HexChat is an IRC client based on XChat, it was originally called XChat-WDK. The latest HexChat 2.9.6 has been released with many improvements and bug fixes.

HexChat 2.9.6 expanded SASL support to include BLOWFISH and AES encryption and EXTERNAL for using client certs, added server-time support so bouncers like ZNC can print their playback and show native timestamps. See the ChangeLog:

• redesign edit window in network list
• rename favorites to autojoin
• improve url detection yet again (this time w/ more ipv6!)
• implement /exec -o on Windows
• improvements to the dcc window
• improvements to sysinfo on unix, including -e to print info instead of saying
• add support for BLOWFISH, AES, and EXTERNAL SASL mechanisms
• add reload command and button in plugingui
• add support for server-time and znc.in/server-time[-iso] capabilities
• add attributes to hook_print/server and emit_print for information such as server-time
• add support for QuakeNet’s challangeauth
• add chanopt for stripping colors
• add copy option to banlist entries
• add autoconnect option to context menu of networks
• add option for omitting alerts while window is focused
• add python3 support along with various bugfixes
• add libcanberra support on unix
• add tracking of users accounts
• add %u to userlist popups for accounts
• add channelkey to channel lists in plugin api
• add MONITOR support for the friends list
• add QUIET and UNQUIET commands
• add support for the away-notify, account-notify, and extended-join capabilities
• add notifications for friends away status (requires away-notify)
• add events for quiet, unquiet, and quietlist
• add Ctrl+N (New Server Window) keybinding
• add ctrl+home/end keybinding for scrolling to top/bottom
• add theme manager to unix build system
• fix compilation on FreeBSD
• fix running as root
• fix splitting ctcps and notices
• fix alerts and scrollback chanopts
• fix crash when attaching/detaching tabs
• fix sending limited channel messages (op messages) to the wrong tab
• change /load -e to load from config dir
• remove Ctrl+L (Clear Text) keybinding
• remove custom sound applications
• remove away announce, replaced by away-notify on supported servers. (alternative python script)
• update network list

Install HexChat via PPA:

The PPA supports for Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy, Ubuntu 13.04 Raring, Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal, Ubuntu 12.04 Precise and their derivatives such as Linux Mint and Elementary OS.

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run below command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gwendal-lebihan-dev/hexchat-stable

Then update and install it:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install hexchat