▁can ▁also ▁perform ▁functions ▁such ▁as ▁logging ▁what ▁is ▁posted ▁to ▁an ▁I RC ▁channel , ▁giving ▁out ▁information ▁on ▁demand ▁( very ▁popular ▁in ▁I RC ▁channels ▁dealing ▁with ▁user ▁support ), ▁creating ▁statistics ▁tracking ▁the ▁channel ' s ▁top ▁post ers ▁and ▁longest - l ived ▁l urk ers , ▁or ▁hosting ▁t riv ia , ▁Un o ▁and ▁other ▁games . ▁ ▁These ▁functions ▁are ▁usually ▁provided ▁by ▁scripts , ▁often ▁written ▁in ▁a ▁script ing ▁programming ▁language ▁such ▁as ▁T cl ▁or ▁Perl ▁by ▁the ▁bot ' s ▁users . ▁Ch annels ▁dedicated ▁to ▁file ▁sharing ▁often ▁use ▁X D CC ▁b ots ▁to ▁dist ribute ▁their ▁files . ▁ ▁I RC ▁b ots ▁are ▁particularly ▁useful ▁on ▁I RC ▁networks ▁such ▁as ▁EF net ▁and ▁I RC net ▁without ▁channel ▁registration ▁services , ▁and ▁on ▁networks ▁like ▁Und ern et ▁or ▁Qu ake Net ▁that ▁require ▁conditions ▁to ▁be ▁met ▁( min imum ▁user ▁count , ▁etc .) ▁before ▁a ▁channel ▁may ▁be ▁registered . ▁ ▁Where ▁b ots ▁are ▁used ▁for ▁administrative ▁functions ▁such ▁as ▁this , ▁they ▁may ▁need ▁more ▁access ▁than ▁a ▁normal ▁client ▁connection ▁allows . ▁ ▁Some ▁versions ▁of ▁I RC ▁have ▁a ▁" Service " ▁protocol ▁that ▁allows ▁clients ▁with ▁these ▁extra ▁powers . ▁ ▁Such ▁server - san ction ed ▁b ots ▁are ▁called ▁I RC ▁services . ▁ ▁B ots ▁are ▁not ▁always ▁welcome . ▁Some ▁I RC ▁networks ▁forb id ▁the ▁usage ▁of ▁b ots . ▁One ▁of ▁the