Installation Instructions for BitchX 1.2-Final
BitchX is known to compile on the following systems (maybe others as well):
* BSDI 2.0, 2.1, 3.1, 4.0
* FreeBSD 2.x, 3.x, 4.0 and above
* NetBSD 3.x, 4.x
* SunOS 4.1.4, 5.x and above
* Linux (All)
* Mac OSX (All)
* IRIX 5, 6
* HP-UX 9.x, 10.x
* OSF/1 (DEC Alpha)
* Ultrix
* AIX
* OS/2 (with EMX)
* Windows 9x/2000/NT/XP/Vista/7 (with Cygwin)
* QNX
As of April 2012 BitchX is now officially included in Fedora Linux 15,16,17,18
BitchX is also in the Red Hat EPEL repos (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux).
To install on Fedora simply type "yum install BitchX" as root.
It is also included in the FreeBSD ports tree.
Introduction:
Problems may occur during the compilation process of BitchX. If
you do have a problem, please check http://github.com/BitchX/BitchX1.2/wiki
which has instructions on compilations. If you still need help please gather
as much information about the error (*FULL* output of "configure and "make")
and join #BitchX on freenode or EFNet.
BUGS:
Please submit bugs here: http://github.com/BitchX
Several script writers tend to hang in the #BitchX on EFNet to
distribute their work to others. http://www.bitchx.ca/scripts is a great place
where scripts can be found. You can also check out the scripting forum at the
previously mentioned forums site.
Some features will only work with certain servers -- IRCUMODE and
/4OP for example. Therefore, servers such as UnderNet, DalNet, and NewNet,
to name a few, will not respond to the user modes given. Scripts can cause
problems as well, usually due to bugs within the script. If there is a
known bug in the client, please contact the appropriate people, panasync
or any of the non-idling ops in #BitchX. If the bug can be reproduced
faithfully, then we have enough to determine how it can be resolved.
Please check out the wiki at http://www.github.com/BitchX/BitchX1.2/wiki
if you should have any troubles compiling. A number of common mistakes and problems
users run into are posted in the FAQ and sometimes on the Forums as well.
Compiling BitchX:
In order to compile BitchX you need to do the following: (Optional steps
are marked with an asterisk, "*")
1) Enter the BitchX directory tree; this is the most important step.
Executing configure outside the tree is now possible, for example:
# mkdir obj-i586-mandrake-linux
# cd obj-i586-mandrake-linux
# ../configure --prefix=/usr --with-plugins
2) Run the GNU configuration script, "configure". It should find
whatever it needs for the compilation of BitchX, such as system
includes, ncurses, Tcl, and locations of important files. There are
options that can be given to "configure". "configure --help" will detail
all of them. Using at least "configure --with-plugins" is recommended
if you plan on using one or more of the many plugins that are
distributed with BitchX. Add "--with-gtk" if you have gtk and gnome-libs
and would like a graphical client. Add "--with-tcl" if you want Tcl script
support on i386 systems (Note: most users do not need this). tcl.o for
other architecures may be available on BitchX FTP sites. The source code
for tcl.o is not publically available.
* 3) "include/config.h" may need tweaking if you intend to change the
default server list. To change, locate "DEFAULT_SERVER" and remove the
original default servers and add as many as you please (These will
be appended to the "/usr/local/lib/bx/ircII.servers" and "~/.ircservers"
list). Alternatively, you can run "make bxconf" and use the graphical
configuration utility to change many of BitchX's options.
4) Execute "make" inside the BitchX directory. If any error messages are
shown (Error, *not* Warning messages!!!) that you are unable to resolve
on your own, seek help. "README" has more information on where you can go
for help.
* 5) Edit "include/defs.h". On some systems, configure may not properly
determine one or two definitions ("#define foo"). Search for
offending defines which cause make not to proceed compiling.
Usually, there should be a "#define" or "#undef" located on the line
make has shown. A reversal of the definition (change "#define" to
"#undef", or vice versa). Go on to step 6 once you have completed
this step. If problems still persist, see "README" for information on
where you can go for help. Note: DOING THIS STEP IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
If "configure" fails to properly define something for whatever reason,
PLEASE REPORT THIS AS A BUG to the current configure script maintainer
(see "README" for details), rather than trying to edit "include/defs.h"
by hand.
* 6) Debugging information may be left into the compiled binary, so a
"strip source/BitchX" solves the rather large size seen previously.
However, "make install" (Step 7) should strip the binaries for you.
7) Execute "make install". This should install the BitchX binary to
"/usr/local/bin". Commonly, users may not have superuser access, thus a
refusal ("permission denied" message) will occur. If you still insist on
using "make install" to install BitchX, it is required that you change
the installation path defined in step 4 by using
"configure --prefix=/home/johndoe", for example, or use
"make install_local" to install the binary to your home directory.
However, it is recommened that you use the "--prefix=" method if you wish
to have a full BitchX installation with all of the help files installed.
* 8) It is not a requirement to use function-filled scripts with BitchX,
because the aim of BitchX is to create a scriptless client, or more
appropriately, a client less dependant upon scripts. With the development
of BitchX, scripts will become quickly outdated due to the
incompatibility caused by new commands, hooks, or hardcoded replacements
for a function in the script. This is merely a warning.
--
Last Updated:
Dan Mashal
[email protected]
Previous authors:
Rob Andrews aka sin 03/26/2004
David Walluck
BarK0de
BlackJac
