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  preforms  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 preform 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

       irc(1), ircII(1), tclsh(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
       doc/AUTHORS file for all who contributed and the doc/UPDATES1.6 file for further details.

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 - 2008 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.