
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
                SmIRC - an X11R6/Motif 2.1 IRC client for Linux
                                       
   Current version is 0.62b
   
   Copyright 1997-1998, Double Precision, Inc.
   
   This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public
   License. See COPYING for additional information.
   
   SmIRC is an X11R6 IRC client, based on the Motif widget set. This
   release has most of the functionality expected from an IRC client.
   Only DCC is missing. Everything else usually expected from an IRC
   client is included. The interface is designed to be simple, short, and
   sweet. SmIRC's look and feel is highly customizable, via its resource
   file. All output can be customized with your favorite fonts and
   colors.
   
   Runtime help pages are provided in an HTML format. You will need an
   HTML browser (lynx is fine) to read them.
   
   You will need Motif 2.1 to compile the source code. If you do not have
   Motif 2.1 libraries, you can try running the provided ELF binary which
   is statically-linked with the Xm library. No, SmIRC won't compile with
   lesstif, sorry. SmIRC uses Motif 2.1 widgets. As far as I know,
   lesstiff is at best compliant with Motif 1.2 only.
   
   In addition to the above, SmIRC needs 25MB of disk space, and a
   machine with plenty of RAM in order to compile the source code. Some
   modules take as much as 22-23MB of RAM to compile. Your machine should
   have at least 16MB of physical RAM, and 16MB of swap in order to be
   able to compile the source code.
   
New features in version 0.62

     * Code ported to Red Hat 5.1 distribution, and Motif 2.1, including
       a set of experimental RPMs.
     * Implemented configuration using GNU autoconfig.
     * New menu option: "Channel Info" dialog. This dialog allows an easy
       way to change the channel topic, set channel modes, and add/remove
       bans.
     * New command: /RUN - run a bot by name, even if the name is the
       same as a built-in SmIRC command.
     * New command: /FLOOD - a simple throttling mechanism to control
       SmIRC's output, and keep you from accidentally getting flooded
       off.
     * Resource file changed to remove keyboard shortcut for "Kick" and
       "Ban" from right-button popup menu, so that unintentionally typing
       with the focus in the wrong gadget won't get someone accidentally
       kicked off.
       
Upgrading from a previous version

   Make sure to read the change log below, to find out what's changed!!
   
   To upgrade, just follow installation instructions. Before doing the
   upgrade, you may wish to backup your current /usr/lib/smirc/config or
   the /usr/local/lib/smirc/config file, if you have made any
   additions/deletions there that you want to keep. Also, if you heavily
   customized the resource file, you may also wish to back up
   /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/Smirc. The installation procedure will
   overwrite these files.
   
   NOTE: Some resource settings have been changed, be carefull.
   
Installation

   SmIRC is available from the following archives:
   
   
   Undernet IRC archive (ftp.undernet.org):    
   ftp://ftp.undernet.org/irc/clients/xwindows/smirc/
   Sunsite (sunsite.unc.edu):    
   ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/network/chat/irc/
   North Shore Technologies FTP archive (ftp.nstc.com):    
   ftp://ftp.nstc.com/pub/software/unix/
   
   The Undernet IRC archive is the primary distribution site for SmIRC.
   
   The files are:
   
   smirc-0.62b.tgz - source code.
   
   smirc-0.62b.bin.static.tgz - i386 ELF glibc binary, statically linked
   with Motif.
   
   smirc-0.62b.lsm - LSM file.
   
   smirc-0.62b-1.src.rpm - Experimental source RPM for Red Hat Linux.
   
   smirc-common-0.62b-1.i386.rpm
   smirc-0.62b-1.i386.rpm
   smirc-static-0.6ba-1.i386.rpm - Experimental binary RPMs for Intel
   i386 glibc. Install smirc-common first, then install EITHER smirc or
   smirc-static. Install smirc, if you have Motif 2.1. Install
   smirc-static if you do not have Motif 2.1. See below for more
   information.
   
   All RPMs are signed by my PGP key. (PGPKEY.txt).
   
SmIRC on the web

   http://www.wildstar.net/irc/clients/xwindows/smirc/ is where you'll
   find the latest official SmIRC stuff.
   
   http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/5799/smirc.html is where
   you'll find the latest unofficial stuff from me (most of the time it
   should be the same as the official stuff, though).
   
Automatic installation with Red Hat 5.1

   New in version 0.62 is an experimental source RPM for Red Hat Linux.
   To try it out, you must have Motif 2.1 already installed. Type:

    rpm --rebuild smirc-0.62b-1.src.rpm

   This should (hopefully) create the following packages in
   /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386. To install them, type:
   
   
   rpm -bi smirc-common-0.62b-1.i386.rpm - This package contains
   configuration files which are common to the dynamic and static
   packages. smirc-common must be installed BEFORE either the dynamic or
   the static RPM is installed.
   
   rpm -bi smirc-0.62b-1.i386.rpm - This package contains the SmIRC
   binary dynamically linked with Motif libraries. After rebuilding the
   source RPM, and installing smirc-common, install this package.
   
   rpm -bi smirc-static-0.62b-1.i386.rpm - This package contains the
   SmIRC binary statically linked with libXm. After rebuilding the source
   RPM on a machine with Motif 2.1, you may install smirc-common and
   smirc-static packages on other machines that do not have Motif 2.1
   libraries. There is no need to install both the dynamic, and the
   static packages.
   
   
   
   
Installation on other Linux distributions.

   Extract the smirc-0.62b.tgz.
   
   If you are not running a fast CPU, consider removing the comments in
   config.h for #define USE_FAST_RENDER. Normally, window updates are
   first drawn in an off-screen buffer, then copied to the window. This
   results in smooth updates, but it takes up memory and CPU time.
   Defining USE_FAST_RENDER will have the windows updated directly, on
   the screen. This will cause noticeable flicker, but will work faster,
   and take up less memory.
   
   Edit the config.smirc file. SmIRC has some online help pages (still in
   preliminary stages). The help pages are in HTML, and require an HTML
   browser. Enter the command to run the browser, in background, on the
   line in config.smirc that starts with 'HELPCMD'. A useful default is
   provided, but you may wish to change it to use an absolute path.
   
   Issue the following commands:

           ./config.sh
           make
           make install

   If you wish to link SmIRC statically with Motif libraries, after
   running these commands type:

           make smirc-static
           make install-smirc-static

   You must compile link, and install SmIRC dynamically, before
   installing the statically-linked version.
   
   NOTE: Previous versions of SmIRC installed the binaries into
   /usr/X11/bin. Starting with version 0.62, SmIRC uses autoconf
   configuration script, which will install SmIRC binaries in
   /usr/local/bin. make install will delete /usr/X11/bin/smirc, if it
   finds it. The location of all other files remains unchanged. The
   following binaries will be installed in /usr/local/bin:
   
     * smirc - a shell script to automatically load either smirc-dynamic,
       or smirc-static, whichever one is found.
     * smirc-dynamic - SmIRC dynamically linked with Motif 2.1.
     * smirc-static - SmIRC statically linked with Motif 2.1.
       
Troubleshooting

  Garbled window
  
   If when starting SmIRC all you get is a gray, or a garbled window, it
   means that its resource file was not installed properly. Check to make
   sure that the resource file, /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/Smirc has been
   installed and has the correct permissions.
   
  Windows or fonts are too big, or too small
  
   Again, this is a resource issue. Your X11 server may have non-standard
   font metrics. If fonts look too large, or too small, you'll have to go
   in and edit the resource file. Since window sizes are based, somewhat,
   on font metrics, this may also be a reason if a window is unreasonably
   large, or small.
   
   If all else fails, install the Sirc.ad.fixed file, which is a part of
   the SmIRC source package. This is the resource file, with all fonts
   stripped and replaced by the fixed system font. It'll look ugly, but
   usable, and you can add back the fonts, one at a time.
   
Change log

   7/26/98 - V0.62b: Bug fix - smirc dumps core if the channel topic is
   blank in channel info window.
   
   7/21/98 - V0.62a: Bug fix - nicknames not removed from list of channel
   members when kicked.
   
   7/8/98 - V0.62: SmIRC has been ported to Red Hat 5.1/Motif 2.1.
   Adopted GPL. Adopted GNU autoconfig. Experimental source RPM for Red
   Hat 5.1. Miscellaneous bug fixes. Somehow managed to get the code to
   compile with the -O2 flag without neither g++ nor egcs barfing all
   over the place (a very impressive achievement, I might add). Added the
   "Channel Info" dialog. This new dialog box, accessed from the Channel
   menu, allows a very easy way to change channel topic, modes, and bans.
   Added /RUN command. Added /FLOOD command.
   
   V0.60: added bot support. See online documentation for information.
   Changed the way that some messages are dispatched to windows, in order
   to make life easier for bots. Highly doubtfull that anyone would
   notice. Amongst the changes: the output of a /names command is now
   shown in the channel window, if it is for a channel you're on (in
   addition to still being displayed in the server window). This means
   some additional junk on the screen every time you join the channel, oh
   well... (At least you can suppress these message now, see below).
   
   Also the following replies are now shown in every channel window: 305,
   306.
   
   Changed some menu titles, to make them consistent with corresponding
   commands.
   
   /LOGOPEN & /LOGCLOSE commands, correspond to equivalent menu options.
   
   Added -u and -v command line options.
   
   Well, to handle the additional clutter, I added the /MESSAGE command
   which will suppress certain messages from being shown. The initial
   list of suppressed messages can be defined using the
   stringTable.SUPPRESSCHANNEL or .SUPPRESSSERVER resource.
   
   08/25/97 - V0.51: bug fix in nick change code. Enhancement: when
   someone on the same channel with you changes nicknames, and you have a
   private message window open to that user, the private message window
   will be updated with the new nick being used by the person. Before,
   you'd have to manually send a /msg to the new nick, or wait for a
   private message from the new nick to arrive, which would open a new
   private message window. NOTE: the IRC server will not send you a nick
   change notification unless both of you are on the same channel. If you
   have a private message window open, and the other person changes
   his/her nickname, and you have not joined any channels in common, no
   nick change message will be sent, so you will not be aware of the nick
   change.
   
   07/06/97 - V0.50 - released.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   
    mrsam@geocities.com
