Welcome to iroffer 1.1.1, by PMG (released May 14th 2000)

New versions are released every 2-6 weeks, make sure to get the latest


 --- Info ---

iroffer by PMG
Copyright (C) 1998-2000 PMG

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.
or view it online at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

 --- Website and Mailing List ---

Visit the iroffer web site http://iroffer.org/

Have you joined the iroffer mailing list? see the web site

 --- How to Contact the Author ---

EFNet: PMG
ICQ: 18607714 (I don't like ICQ so don't use it unless you have to)
email: pmg@iroffer.org

 --- What is iroffer? ---

iroffer is a fileserver for irc (commonly referred to as a DCC bot).
It uses the DCC feature or irc to send files to other users. iroffer
will connect to an irc server and let people request files from it.
iroffer is not a script, it is a standalone executable written in c.


 --- Supported Platforms ---

Linux
FreeBSD, OpenBSD, BSD/OS, NetBSD
Solaris/SunOS
UP-UX
IRIX

All other platforms have not been tested, and will probabily not work


 --- Documentation ---

Documentation about iroffer is included on the website, http://iroffer.org/


 --- To Compile ---

Run the "Configure" script by typing "./Configure"
then type "make".
no errors or warnings should appear when compiling

A sample config file is provided.


 --- Testing ---

iroffer has been tested on the following computers:

Linux:
 Redhat 4.2, g++ 2.7.2.1, linux 2.0.3x, libc5
 Redhat 5.0, g++ 2.7.2.3, linux 2.0.3x, glibc
 Redhat 5.1, g++ 2.7.2.3, linux 2.0.3x, glibc
 Redhat 5.2, egcs-2.90.27, linux 2.0.3x, glibc
 Redhat 6.0, ??, ??, glibc
 Redhat 6.1, egcs-2.91.66, linux 2.2.1x, glibc
 Slackware ??, g++ 2.7.2.3, linux 2.0.3x, libc5
 LinuxPPC 4.0
 Others...

FreeBSD:
 FreeBSD 2.1.5, g++ 2.7.2.1
 FreeBSD 3.1, g++ 2.7.2.1

Solaris
 5.6, g++ 2.7.2.1


 --- Why use iroffer to offer? ---

 - extremely fast dcc transfers
 - extremely low cpu usage, and reasonable ram usage
 - its a program not a script that is slowed by a bulky irc program
 - only completed transfers are counted
 - supports dcc resume
 - set max amount of transfers per hostname
 - user friendly error messages for users (no "clamp timeout")
 - allows a pack to be designated as a "high demand" pack which can
     have special limitations and its own separate queue
 - supports virtual hosts
 - auto-send feature, send a pack to someone when they say something
 - auto-saves xdcc information
 - remote administration via /msg or DCC CHAT
 - bandwidth monitoring, shows last 2 minutes bandwidth average
 - Allow sending of queued packs when using low amounts of bandwidth,
     comes in handy when all slots are filled with people transferring
     1k/sec, will keep sending out queued items while bandwidth usage
     is under a specified amount
 - Background or Foreground mode. background mode does not require
     screen and is cronable
 - overall and pack minspeed
 - maximum bandwidth limiting, when set, iroffer will not use more than
     the set amount of bandwidth (keeps your sysadmin happy)
 - can set different maximum bandwidth limits depending on time of day
     and day of week (keeps your sysadmin very happy) 
 - logging
 - auto-ignores flooders
 - support for direct, bnc, wingate, and custom proxy irc server connections


 --- What files can I offer? ---

 - Your channel's rules or FAQ
 - Pictures, Music, Programs, Shareware/Freeware, Programs you have
     written, etc... 
 - Help elevate overloaded ftp and http servers by mirroring content
     for your channel's members
 - Note: Be sure to consult and follow the appropriate copyright
   statement, distibution policy, and/or license agreement before
   offering any content you didn't create yourself


 --- How to let colors work while using screen ---

create a file in your home directory named ".screenrc", and put the
following lines in it:

termcap  vt100 'AF=\E[3%dm:AB=\E[4%dm'
terminfo vt100 'AF=\E[3%p1%dm:AB=\E[4%p1%dm'


 --- How To Use Cron ---

Edit the iroffer.cron file's iroffer_dir, iroffer_exec, and
iroffer_pid variables

then crontab -e and place the following line in the editor

*/5 * * * * /full/path/to/iroffer/iroffer.cron


 --- Signal Handling ---

iroffer will handle the following signal:

SIGUSR1 (kill -USR1 xxxx)  jumps to another server (same as admin command "server")
SIGUSR2 (kill -USR2 xxxx)  re-reads config file    (same as admin command "rehash")
SIGTERM (kill xxxx)        shuts down iroffer      (same as admin command "shutdown")

 --- End of README ---

