filesystem-based IRC client. It creates an irc directory tree with server, channel and nick name directories. In every directory a FIFO in file and a normal out file is created.
The in file is used to communicate with the servers and the out files contain the server messages. For every channel and every nick name there are related in and out files created. This allows IRC communication from command line and adheres to the Unix philosophy.
Pro Single server
Each instance of the client can only connect to one server and then you can join multiple channels with the join command.
Example: "irc -s irc.freenode.net", then "j #lua" and "j #chicken"
Pro Open-source
The source code (a single C file) is under public domain.
Pro Infinite scrollback
You can move up and down the history with the "Page Up" and "Page Down" keys.
Pro Automatic reconnection
It automatically connects you back if you happen to get disconnected.
Cons
Con Documentation
Its website and README do not give enough information about shortcuts and commands. You have to look those things up in the source file.