Jarkko Oikarinen
Jarkko Oikarinen, known on IRC as
WiZ, was the developer of the first Internet chat network, called
IRC, short for
Internet Relay Chat. He wrote the first
server and
client in August
1988. It was first written to replace a program called MUT (MultiUser Talk) on a
BBS called OuluBox in Finland. Jarkko Oikarinen found inspiration in Bitnet Relay Chat which operated on the
Bitnet network.