Well, I'm using BithcX. In fact, I almost never chat, so I know very little about this entire IRC business :)
I'm the exact opposite, probably explains why you seem so much more productive than me :)
Anyway, I tried BitchX for about 5 minutes, as I thought some of the quit messages were funny. Then I realised irssi was nearly the same, except it made sense and actually does what you want, and started using that instead. Highly recommended, unless you're the type who likes guis.... (so why are you using linux? :)