[Pidgin Plugins] #470: IRC Helper authenticates using ID with number appended

[Pidgin Plugins]

#470: IRC Helper authenticates using ID with number appended
------------------------------+---------------------------------------------
  Reporter:  tmetro           |       Owner:  rlaager   
      Type:  Bugs             |      Status:  new       
 Milestone:                   |   Component:  PluginPack
   Version:  PluginPack2.2.0  |    Severity:  minor     
Resolution:                   |    Keywords:            
   Pending:  0                |  
------------------------------+---------------------------------------------
Comment (by jbailey):

 Replying to [comment:2 tmetro]:
 > Replying to [comment:1 jbailey]:
 > > The plugin already has such an option--"Disconnect ghosts".
 >
 > Does this have to be enabled in any way or is it automatic if the
 prerequisite you mention below is met? I see no configuration option for
 IRC Helper - at least not in the UI.

 It should be automatic, but I am far less familiar with IRCHelper than I
 should be.  The option is on the Advanced tab when editing your IRC
 account.  It is a checkbox just below the "Nick password" field.  Richard
 will be able to answer with more detail and accuracy than I can.

 > > IRC's specification prohibits two clients sharing the same nick, thus
 if your
 > > connection is interrupted and the server hasn't timed it out yet, your
 nick will
 > > still be shown as in use.
 >
 > But if you have a registered nick, and you authenticate, shouldn't that
 boot off the prior connection?

 Services authentication (i.e. messaging !NickServ to authenticate) is not
 part of the IRC specification.  The forced rejection of the in-use nick
 happens before authentication could possibly take place.  There is also
 the possibility that you actually want to have two connections active at
 the same time and have that second connection fall back to an alternate
 nick automatically without reconfiguration, although that's difficult in
 Pidgin.

 > > This is why freenode (at least) recommends registering your alternate
 nicks and
 > > linking them to your primary whenever possible...
 >
 > Are you saying this is a workaround or that this is the required
 procedure to get things to work with IRC Helper?

 This is simply freenode's recommended practice.  It is useful for channels
 that require identification to services before joining, channels in which
 you have operator status, etc., for your alternate nicks to be registered
 and linked, as for the most part all the linked nicks are treated as one
 and the same.  I don't know if this has an effect on IRCHelper's
 functionality.

 > If I register alternate nicks, how far up the chain of numbers do I go?
 1, 2, 3...?
 > Do I use the same password as for the primary nick? Does IRC Helper know
 to authenticate using the same password as the primary?

 Freenode recommends registering and linking two alternate nicks.  In
 Pidgin's case, you would probably want to register tmetr1 and tmetr2 and
 link both to tmetro.  In some other clients you can choose customized
 alternate nicks, but the IRC plugin doesn't implement that, as I briefly
 touched on previously.  IRCHelper, as far as I know, expects that any
 registered nicks share the same password.  I do not know if the
 authentication is blindly sending a message regardless of registered
 status, however, and I'm currently too tired to look through the code to
 find out.

 >
 > Thanks.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://plugins.guifications.org/trac/ticket/470#comment:3>
Pidgin Plugins <http://pidgin.guifications.org/>
Plugins for the Instant Messaging client Pidgin and its backend library libpurple