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diff --git a/doc/FAQ b/doc/FAQ new file mode 100644 index 00000000..8b6108f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/FAQ @@ -0,0 +1,103 @@ +Frequently Asked Questions about BitlBee +======================================== + +Well, maybe not exactly "Frequently", but definitely "Asked" ... mostly by +the developers :-) + +Q: WTH were you guys on when you thought of that _weird_ name? +A: Though we live in The Netherlands and one of us even lives in Amsterdam, + we're not on drugs ... most of the time. + +Q: Okay, so the cops are so evil there, you can't even admit the truth, but + WTH does BitlBee mean then? +A: There are a few explanations. But the most symbolical goes like: the two + colors of the bee symbolize the two worlds betwee which the Bee flies. On + the one hand there's the IM-networks, on the other is IRC. + + Truth be told, it's absolute nonsense. The biggest nutcase in the + development team just played around with words for half an hour or so. + BitlBee was the result. We liked it, we kept it. We lovingly shorten it + to "the Bee" or even "het Bijtje" (Dutch for "the little Bee") sometimes. + +Q: What is 'root' doing in my control channel? I didn't start the Bee as + root. +A: 'root' is just the name for the most powerful user in BitlBee. Just like + in the system, it is root who is the ... eh ... root of the + functionality. Luckily, in BitlBee, root follows your orders (mostly), so + no BOFHs there. + + We get some complaints from time to time that 'root' is a confusing name. + Because of that name, some package maintainers have renamed root to, for + example, BitlBee. We recognize that some people see that need. If the + package maintainer hasn't renamed root, you can do this yourself with the + 'rename' command. + + The name root is not likely to change in the 'official' releases, though. + We find the metaphor of root correct and feel that there is no important + (security threatening) reason to change this non-creative piece of + artistic creativity. + +Q: Why is there no mailing list/CVS/<insert your favourite development tool + here>? +A: Short answer: we don't need it. + + Longer answer: and we're not completely convinced of their merits. + + Long answer: we currently use some shell scripts which make sure all + developers' copies are in sync with Wilmer's master copy. These shell + scripts also produce development "releases" and packages, as well as + stick them on a http-server. Patches are sent to Wilmer who decides + whether or not a patch should be applied and if it may need some + additional changes. This has the consistency advantage of a one-person + project while having the capacity of more people available. The system + works and we are kind of attached to it. + +Q: When is $random_feature going to be implemented? +A: Please do consult doc/TODO (preferably in a development snapshot, which + is more up-to-date than a TODO in a release version) before asking. + Please also check the documentation. You'd not be the first one to request + a feature which already exists! + + If your fabulous feature seems not to be requested before, just join + #bitlbee on irc.oftc.net and tell us the news. + + If your feature request is already in the TODO list, of course you can + still request it again/make us know that you'd like to see the feature as + well. But when the feature is in the "post-1.0" list, it's probably not + going to help. Most of the features in this list are low-priority because + we (the developers) don't need (or even want) them. (File transfers are a + good example here.) + Hence, they'll only be implemented when we really got too much spare + time. Obviously, if you're willing to help (i.e. submit a patch), you're + always welcome. + +Q: The messages I send and/or receive look weird. I see weird characters and + annoying HTML codes. Or, BitlBee does evil things when I send messages with + non-ASCII characters! +A: You probably have to change some settings. To get rid of HTML in messages, + see "help set html". If you seem to have problems with your charset, see + "help set charset". + +Q: Is BitlBee forked from Gaim? +A: BitlBee 0.7 was, sort-of. It contained a lot of code from Gaim 0.58 + (mainly the IM-code), although heavily modified, to make it work better + with BitlBee. We were planning to keep BitlBee up-to-date with later Gaim + versions, but this turned out to be very time-consuming because the API + changed a lot, and we don't have the time to keep up with those changes + all the time. + + These days, we replaced the Yahoo! code with libyahoo2 (which is a + separate Yahoo! module. It's derived from Gaim, but separately + maintained) and wrote our own MSN module. More modules are probably going + to be changed, so in the near future, the API might be the only thing + left from Gaim. + +Q: What's that Gaim doing in BitlBee error messages and my Jabber resource? +A: Ah, well, as you probably know we use some of Gaim's IM-modules, and we + don't think it's worth our time to do a search-and-replace over the whole + source to get rid of every reference to Gaim. In fact, we don't want to, + since we don't want to pretend we wrote all that code. + + About Jabber: If you want a different resource string, you can set it + when logging in by appending it to your Jabber ID, like: + lintux@jabber.com/BitlBee |