= Using Zephyr = == Introduction to Zephyr == Zephyr was a system designed to let system administrators send important messages to users in an easily noticeable format. It was meant to have a low volume of traffic and be used only for official notices. This is obviously not what Zephyr is today. It can still be used in the way it was intended: notice that you get official zephyrgrams as you log in, with important information about Athena services and planned outages. However, the most common usage is by average users exchanging information about classes, how their days are going, and talking on Zephyr classes and instances about everything from the latest episode of Battlestar Galactica to the next 18.03 problem set. The usage of Zephyr has far exceeded original expectations. Over time, people have also created programs that give Zephyr a graphical interface, and programs that give zephyr a purely textual interface, that can be used entirely within a ssh terminal. Some of these zephyr clients have become so widely used that there are users who do not know that there are other ways to send (and receive) zephyrgrams. This wiki will cover the traditional commands, typed at the athena% prompt, as well as the more common modern zephyr client Barnowl. == Traditional Zephyr (archaic) == When you log into Athena, you may occasionally see a white box pop up with text on it. This is Zephyr in it's traditional form. === Terminology === # '''windowgrams''' are the small windows that appear on your screen with a message from another person. # '''Zephyrgrams''' are the messages that you send and receive when you are using Zephyr. They can appear as windowgrams or in other forms, depending on which client you are using. # '''zwgc''' is the basic, traditional Zephyr client. === Basic Commands === '''zlocate''' '''''friend''''' is the command used to find out if user "friend" is logged in and subscribing to zephyrgrams. If they are logged in and subscribing to messages you will receive information about where they are logged in. If they are not logged in you will receive the message "Hidden or not logged-in." This means they either do not want to be found or are not logged in. '''zwrite''' '''''friend''''' is used to send a message to {{{friend}}}. Just follow the instructions given. If you get an error saying the person is hidden or not logged in then your message has not been sent and the person you are trying to reach is not logged in or is not subscribing to messages and you should try sending e-mail instead. '''zctl hide''' can be used to "hide" yourself. When hidden you are not {{{zlocatable}}}, but if someone tries to zwrite you anyway they will succeed. '''zctl wg_shutdown''' should be used if you want to stop receiving zephyrgrams for this session. '''zctl set zwrite-signature "foo"''' (quotes are mandatory) will change your Zephyr signature, or zsig, to foo. By default your zsig is your name as it exists in your finger information. It shows up in a zephyrgram before your username. You can change it to almost anything you like, although you should avoid very long zsigs since they tend to annoy people. '''zaway''' is used to let people know you are away from the terminal and not deliberately ignoring their messages. It sends a message to whoever sends you a personal zephyrgram that lets them know that you are away (and will probably respond later). '''zwgc -ttymode''' will start up a Zephyr client when you are logged in remotely. Zephyrs appear as plain text on your screen. '''znol''' will let you know which people on a list are logged in. Your {{{~/.anyone}}} file should contain the list of usernames you want to know about (it should have one name per line and no spaces). You will also be sent login and logout notices in the form of a zephyrgram whenever one of the users in your list logs in or out (if they are announced, see below) after you have run {{{znol}}} during a session. '''zctl set exposure exposurelevel''' will set your exposure (how other people know when you are logged in). An exposure level of {{{net-announced}}} causes login and logout notices to be sent to people who have you in their {{{.anyone}}} file, and you will be zlocatable. {{{net-visible}}} is the same except login and logout notices are not sent. The {{{realm-announced}}} and {{{realm-visible}}} settings require authentication before your information is divulged, but behave in most situations in the same way as {{{net-announced}}} and {{{net-visible}}}, respectively. The {{{opstaff}}} setting makes you unable to be zlocated and does not send login and logout notices. Finally the {{{none}}} setting provides no information about you and '''you will not be able to receive zephyrgrams'''. '''zctl sub message foo *''' will subscribe you to a Zephyr "instance" named foo. Zephyr instances (and classes) allow groups of people to have conversations via Zephyr. The above {{{zctl}}} command will subscribe you to the instance {{{foo}}} for your current login only; to make it more permanent replace {{{sub}}} with {{{add}}}. To unsubscribe for this login only change {{{sub}}} to {{{unsub}}}, and to unsubscribe permanently use {{{delete}}} instead. '''zwrite -i foo''' will send a message to the Zephyr instance {{{foo}}}. '''zctl sub foo * *''' subscribes you to the Zephyr class {{{foo}}}. Zephyr classes are slightly more private than instances as you must know the name of the class to subscribe to it. {{{unsub}}}, {{{add}}} and {{{delete}}} work the same way for classes as for instances. '''zwrite -c foo''' sends a zephyr(gram) to class {{{foo}}}. == Modern Zephyr == Today the majority of Zephyr users use the barnowl client. There are other clients as well (for example, Pidgin supports Zephyr). The following sections will go into detail about how to install, use, and customize barnowl. === Using Barnowl === To start barnowl, run the command {{{add barnowl; barnowl}}} at the prompt on any Athena machine or dialup, such as linerva.mit.edu. The simplest use of Zephyr is to send personal zephyrs to other users. To send a zephyr, type : to bring up a command line, and run the command {{{zwrite USERNAME}}}. You can also start a {{{zwrite}}} command by simply typing z. You can then enter your message, and then enter a {{{.}}} on a line by itself to finish the zephyr. By convention, zephyrs are usually word-wrapped to 70-character lines or so; Pressing M-q (Alt-q) will word-wrap the text you've entered for you. Once you've sent and received zephyrs, you can navigate the message list with the arrow keys. Press {{{d}}} to mark a message as deleted, {{{u}}} to undelete it, and {{{x}}} to expunge all messages that have been marked as deleted. Instead of entering a {{{zwrite}}} command manually, you can also select a message in the message list with the arrow keys, and reply to it using {{{r}}}, which will automatically set up an appropriate {{{zwrite}}} command. For more documentation on the built-in commands and keybindings, you can press h to bring up barnowl's built-in help screen. For help with a specific command, bring up a command line with {{{:}}} and then type {{{help COMMAND}}}. === Classes and Instances === Generall the most interesting discussion on Zephyr, however, happens on so-called Zephyr ''classes''. A class is a bit like a chat room in other IM systems. Anyone can send a zephyr to a class, and anyone who is subscribed to that class will receive it. There is no security on classes -- anyone who knows the name of a class can subscribe, and there is no way to determine who is subscribed to a given class. To subscribe to a class, use the subscribe command: {{{:subscribe CLASSNAME * *}}} To send a zephyr to a class, use the zwrite command with the -c option: {{{:zwrite -c CLASSNAME}}} Zephyrs to classes usually have an instance attached. An instance is a short “topic” or “subject” that indicates the context of a zephyr. Different instances are often used to multiplex multiple conversations on a high-traffic class. You can specify an instance with the -i option to zwrite: {{{:zwrite -c CLASSNAME -i INSTANCE}}} A message without an instance specified will default to the instance “personal”. === Colors === === Filters ===