SILC - Secure Internet Live Conferencing
========================================
-[NOTE: SILC is still in middle of development and this package is known
-as Developer's Version which means that the package is in no means stable
-or ready to be in production use. This package is for those who wants
-to test SILC, find bugs and maybe contribute some time and code for the
-SILC project. There is no guarantees that this package even compiles and
-even if it compiles there is no guarantees that it would work, and even
-if it works there is no guarantees that it would work correctly, and even
-if it seems to work correctly it may be just plain luck.]
-
-
-Description
-===========
-
SILC (Secure Internet Live Conferencing) is a protocol which provides
secure conferencing services in the Internet over insecure channel.
SILC is IRC like softwarre although internally they are very different.
Running SILC
============
-The development version is still preliminary version and requires some
-work to get it working. You should, first of all, check the example
-configuration files in ./doc/ directory. Change them according to your
-needs.
-
-To run SILC client:
-
- cd silc
- ./silc -f <config file>
-
-To run SILC server
-
- cd silcd
- ./silcd -f <config file>
-
-
-Working Commands
-================
-
-Following commands has been, at least partly, implemented:
-
-
- /SERVER [<server>[:<port>]]
-
- Connects to remote SILC server.
-
- /NICK [<nickname>]
-
- Changes/sets nickname. Note that in SILC there can be
- multiple same nicknames. However, the logic on working
- with multiple nicknames on user interface is pretty much
- still missing. Also note that nicknames in SILC are
- case-sensitive.
-
- /JOIN <channel>
-
- Joins to a channel. Channel names start with `#'
- character.
-
- /LEAVE <channel>
-
- Leaves the channel. If /leave * is given the client
- leaves the current channel.
-
- /MSG <nickname> <message>
-
- Sends private message to remote client. Support for
- handling multiple same nicknames with /MSG command is
- still missing.
-
- /WHOIS <nickname>[@<server>] [<count>]
-
- Gives a little information about a client. Support for
- handling multiple same nicknames with this command is
- still missing.
-
- /PING [<server>]
-
- Pings server. Only locally connected server may be
- pinged.
-
- /INFO [<server>]
-
- Requests information about a server. If argument is
- not specified current server is used.
-
- /AWAY [<message>]
-
- Sets away message. When private message is received and
- away message is set the client automatically replies to
- the sender with the away message. To remove away message
- give the command without arguments.
-
- /QUIT
+After installing the SILC to the system the SILC client is started by
+giving command:
- Quits session. Connection to remote server is closed.
+ silc
- /CLEAR
+If you want to run with specific configuration file give -f option.
- Clears current screen.
+To run the server you should configure the server first. To run the
+server give the command:
- /VERSION
+ silcd
- Shows client version.
+This will launch the server on to the background.
Features
History
=======
-Even though SILC were just released to the public the idea and the protocol
-itself is quite old. I got the idea about SILC in its current form in
-the year 1996 and first lines of codes were written in early 1997. This
-release is now third rewrite of the SILC. The very first version were
-written in 1997 and it included SILC client and very very preliminary
-SILC server. The server actually weren't usable but the client looked
-pretty much the same as it does now. At that time the SILC also included
-RSA implementation and 3DES implementation. The random number generator
-that exists in this current release is actually based on the RNG written
-in 1997. The RNG written in 1997, on the other hand, were based on
-the SSH's random number generator. The RNG has been rewritten twice
-since the first version.
-
-I stopped writing the SILC later in 1997 when I got busy at school and
-in work. The pause lasted several months. The development resumed in
-1998 when my friend (Juha Räsänen) and I implemented ElGamal algorithm.
-I rewrote some other parts as well. However, for the same reasons as
-previously the development stopped again. I resumed the development
-later in 1998 by doing rewrite of the SILC in C++. This was obviously
-a mistake but at that time it seemed like a good idea. Again, in the
-winter 1999 I got very busy writing my thesis and was forced to stop the
-development again. I also, started a new job in the spring.
-
-Later, in 1999, I decided that this time I'm going to make it the right
-way. C++ was obviously a bad choice so I decided to fall back to plain
-C language. I also decided to do complete rewrite and started doing
-more thorough planning of what the SILC actually should include. I also
+Even though SILC were released in summer 2000 to the public the idea and
+the protocol itself is quite old. I got the idea about SILC in its
+current form in the year 1996 and first lines of codes were written in
+early 1997. This release is now third rewrite of the SILC. The very first
+version were written in 1997 and it included SILC client and very very
+preliminary SILC server. The server actually weren't usable but the
+client looked pretty much the same as it does now. At that time the SILC
+also included RSA implementation and 3DES implementation. The random
+number generator that exists in this current release is actually based on
+the RNG written in 1997. The RNG written in 1997, on the other hand, were
+based on the SSH's random number generator. The RNG has been rewritten
+twice since the first version.
+
+I stopped writing the SILC later in 1997 when I got busy at school and in
+work. The pause lasted several months. The development resumed in 1998
+when my friend (Juha Räsänen) and I implemented ElGamal algorithm. I
+rewrote some other parts as well. However, for the same reasons as
+previously the development stopped again. I resumed the development later
+in 1998 by doing rewrite of the SILC in C++. This was obviously a mistake
+but at that time it seemed like a good idea. Again, in the winter 1999 I
+got very busy writing my thesis and was forced to stop the development
+again. I also, started a new job in the spring.
+
+Later, in 1999, I decided that this time I'm going to make it the right
+way. C++ was obviously a bad choice so I decided to fall back to plain C
+language. I also decided to do complete rewrite and started doing more
+thorough planning of what the SILC actually should include. I also
decided that this time it is going to kill me before I stop the
-development. I started writing SILC in the weekends and actually
-everytime I had some spare time. I also started a new job but I didn't
-let that get to my way. The result of this development effort is the
-release now in public.
-
-I've learned a lot by doing the SILC. I guess, when I started it I wasn't
-that good of a C programmer. That alone was a reason why SILC hasn't
-seen the day of light before now. My programming style has also changed
-dramatically during these years. Actually, it has changed couple times
-since this last rewrite as well. However, the code style of current SILC
+development. I started writing SILC in the weekends and actually
+everytime I had some spare time. I also started a new job but I didn't
+let that get to my way. The result of this development effort is the
+release now in public.
+
+I've learned a lot by doing the SILC. I guess, when I started it I wasn't
+that good of a C programmer. That alone was a reason why SILC hasn't seen
+the day of light before now. My programming style has also changed
+dramatically during these years. Actually, it has changed couple times
+since this last rewrite as well. However, the code style of current SILC
release is quite consistent (actually the coding style SILC has been
written now I've learned in my current job).
-There is probably over 85% of new code in this third rewrite. Rest has
-just been copied from the old versions and only minor changes has been
-made (like changed function names and overall coding style). I've
+There is probably over 85% of new code in this third rewrite. Rest has
+just been copied from the old versions and only minor changes has been
+made (like changed function names and overall coding style). I've
preserved the dates of the old files (dating back to 1997) that has
-existed in some forms in the old versions. There is a lot of new code but
-already I see a lot that needs rewriting. The development continues.
+existed in some forms in the old versions. There is a lot of new code but
+already I see a lot that needs rewriting. The development continues.
Contact
=======
-Feedback and comments are welcome. You can reach me in the following
-Address.
+Feedback and comments are welcome. Bug reports should be sent to the
+development mailing list.
-Official SILC project web site is : http://silc.pspt.fi
-FTP archive for SILC project is : ftp://silc.pspt.fi/pub/silc/
-Development mailing list address is : silc-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
+Official SILC project web site : http://silcnet.org/
+FTP archive for SILC project : ftp://ftp.silcnet.org/
+Development mailing list address : silc-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
+SILC Server : /server silc.silcnet.org
- Pekka Riikonen <priikone@poseidon.pspt.fi>
+ Pekka Riikonen <priikone@silcnet.org>
projects / silc.git / blobdiff