markwhi/eggdrop-1.9

$Id: README,v 1.26 2004/06/20 21:33:27 wingman Exp $

Readme
Last revised: December 10, 2003
     _________________________________________________________________

                                   Readme

  Please at least SKIM this document before asking questions. In fact, READ IT
  if you've never successfully set up an Eggdrop bot before. PLEASE! READ IT!

  Contents

    0. Important notice
    1. What is Eggdrop?
    2. How do I get Eggdrop?
    3. Command line
    4. Boring legal stuff
    5. Mailing list
    6. Documentation
    7. Obtaining help

     _________________________________________________________________

  (0) NOTICE

    Please read this file carefully before trying to set up Eggdrop. Also,
    make SURE that you select your +n (owner) users wisely! They have 100%
    access to your bot and account! ONLY GIVE THIS POWER TO SOMEONE YOU
    TRUST COMPLETELY!!

    Remember that this is a DEVELOPMENT VERSION. Everything isn't guaranteed
    to work. Eggdrop 1.9 should *NOT* be used in a production environment.

  (1) WHAT IS EGGDROP?

    Eggdrop is the world's most popular Internet Relay Chat (IRC) bot; it is
    freely distributable under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Eggdrop
    is a feature rich program designed to be easily used and expanded upon by
    both novice and advanced IRC users on a variety of hardware and software
    platforms.

    An IRC bot is a program that sits on an IRC channel and preforms automated
    tasks while looking just like a normal user on the channel. Some of these
    functions include protecting the channel from abuse, allowing privileged
    users to gain op or voice status, logging channel events, providing
    information, hosting games, etc.

    One of the features that makes Eggdrop stand out from other bots is module
    and Tcl scripting support. With scripts and modules, you can make the bot
    preform almost any task you want. They can do anything from preventing
    floods to greeting users and banning advertisers from channels.

    You can also link multiple Eggdrop bots together to form a botnet. This
    can allow bots to op each other securely, control floods efficiently, and
    even link channels across multiple IRC networks. It also allows the
    Eggdrops share user lists, ban lists, exempt/invite lists, and ignore
    lists with other bots if userfile sharing is enabled. This allows users
    to have the same access on every bot on your botnet. It also allows the
    bots to distribute tasks such as opping and banning users. See doc/BOTNET
    for information on setting up a botnet.

    Eggdrop is always being improved and adjusted because there are bugs to
    be fixed and features to be added (if the users demand them, and they make
    actually sense). In fact, it existed for several years as v0.7 - v0.9
    before finally going 1.0. This version of Eggdrop is part of the 1.6 tree.
    A valiant effort has been made to chase down and destroy bugs.

    This README file contains information about how to get Eggdrop, command
    line options for Eggdrop, what you may need to do when upgrading from
    older versions, a list of frequently asked questions, how to set up a
    crontab, some boring legal stuff, info about the mailing list (a great
    place to ask questions, and a good place to report bugs, too), some basics
    about CVS usage, and some channels where you might get help with Eggdrop.

  (2) HOW TO GET EGGDROP

    You can obtain the LATEST version of Eggdrop 1.9 by using CVS. CVS means
    'Concurrent Versions System' and is a tool for developers to always keep
    source code up to date. Try 'man cvs' on your shell for more information
    about CVS.

    To obtain Eggdrop 1.9 via CVS, do as follows:

      1. Log into your shell.

      2. Type: 'export
         CVSROOT=:pserver:anonymous@cvs.eggheads.org:/usr/local/cvsroot'.

      3. Type 'cvs login'.

      4. Press <enter> when prompted for a password.

      5. In your home dir, type 'cvs checkout eggdrop1.9'

      6. In ~/eggdrop1.9, you should have a copy of the latest CVS version
         of Eggdrop 1.9.

    Notes:

      o You can 'cvs logout', but you don't need to.

      o You don't need to go through this whole process every time. If you
        want to get a CVS version of Eggdrop at a later time, you can just
        'cd ~/eggdrop1.9' and type 'cvs update -CdAP'.

      o If you experience errors when using 'export', you might be using tclsh
        as a shell. If so, try using the command 'setenv' instead of 'export':

          setenv CVSROOT :pserver:anonymous@cvs.eggheads.org:/usr/local/cvsroot

  (3) COMMAND LINE

    Eggdrop has some command-line options -- not many, because most things
    should be defined through the config file. However, sometimes you may
    want to start up the bot in a different mode, and the command-line
    options let you do that. Basically, the command line for Eggdrop is:

      % eggdrop [options] [config-file]

    The options available are:

      -n: Don't background. Normally, Eggdrop will move itself into the
          background when you start it up, meaning you'll get another shell
          prompt, and you can do other things while the bot is running. With
          -n, you won't return to the shell prompt until the bot exits (which
          won't normally happen until it's killed). By default, -n will send
          all log entries to the console.

      -nt: Don't background, use terminal. This is just like -n, except that
           instead of seeing log entries, your console will simulate a DCC
           chat with the bot.

      -nc: Don't background, show channel info. This is just like -n, except
           that instead of seeing log entries, every 10 seconds your screen
           will clear and you will see the current channel status, sort of
           like "top".

      -m: Create userfile. If you don't have a userfile, this will make Eggdrop
          create one and give owner status to the first person that introduces
          himself or herself to it. You'll need to do this when you first set
          up your bot.

      -v: Show version info, then quit.

    Most people never use any of the options except -m, and you usually only
    need to use that once.

  (4) BORING LEGAL STUFF

    The Eggdrop bot is copyright (C) by Robey Pointer. As of January, 1997,
    Eggdrop is distributed according to the GNU General Public License. There
    should be a copy of this license in the file 'COPYING'. If not, write to
    the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

    As of eggdrop1.3.28, all changes made by the Eggheads development team to
    the Eggdrop source code and any related files are copyright (C) by
    Eggheads. The source code will still be distributed according to the GNU
    General Public License as Robey Pointer did in the past.

    Releases previous to 1.0m were made using a different licensing scheme.
    You may, at your option, use the GNU General Public License on those
    versions (instead of the license packaged with them) with my blessing.
    For any versions bearing a copyright date of 1997 or later, you have
    no choice -- you must use the GNU General Public License.

    The files "match.c", "net.c", and "blowfish.c" are exempt from the above
    restrictions. "match.c" is original code by Chris Fuller (email:
    crf@cfox.bchs.uh.edu) and has been placed by him into the public domain.
    "net.c" is by me, and I [who?] also choose to place it in the public
    domain. "blowfish.c" is by various sources and is in the public domain
    as well. All 3 files contain useful functions that could easily be
    ported to other applications.

    There is no warranty, implied or whatever. You use this software at your
    own risk, no matter what purpose you put it to.

  (5) MAILING LIST

    If you are interested in Eggdrop 1.9, and/or the development of Eggdrop,
    the eggdev@eggheads.org mailing list focuses on these topics.

    To subscribe to the eggdev mailing list, send an e-mail to wcc@eggheads.org
    explaining why you would like to be a part of the list. Then visit the
    following url to subscribe to the list:

      http://scrambled.eggheads.org/mailman/listinfo/eggdev

    NOTE: All subscribe requests not accompanied by an e-mail to
    wcc@eggheads.org WILL be rejected.

    ### DO NOT SEND ROBEY EMAIL ABOUT EGGDROP! ###

    Robey is no longer developing the Eggdrop code, so don't bother e-mailing
    him. If you have a serious problem, email the eggheads mailing list and
    it will get to the coders.

    Please, before posting to this list, see what things are like. When you do
    post, read over your post for readability, spelling, and grammar mistakes.

    DO NOT SEND HTML E-MAILS TO ANY OF THE EGGHEADS.ORG MAILING LISTS. ANYONE
    CAUGHT SENDING HTML E-MAILS TO ONE OF THESE LISTS WILL BE REMOVED
    IMMEDIATELY!

  (6) DOCUMENTATION

    We're trying to keep the documentation up to date. If you feel that
    anything is missing here or that anything should be added, etc, please
    email docteam@eggheads.org about it. Thank you.

  (7) OBTAINING HELP

    See 'MAILING LIST' (5). IRC support is NOT available for Eggdrop 1.9 at
    this time.

  ________________________________________________________________________

Copyright (C) 1997 Robey Pointer
Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Eggheads Development Team