/*
*
* The CenterIM FAQ (frequently asked questions)
* originally by Konstantin Klyagin
* currently maintained by the CenterIM community.
* read the up-to-date version at http://www.centerim.org/index.php/FAQ
*
*/
/* *** */
Q: What about implementing such a neat <blah-blah> feature in centerim?
A: Hey, centerim is GPL and opensource, so feel free to contribute.
Don't wait for the maintainers to implement it, just do it
yourself and send a patch.
/* *** */
Q: Can't build it under FreeBSD..
A: Use gmake instead of make
/* *** */
Q: (by Paonia Ezrine, paonia@home.welcomehome.org)
When I run centerim in a xterm or from the console it is fine but
when I run it in a gnome terminal windows the screen does not update
correctly. Specificly the right side of the screen does not get
cleared after I send a message or other similar events.
A: (by Jakub Travnik, j.travnik@sh.cvut.cz)
It happens only with the gnome-terminal. centerim works fine on
linux-console and eterm (enlightenment) so it is problem with
gnome-terminal. It does not support all xterm sequences.
/usr/share/terminfo/g/gnome file could correct that (gnome users
should have it), so that ncurses will not use such a extended
sequences for gnome-terminal.
Workaround: For me it worked setting TERM variable to gnome and then
running centerim without problems.
(gnome-terminal)
$ export TERM=gnome
$ centerim
and it is ok
/* *** */
Q: How do I authorize someone's request with centerim?
A: You'll see as soon as someone requests it.
/* *** */
Q: I can't use Ctrl-O to view history and Ctrl-Y to delete a line under
FreeBSD
A: Execute the following before starting centerim:
stty dsusp undef
stty discard undef
/* *** */
Q: I can't get out from a dialog or a menu. When I press ESC, nothing
happens.
A: Have you ever used mc (Midnight commander)? It requires users to
press ESC twice to close a dialog, menu, etc. It's not a problem, but
just a terminal specific issue.
/* *** */
Q: How do I enable logging the protocol info, etc?
A: Run centerim with --debug flag.
/* *** */
Q: CenterIM compiles way too slow on my box. What's wrong?
A: C++ compiler optimization being a rather slow thing is on by default.
To turn it off, do the following.
[konst@morgue]$ CXXFLAGS=-O0 ./configure && make
/* *** */
Q: From: jeff covey <jeff.covey@pobox.com>
if i understand the faq correctly, centerim makes esc into escesc
because some terminals don't map esc properly. could the use of esc or
escesc be made a configuration choice? for me, hitting escape twice is
reallyreally annoyingannoying, especially if i'm two menus in, and to
get out, i have to hit escape four times in a rowrowrowrow.
A: From: lanzz@lanzz.org
it's a limitation of the console. keys like f1..f12, the arrows, etc,
generate sequences of characters starting with esc. if the application
was to handle esc as cancel unconditionally, you'll have arrows
cancelling your dialogs. so the app must do one of these things to
avoid that:
1. require esc-esc instead of single esc, as that disambiguates it
from the function keys
2. have a certain timeout and accepting the esc as a cancel only if
there wasn't a function sequence after the esc during the timeout
3. switch keyboard to raw or medium-raw mode and do keycode mapping
internally
as 2. is annoying and sluggish (at least to me) and 3. is too much
work for too little gain, i think the current situation with double
esc is the best choice. centerim was using timeout esc in the past (i
think it's the default way ncurses handles esc) and at least i'm happy
with the change :)
perhaps there could be a configurable choice between double-esc and
timeout, if that doesn't complicate the input routines too much.
/* *** */
Q: From: staale@lorentzen.org
> + [icq] connecting to the server
> + [icq] disconnected, turboing
> Msn works fine.
> I've tried different icq-servers, with no luck. Anyone with a
> clue to what this can be?
A: It means exactly "turboing". You're loggin in and out too fast, so
that the server turns on DoS attack protection. All you can do is
to try again in half an hour.
/* *** */
Q: WTF?! My centerim binary is more than 20Mb. SOS! HELP! Virus? Aliens?
A: There are three steps you need to take.
1. Look at other applications written in C++ compiled in your system.
2. Read the install(1) and strip(1) man-pages.
3. Type "strip -s centerim; ls -l centerim"
/* *** */
Q: I need a program for sending messages on IM networks from the command
line. Is it possible to write a program that would use the centerim
libraries, or maybe there is a special batch mode in the program?
A: Batch mode like you described is not possible to be implemented, because
due to frequent logons followed by disconnections the servers will turn
on their DoS attacks protection. So there is the only decent way which
consists in sending messages in batch mode through an already running
centerim instance. If you want to run it like a "daemon", use
screen(1). More details on the batch mode usage can be found in the
README, chapter 9.2.
/* *** */
Q: ICQ new UINs registration doesn't work! It just sends a request and
then after 30 seconds reports a timeout.
A: It does work. Though, the ICQ server doesn't report the "password is
too simple" situaion. Try to enter another one, more complicated. Also,
as far as I know, "xxx123" is complicated enough to be accepted by
the server software.
/* *** */
Q: What about storing passwords in some kind of an encrypted mode in the
config file?
A: It doesn't make much sense, because in many cases they're transferred
unencrypted. And also the program must first decrypt them before sending,
so the one who really wants to find out them anyway will make it quite
easily. But if you still think that such a crypting will help, please
consult homepage of the program which was made especially for ones
like you: http://thekonst.net/en/kripp/
/* *** */
Q: When $HOME/.centerim/config gets created, you should set it mode 0600
so only the user can read it. It contains passwords in clear text
which other users on a system could read.
A: Your filesystem permissions knowledge is very sound, but please just try
to access the config file before making any affirmations. You'll see
that the .centerim directiory permissions do not allow others to read
your configuration data.
