NAME

       eggdrop - an IRC bot

SYNOPSIS

       eggdrop [options] [config-file]

DESCRIPTION

       Eggdrop  is  the World's most popular Internet Relay Chat (IRC) bot; it is freely distributable under the
       GNU General Public License (GPL). Eggdrop is a feature rich  program  designed  to  be  easily  used  and
       expanded upon by both novice and advanced IRC users on a variety of hardware and software platforms.

       An  IRC bot is a program that sits on an IRC channel and performs automated tasks while looking just like
       a normal user on the channel. Some of these functions include protecting the channel from abuse, allowing
       privileged  users  to  gain  op  or  voice status, logging channel events, providing information, hosting
       games, etc.

       One of the features that makes Eggdrop stand out from other bots is module  and  Tcl  scripting  support.
       With  scripts  and  modules,  you can make the bot perform almost any task you want. They can do anything
       from preventing floods to greeting users and banning advertisers from channels.

       You can also link multiple Eggdrop bots together to form a botnet. This can allow bots to op  each  other
       securely, control floods efficiently, and even link channels across multiple IRC networks. It also allows
       the Eggdrops share user lists, ban lists, exempt/invite lists,  and  ignore  lists  with  other  bots  if
       userfile  sharing  is  enabled. This allows users to have the same access on every bot on your botnet. It
       also allows the bots to distribute tasks such as opping and banning users. See doc/BOTNET for information
       on setting up a botnet.

       Eggdrop needs a config file to run. For an example, have a look at eggdrop.conf which is distributed with
       Eggdrop.

OPTIONS

       -h     Display a list of command-line options.

       -n     Don't background. Normally, Eggdrop will move itself into the background when  you  start  it  up,
              meaning  you'll  get  another  shell prompt, and you can do other things while the bot is running.
              With -n, you won't return to the shell prompt until the bot exits  (which  won't  normally  happen
              until it's killed). By default, -n will send all log entries to the console.

       -nt    Don't  background,  use terminal. This is just like -n, except that instead of seeing log entries,
              your console will simulate a DCC chat with the bot.

       -nc    Don't background, show channel info. This is just like -n,  except  that  instead  of  seeing  log
              entries, every 10 seconds your screen will clear and you will see the current channel status, sort
              of like "top".

       -m     Create userfile. If you don't have a userfile, this will make Eggdrop create one  and  give  owner
              status  to  the first person that introduces himself or herself to it. You'll need to do this when
              you first set up your bot.

       -v     Show version info, then quit.

SIGNALS

       SIGCHLD
              This signal is ignored by Eggdrop and can be used to determine whether it's running or not.

       SIGTERM
              Depending on die-on-sigterm being set to 0 or 1 in the config file, Eggdrop will save its user and
              channel file and/or die.

       SIGHUP Depending on die-on-sighup being set to 0 or 1 in the config file, Eggdrop will rehash (reload its
              config file) or die.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       EGG_LANG
              This variable can be set to the language in which you want Eggdrop to speak
               to you. It defaults to English, but German, French, Finnish, and Danish are supported, too.

       EGG_LANGDIR
              Specifies the directory where all your language files are stored.  The default is ./language.

SEE ALSO

       tclsh(1), irc(1), ircII(1), ircd(8)

       There is extensive online documentation.  Once you get the bot running, open a  DCC  chat  with  it,  and
       type: .help

       In addition, the files in the doc/ directory provide detailed information about how Eggdrop works and how
       to use it.

AUTHORS

       Written by Robey Pointer, the Eggheads Development Team and various others. See the files AUTHORS  for  a
       list  of  Eggdrop  developers and major contributors, THANKS for a full list of Eggdrop contributors, and
       the doc/Changes files for a list of changes made to each version of Eggdrop.

REPORTING BUGS

       See doc/BUG-REPORT.

       Bugs can either be reported directly to BugZilla,  at  http://bugzilla.eggheads.org,  or  via  e-mail  to
       <bugs@eggheads.org>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 1997 Robey Pointer
       Copyright (C) 1999 - 2011 Eggheads Development Team

       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.