bitlbee(8)

bitlbee(8) 💖

okay bestie, sit down, we're doing the System Manager's Manual thing, and honestly? this one's a bop. it's bitlbee, from the bitlbee(8) manual, and it's literally an IRC gateway to IM chat networks. yes the whole vibe. 🦋

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✨ NAME ✨

BitlBee — IRC gateway to IM chat networks 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

bitlbee [-I] [-c configuration file] [-d configuration directory]

bitlbee -D [-i address] [-p port number] [-n] [-v] [-c configuration
file] [-d configuration directory]

bitlbee -h

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🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

So BitlBee is an IRC daemon that can talk to instant messaging networks, and it acts as a gateway. that's the whole thing. users connect to the server with any normal IRC client and see their 'buddy list' in &bitlbee. like, your entire buddy list, inside IRC. it's giving main character energy honestly. 👑

bitlbee is normally started as a system service (with init scripts, systemd units or equivalent). it can <em>also</em> be run as an inetd(8) / xinetd(8) service, or as a stand-alone daemon with the options below. so many options bestie. so many.

to use it, connect to it with an IRC client with a command such as:

/connect localhost

and that's it. that's the door. 🚪✨

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🧚 RUN MODES 🧚

• -I — Run in inetd(8) mode. this is the default setting for historical reasons, but not the recommended one (See ForkDaemon below). so like, it's the default but it's not the moment, yk?
• -D — Run in Daemon mode. in this mode, BitlBee forks to the background and waits for new connections. all clients will be served from one process. this mode is also useful for debugging. one process, all the besties.
• -F — Run in ForkDaemon mode. similar to ordinary daemon mode, but every client gets its own process. easier to set up than inetd mode, and without the possible stability issues. this is the recommended runmode for most use cases. periodt. 💅

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💖 OPTIONS 💖

• -i address — When running in daemon mode, specifies the network interface (identified by IP address) to which the daemon should attach. use this if you don't want BitlBee to listen on every interface (which is the default behaviour). it's literally just saying "stay here, not everywhere."
• -p port number — When running in daemon mode, specifies the port number on which BitlBee should listen for connections. 6667 is the default value. iconic number, no notes.
• -n — When running in daemon mode, this option prevents BitlBee from forking into the background. it stays right there with you. 🫶
• -v — Be more verbose. this only works together with the -n flag. so pair them up bestie, don't run -v solo, it will not vibe.
• -c path to other configuration file — Use a different configuration file. simple as that. 🌸
• -d path to user settings directory — BitlBee normally saves every user's settings in /var/lib/bitlbee/. if you want the settings to be stored somewhere else (for example, if you don't have write permissions in the default location), use this option. permission issues? not on our watch. 🎀
• -h — Show help information. the classic. the icon. 💅

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🌈 COMMANDS 🌈

To get a complete list of commands, please use the help commands command in the &bitlbee channel after connecting to bitlbee. that's the cheat code, iykyk. 🔥

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• inetd(8), inetd.conf(5)
• http://www.bitlbee.org/
• For more information on using BitlBee, once connected, you should use the help command in the &bitlbee channel. 👑

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💀 BUGS 💀

Of course there are bugs. bestie, there are <em>always</em> bugs. 🙈 if you find some, please report them at http://bugs.bitlbee.org/. do it for the girlies.

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⭐ LICENSE ⭐

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple PLace, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

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🌸 AUTHORS 🌸

• Wilmer van der Gaast <wilmer@gaast.net> 👑

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and that's the whole manual bestie, every single flag, path, number, warning and license line accounted for. nothing skipped, nothing invented, we ate and left zero crumbs. 💅✨

this was the bitlbee(8) page from the System Manager's Manual, dated 19 May 2010 🎀 — mwah, go connect to localhost and go see your buddy list. bye bestie!! 🦋💖