INSTALLATION
============

If you installed BitlBee from a .deb or .rpm you probably don't have to do
anything anymore for installation. Just skip this section.

If you want to compile BitlBee yourself, that's fine. Just run ./configure
to set up the build system. If configure succeeds, run make to build BitlBee.
make install will move all the files to the right places.

After installation you have to set up inetd (you got that one running,
right? If not, just take a look at utils/bitlbeed.c) to start BitlBee. You
need to add BitlBee to inetd.conf, like this:

6667 stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/bitlbee

Creating a special BitlBee user and running BitlBee with that UID (instead
of just 'nobody') might be a good idea.

Also, don't forget to create the configuration directory (/var/lib/bitlbee/
by default) and chown it to the UID BitlBee is running as. Make sure this
directory is read-/writable by this user only.

(For xinetd users a xinetd configuration file is included: doc/bitlbee.xinetd)

FREEBSD NOTE: It looks like FreeBSD does allow port numbers instead of service
names in inetd.conf, as long as the service for this port exists in
/etc/services. Linux isn't this strict. If you got problems in FreeBSD, just
add a line for your chosen port number to /etc/services.


USAGE
=====

Not much to say here, it's all documented elsewhere already. Just connect to
the new BitlBee IRC server you've just installed and enjoy chatting.


BACKGROUNDS
===========

We are both console lovers. But it is annoying to have a few tty's open with
chat things in them. IRC, ICQ, MSN, AIM, Jabber... For X there is Gaim, which
supports many chatprotocols. Why wasn't there such a thing for the console?

The idea to port Gaim was easily thought of, of course. But we liked our IRC
clients. And we used it the most, so we used it best. Importing it into the
IRC client was a nice idea. But what if someone liked a different client.
Then (s)he had to duplicate our work.

That's a shame, we thought. Doing work twice is pointless. So when Wilmer
got the ingenious thought in his mind while farming, to create an IRC to
other chatnetworks gateway, we were both so excited, that we started working
on it almost immediately. And the result is BitlBee.


WEBSITE
=======

You can find new releases of BitlBee at:
http://www.lintux.cx/bitlbee.html


A NOTE ON ENCRYPTION
====================

BitlBee stores the accounts and settings (not your contact list though) in
some sort of encrypted/obfuscated format.

*** THIS IS NOT A SAFE FORMAT! ***

You should still make sure the rights to the configuration directory and
files are set so that only root and the BitlBee user can read/write them.

This format is not to prevent malicicous users from running with your
passwords, but to prevent accidental glimpses of the administrators to cause
any harm. You have no choice but to trust root though.


LEGAL
=====

BitlBee is distributed under the GPL (GNU General Public License). See the
file COPYING for this license.

Unfortunately some parts of the Gaim Jabber plugin (most notably the XML
code) were licensed under the MPL (Mozilla Public License) version 1.1. We
could not relicense this code under the GPL. As such it is still licensed
under the MPL. The parts of the code to which this applies are marked as
such.

The MPL is provided in the file MPL-1.1.txt. This license is not GPL
compatible. It is however a free software license.

Another parts (the md5 algorithm) is licensed under the Aladdin license.
This license can be found in the files, to which this applies.

	BitlBee - An IRC to other chat networks gateway
	Copyright (C) 2002  Wilmer van der Gaast <wilmer@gaast.net>
