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 auto-
       mated 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/BOT-
       NET 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 run-
              ning. 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".
              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 informa-
       tion 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 - 2006 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 MER-
       CHANTABILITY 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