ircio is part of this distribution.
You can set whether you want to install it within the Makefile,
here's a little help in deciding:

Pros:
IRCII will run as two separate processes, with ircio responding to server
PINGs.  This means you can stop IRCII (with ^Z) and not get disconnected 
from a server. It will buffer 4K of stuff before it blocks and PINGs
will be missed.  If, for some reason, the ircio program cannot be
started, IRCII will connect directly to the server without it
(transparently to the user)

Cons:
It blocks beyond 4K of stuff.
While being smaller than IRCII, it still takes up disk space.
Since it runs as a separate process, it uses system resources while
running (although not much).

Note: If you add #define NON_BLOCKING to ircio.c, then ircio will
not block at all.  Rather, it will discard all info beyond the 4K.
This means it will never miss a PING.
It can, however, screw up certain things (such as NOTIFY) if some
of the return information is discarded.  Use this NON_BLOCKING at
your own discretion 

Operation of IRCII is identical either way.  Remember to do a 
"make installserv" to compile and install ircio if you are using it.
