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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/README')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/README | 65 |
1 files changed, 41 insertions, 24 deletions
@@ -41,12 +41,26 @@ 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. +--- (Fork)Daemon mode + +If you don't want to run any inetd daemon, you can run BitlBee in Daemon +mode. Right now, daemon mode may be a bad idea on servers with multiple +users, since possible fatal BitlBee bugs will crash the BitlBee process and +disconnect all connected users at once. Instead, you can use ForkDaemon +mode, which serves every user from a separate process, without depending on +an inetd daemon. + +To use BitlBee in daemon mode, just start it with the right flags or enable +it in bitlbee.conf. You probably want to write an init script to start +BitlBee automatically after a reboot. (This is where you realise using +a package from your distro would've been a better idea. :-P) + DEPENDENCIES ============ BitlBee's only real dependency is GLib. This is available on virtually every -platform. Any recent version of GLib (including 1.x versions) will work. +platform. Any recent version of GLib (2.4 or higher) will work. These days, MSN Messenger clients have to connect to the MS Passport servers through HTTPS. BitlBee can use several SSL libraries for this: GnuTLS, NSS @@ -154,17 +168,27 @@ http://code.bitlbee.org/ 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. +There used to be a note here about the simple obfuscation method used to +make the passwords in the configuration files unreadable. However, BitlBee +now uses a better format (and real encryption (salted MD5 and RC4)) to store +the passwords. This means that people who somehow get their hands on your +configuration files can't easily extract your passwords from them anymore. + +However, once you log into the BitlBee server and send your password, an +intruder with tcpdump can still read your passwords. This can't really be +avoided, of course. The new format is a lot more reliable (because it can't +be cracked with just very basic crypto analysis anymore), but you still have +to be careful. The main extra protection offered by the new format is that +the files can only be cracked with some help from the user (by sending the +password at login time). + +So if you run a public server, it's most important that you don't give root +access to people who like to play with tcpdump. Also, it's a good idea to +delete all *.nicks/*.accounts files as soon as BitlBee converted them to the +new format (which happens as soon as the user logs in, it can't be done +automatically because it needs the password for that account). You won't +need them anymore (unless you want to switch back to an older BitlBee +version) and they only make it easier for others to crack your passwords. LEGAL @@ -173,17 +197,10 @@ 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 part (the md5 algorithm) is licensed under the Aladdin license. -This license can be found in the files, to which this applies. +The MD5 algorithm code is licensed under the Aladdin license. This license +can be found in the files, to which this applies. The SHA1 algorithm code +is licensed under the Mozilla Public License, see http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/ +for details. The Yahoo! library used by BitlBee is libyahoo2 <http://libyahoo2.sf.net/>, also licensed under the GPL. @@ -191,5 +208,5 @@ also licensed under the GPL. BitlBee - An IRC to other chat networks gateway <http://www.bitlbee.org/> - Copyright (C) 2002-2005 Wilmer van der Gaast <wilmer@gaast.net> + Copyright (C) 2002-2007 Wilmer van der Gaast <wilmer@gaast.net> and others |