NAME

       BitlBee - IRC gateway to IM chat networks

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

DESCRIPTION

       BitlBee is an IRC daemon that can talk  to  instant  messaging  networks  and  acts  as  a
       gateway.  Users  can connect to the server with any normal IRC client and see their 'buddy
       list' in &bitlbee. It currently supports Oscar (AIM and  ICQ),  MSN,  Jabber,  Yahoo!  and
       Twitter.

       bitlbee should be called by inetd(8), or you can run it as a stand-alone daemon.

OPTIONS

       -I     Run  in  inetd(8)  mode.  This  is  the  default setting, you usually don't have to
              specify this option.

       -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.

       -F     Run  in  ForkDaemon mode. This is 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.

       -i address
              Only  useful  when  running  in  daemon  mode,  to  specify  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).

       -p port number
              Only  useful  when  running  in  daemon  mode,  to specify the port number on which
              BitlBee should listen for connections. 6667 is the default value.

       -n     Only useful when running in daemon mode. This option prevents BitlBee from  forking
              into the background.

       -v     Be more verbose. This only works together with the -n flag.

       -c path to other configuration file
              Use a different configuration file.

       -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.

       -h     Show help information.

COMMANDS

       To  get  a complete list of commands, please use the help commands command in the &bitlbee
       channel.

SEE ALSO

       ircd(8), inetd(8), inetd.conf(5), gaim(1).

       http://www.bitlbee.org/

       For more information on using BitlBee, once connected, you should  use  the  on-line  help
       system.

BUGS

       Of    course   there   are   bugs.   If   you   find   some,   please   report   them   at
       http://bugs.bitlbee.org/.

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

AUTHORS

        Wilmer van der Gaast <wilmer@gaast.net>

                                           19 May 2010                                 bitlbee(8)