X-Git-Url: https://arthur.barton.de/gitweb/?p=ngircd.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=README.md;h=f0856d7f3338122ee07b59e65ea5efcf31912ca6;hp=144e4072bf777622d498455687e626bf21b15e88;hb=HEAD;hpb=61ac8be2fd36ffbf55d73215aa3a32ab01e94284 diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 144e4072..073fff44 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -7,27 +7,31 @@ server for small or private networks, developed under the terms of the GNU General Public License ([GPL]); please see the file `COPYING` for licensing information. -The server is simple to configure, can cope with dynamic IP addresses, and -supports IPv6 as well as SSL. It is written from scratch and not based on the -original IRCd. - -The name ngIRCd means *next generation IRC daemon*, which is a little bit +The server is quite easy to configure and runs as a single-node server or can +be part of a network of ngIRCd servers in a LAN or across the internet. It +optionally supports the IPv6 protocol, SSL/TLS-protected client-server and +server-server links, the Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) system for user +authentication, IDENT requests, and character set conversion for legacy +clients. + +The name ngIRCd stands for *next-generation IRC daemon*, which is a little bit exaggerated: *lightweight Internet Relay Chat server* most probably would have been a better name :-) -Please see the `INSTALL.md` document for installation and upgrade information, -online available here: ! - ## Status -ngIRCd should be quite feature complete and stable to be used as daemon in -real world IRC networks. +Development of *ngIRCd* started back in 2001: The server has been written from +scratch in C, tries to follow all relevant standards, and is not based on the +forefather, the daemon of the IRCNet. It is not the goal of ngIRCd to implement all the nasty behaviors of the -original ircd, but to implement most of the useful commands and semantics -specified by the RFCs that are used by existing clients. +original `ircd` or corner-cases in the RFCs, but to implement most of the useful +commands and semantics that are used by existing clients. -## Features (or: why use ngIRCd?) +*ngIRCd* is used as the daemon in real-world in-house and public IRC networks +and included in the package repositories of various operating systems. + +## Advantages and strengths - Well arranged (lean) configuration file. - Simple to build, install, configure, and maintain. @@ -38,15 +42,36 @@ specified by the RFCs that are used by existing clients. - No problems with servers that have dynamic IP addresses. - Freely available, modern, portable and tidy C source. - Wide field of supported platforms, including AIX, A/UX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, - IRIX, Linux, macOS, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, and Windows with Cygwin. -- ngIRCd is being actively developed since 2001. + IRIX, Linux, macOS, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris and Windows with WSL or Cygwin. ## Documentation The **homepage** of the ngIRCd project is . -More documentation can be found in the `doc/` directory and -[online](https://ngircd.barton.de/documentation). +The `INSTALL.md` document describes how to _install_ and _upgrade_ ngIRCd. It +is included in all distribution archives and available online on +[GitHub](https://github.com/ngircd/ngircd/blob/master/INSTALL.md). + +Please see the file `doc/QuickStart.md` in the `doc/` directory or on +[GitHub](https://github.com/ngircd/ngircd/blob/master/doc/QuickStart.md) for +information about _setting up_ and _running_ ngIRCd, including some real-world +configuration examples. + +More information can be found in a couple of files in the `doc/` directory +(online on [GitHub](https://github.com/ngircd/ngircd/tree/master/doc)) and in +the [documentation section](https://ngircd.barton.de/documentation) on the +[homepage of ngIRCd](https://ngircd.barton.de). + +In addition, ngIRCd comes with two _manual pages_: `ngircd(8)` (for the daemon) +and `ngircd.conf(5)` (for its configuration file). They have even more details +and list all possible command line parameters and configuration options. You +can read them with the `man` command (when they are installed locally on your +system, e.g. `man 8 ngircd` and `man 5 ngircd.conf`) or online here: + +- Daemon: + [ngircd(8)](https://ngircd.barton.de/man/ngircd.8.html) +- Configuration file: + [ngircd.conf(5)](https://ngircd.barton.de/man/ngircd.conf.5.html) ## Downloads & Source Code @@ -54,17 +79,17 @@ You can find the latest information about the ngIRCd and the most recent stable release on the [news](https://ngircd.barton.de/news) and [downloads](https://ngircd.barton.de/download) pages of the homepage. -Visit our source code repository at [GitHub](https://github.com) if you are -interested in the latest development code: . +Visit our source code repository at [GitHub](https://github.com/ngircd/ngircd) +if you are interested in the latest development code. ## Problems, Bugs, Patches Please don't hesitate to contact us if you encounter problems: - On IRC: -- Via the mailing list: +- Via the mailing list: -See for details. +See for details. If you find any bugs in ngIRCd (which most probably will be there ...), please report them to our issue tracker at GitHub: