X-Git-Url: https://sipb.mit.edu/gitweb.cgi/wiki.git/blobdiff_plain/3cae508856b9ff55cf5645329357ee50af9e0155..20b57a036a14527f29203253cd8dfbfc9d533484:/doc/zephyr.mdwn?ds=sidebyside diff --git a/doc/zephyr.mdwn b/doc/zephyr.mdwn index 21e4cbb..97800d5 100644 --- a/doc/zephyr.mdwn +++ b/doc/zephyr.mdwn @@ -22,11 +22,11 @@ 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. +client BarnOwl. -The information in this wiki about Barnowl just barely touches the -surface. More for in-depth functionality, visit the [Barnowl -wiki](https://barnowl.scripts.mit.edu:444/wiki). +The information in this wiki about BarnOwl just barely touches the +surface. More for in-depth functionality, visit the [BarnOwl +wiki](https://barnowl.mit.edu/). ## Modern Zephyr @@ -37,22 +37,49 @@ customize barnowl. ### Other Clients -There are other clients besides Barnowl, however their use is not +There are other clients besides BarnOwl, however their use is not nearly as widespread. Some of these include: -* Owl (unmaintained, Barnowl evolved from this) +* Owl (unmaintained, BarnOwl evolved from this) * vt / jervt * zwgc (see TraditionalZephyr) * Pidgin * zephyr-mode for emacs -Using Barnowl is recommended, as it is better supported and more +Using BarnOwl is recommended, as it is better supported and more documentation exists for it. -### Using Barnowl +### Using BarnOwl +You will need access to an Athena machine to run barnowl. The easiest +way to do this would be to SSH into linux.mit.edu. + +On a Debian-based linux distro, open up a terminal and type `ssh +@linux.mit.edu`. + +On Windows, download a SSH client (such as +[PuTTY](http://chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html); you will need to [change PuTTY’s character set](http://utf-8.scripts.mit.edu/wiki/PuTTY) to UTF-8 to prevent occasional display glitches.) +and install it. Once you've opened it, type `@linux.mit.edu` +into the prompt and hit enter. + +On a Mac, open Terminal from the Utilities Folder in Applications. Type +`kinit @ATHENA.MIT.EDU && ssh -K +@linux.mit.edu` If this command fails (saying -K is +invalid), then just do `ssh @linux.mit.edu`. + +Alternatively, use a Java applet called Mindterm SSH inside any web browser. MIT makes this available at [athena.dialup.mit.edu](http://athena.dialup.mit.edu/ssh.html); although this will give you an Athena terminal, you may want to ssh from there to linux.mit.edu so as to follow the rest of these instructions exactly: + + athena.dialup.mit.edu login: + @athena.dialup.mit.edu's password: + (wait a while) + @:~$ ssh @linux.mit.edu + @:~$ + +(In all these cases, don't include the angle brackets, just replace + with your MIT username). You will then be prompted for your +password. Enter it, and then carry on with running barnowl! To start barnowl, run the command `add barnowl; barnowl` at the prompt -on any Athena machine or dialup, such as linerva.mit.edu. +on any Athena machine or dialup, such as linux.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 @@ -61,8 +88,10 @@ 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, or -Escape then q) will word-wrap the text you've entered for you. +word-wrapped to 70 characters or so per line; barnowl will wrap at about +10 characters less than the width of your terminal window, so if you +have a large window, you may need to press M-q (Alt-q, or Escape then q) +to word-wrap the current paragraph to a smaller width. 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` @@ -90,7 +119,7 @@ given class. To subscribe to a class, use the subscribe command: - :subscribe CLASSNAME * * + :subscribe CLASSNAME * * To send a zephyr to a class, use the zwrite command with the -c option: @@ -129,16 +158,6 @@ Some common classes include: > report what one is working on or up to, or ask friends questions, or > just rant about something. -"un" Classes: -> Many people use "un" classes in addition to their personal class, -> for example `johndoe` might use `-c unjohndoe`. Sometimes there are -> nested un-classes as well, such as `-c ununjohndoe` or `-c -> unununjohndoe`. It is extremely rare to see anything more than -> three "un"s. Un-classes are generally used for snarking about a -> conversation going on in the next class up (`-c unjohndoe` snarking -> about `-c johndoe`), or for more intense ranting. The more "un"s, -> the more intense the snarking/ranting generally becomes. - ### Zephyr Slang If you spend enough time on Zephyr, you'll begin noticing some strange @@ -176,19 +195,44 @@ There are many other acronyms that are used; if you don't know what it means, try using the `whats foo` command at an Athena terminal. If you don't have the command, run `add sipb` first. +### Zephyr Etiquette + +There are rules that people tend to use on Zephyr. These include: + +Good grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Not everybody uses +capitalization, but they will still use good English. Please do not say +things such as "hey wut r u up to???". It makes you look like an idiot. +Really. + +You don't need multiple question marks or exclamation points. Usually. + +There are a few abbreviations people use, such as YMMV (Your Mileage May +Vary) or IIRC (If I Remember Correctly), as well as some nerdier ones +like DTRT (Do The Right Thing, in reference to +[ The Rise of "Worse Is +Better"](http://www.jwz.org/doc/worse-is-better.html)). Try running `add sipb; whats dtrt` to look up an +abbreviation. Common abbreviations that you might find on AIM, however, +are not often used. People tend to look down upon "lol", "rofl", and +such. + +Personal classes are by convention considered a little more private than +non-personal (public) classes. Although most people don't mind people +they've met subscribing to their personal class and lurking, it's poor +form to talk loudly on the personal class of someone you don't know. + ### Startup There might be some options that you want to be consistent from session to session; you don't want to have to set the same variables each time. You can fix this by adding the commands to your "startup" file, for example, `.owl/startup`. This can be done from within -Barnowl, by using the `startup` command: +BarnOwl, by using the `startup` command: :startup set foo bar Where `foo` is the variable you want to set, and `bar` is the value. You do not necessarily have to use the `set` command, either, any -command you can type in Barnowl can be added to the startup file. +command you can type in BarnOwl can be added to the startup file. ### Logging @@ -203,28 +247,30 @@ And to log personals: This will log to the "zlog" directory in your locker. You probably don't want people to see what classes you're on or what people you -talk to, so you can run the Athena command +talk to, so you can run the Athena commands mkdir -p ~/zlog fs sa ~/zlog system:anyuser none + mkdir -p ~/zlog/people + mkdir -p ~/zlog/class -to make this directory completely hidden. +to create the necessary directories and make them completely hidden. ### Colors By default, there are seven colors you may use in the terminal: red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, and white. In order to use color in Zephyr, you can use the following notation: `@(@color(red)This is -some red text))` +some red text)` Colors may vary from machine to machine, as different terminal profiles may have different shades of the seven colors. ### Filters -Some people like to customize their Barnowl by color-coding classes. +Some people like to customize their BarnOwl by color-coding classes. This makes it easier to tell different classes apart (and minimize -mixing). Barnowl has some already existing filters, for example, +mixing). BarnOwl has some already existing filters, for example, `personal` (for incoming personals), `out` (for outgoing personals), and `ping` (for pings). To assign a color to a filter, add the following to your startup file: @@ -234,11 +280,11 @@ following to your startup file: What if you want to color-code your class, or a friends class? You can create and color filters with: - filter johndoe class johndoe + filter johndoe class ^johndoe$ filter johndoe -c blue You can update your settings and filters without restarting your -Barnowl session by: +BarnOwl session by: :source ~/path/to/config/file @@ -247,11 +293,11 @@ particular filter with, e.g., `:view personal`. You can use `:view all` or the keyboard shortcut `V` to see all messages again. For more detailed information on filters, visit -https://barnowl.scripts.mit.edu:444/wiki/Filters. +[https://barnowl.scripts.mit.edu:444/wiki/Filters](https://barnowl.scripts.mit.edu:444/wiki/Filters). -## Running Barnowl in Screen +## Running BarnOwl in Screen -It can be very annoying to have to close Barnowl when you turn off +It can be very annoying to have to close BarnOwl when you turn off your computer. During the time your computer is off, you're missing many (possibly important) zephyrs. It can be aggravating to be using zephyr via an unreliable network connection. It can also be @@ -260,12 +306,14 @@ different computer and want to check your zephyrs - how do you do this? These problems can be solved with the magic of screen. A more detailed and extensive explanation of this can be found at -http://web.mit.edu/kchen/bin/owl-screen.txt. +[http://web.mit.edu/kchen/arch/common/bin/owl-screen.txt](http://web.mit.edu/kchen/arch/common/bin/owl-screen.txt). Basic commands are [Ctrl-a] followed by [c] to open a new window (like a tab), [Ctrl-a][w] to see a list of open windows, and [Ctrl-a] followed by a number to go to that window. + +Do note that running `owl-screen` as apposed to just runnning `screen` and then a barnowl instance provides niceties such as reminders to renew your tickets (the process `/mit/kchen/arch/i386_rhel4/bin/cont-renew-notify`). Also, BarnOwl will always be located on the `0` tab of an `owl-screen` instance, so [Ctrl-a][0] will always take you back to BarnOwl. ### Screen You should find a computer or server on which to run your screen -session(s) that is up all the time, for example, linerva.mit.edu. +session(s) that is up all the time, for example, linux.mit.edu. Screen allows you to run programs inside of it on one computer, and to access those same programs from other computers via ssh. @@ -285,7 +333,7 @@ window, and run kinit -l7d -54 (length 7 days, both Kerberos 5 and Kerberos 4). Press C-a 0 to return -back to your Barnowl window. +back to your BarnOwl window. When you're ready to log out, press C-a d to "detach" your screen, and then type `exit` or `logout` to log out. Later, when you want to @@ -317,3 +365,19 @@ currently attached, run: `screen` can do a whole lot more. To find out about it, see [UsingScreen](https://sipb-www.scripts.mit.edu:444/doc/wiki/UsingScreen). + +### Interaction with Traditional Zephyr + +The default athena startup scripts launch zwgc on login. If you are +subscribed to many classes and use Zephyr as many do today, zwgc's +behavior is not very desirable. To disable zwgc startup, add: + + setenv ZEPHYR_CLIENT false + +to your `~/.environment` file if you use `tcsh` or + + ZEPHYR_CLIENT=false + +to your `~/.bash_environment` if you use `bash`. This will cause your +shell to launch the `false` executable instead of zwgc which does +nothing.