3 * The centericq FAQ (frequently asked questions)
4 * by Konstantin Klyagin <konst@konst.org.ua>
6 * $Id: FAQ,v 1.17 2004/11/11 13:42:05 konst Exp $
10 Q: "Who are you?" - a question usually addressed to the user "konst"
11 on the default centericq contact list by everybody who doesn't
12 like to read documentation.
14 A: I usually answer "Santa Claus".
18 Q: What about implementing such a neat <blah-blah> feature in centericq?
20 A: Hey, centericq is GPL and opensource, so feel free to contribute.
21 Don't wait for the author/maintainer to implement it, just do it
22 yourself and send a patch.
26 Q: Can't build it under FreeBSD..
28 A: Use gmake instead of make
32 Q: (by Paonia Ezrine, paonia@home.welcomehome.org)
33 When I run centericq in a xterm or from the console it is fine but
34 when I run it in a gnome terminal windows the screen does not update
35 correctly. Specificly the right side of the screen does not get
36 cleared after I send a message or other similar events.
38 A: (by Jakub Travnik, j.travnik@sh.cvut.cz)
40 It happens only with the gnome-terminal. centericq works fine on
41 linux-console and eterm (enlightenment) so it is problem with
42 gnome-terminal. It does not support all xterm sequences.
43 /usr/share/terminfo/g/gnome file could correct that (gnome users
44 should have it), so that ncurses will not use such a extended
45 sequences for gnome-terminal.
47 Workaround: For me it worked setting TERM variable to gnome and then
48 running centericq without problems.
58 Q: How do I authorize someone's request with centericq?
60 A: You'll see as soon as someone requests it.
64 Q: I can't use Ctrl-O to view history and Ctrl-Y to delete a line under
67 A: Execute the following before starting centericq:
73 Q: I can't get out from a dialog or a menu. When I press ESC, nothing
76 A: Have you ever used mc (Midnight commander)? It requires users to
77 press ESC twice to close a dialog, menu, etc. It's not a problem, but
78 just a terminal specific issue.
82 Q: How do I enable logging the protocol info, etc?
84 A: Run centericq with --debug flag.
88 Q: Centericq compiles way too slow on my box. What's wrong?
90 A: C++ compiler optimization being a rather slow thing is on by default.
91 To turn it off, do the following.
92 [konst@morgue]$ CXXFLAGS=-O0 ./configure && make
96 Q: From: jeff covey <jeff.covey@pobox.com>
98 if i understand the faq correctly, centericq makes esc into escesc
99 because some terminals don't map esc properly. could the use of esc or
100 escesc be made a configuration choice? for me, hitting escape twice is
101 reallyreally annoyingannoying, especially if i'm two menus in, and to
102 get out, i have to hit escape four times in a rowrowrowrow.
104 A: From: lanzz@lanzz.org
106 it's a limitation of the console. keys like f1..f12, the arrows, etc,
107 generate sequences of characters starting with esc. if the application
108 was to handle esc as cancel unconditionally, you'll have arrows
109 cancelling your dialogs. so the app must do one of these things to
112 1. require esc-esc instead of single esc, as that disambiguates it
113 from the function keys
115 2. have a certain timeout and accepting the esc as a cancel only if
116 there wasn't a function sequence after the esc during the timeout
118 3. switch keyboard to raw or medium-raw mode and do keycode mapping
121 as 2. is annoying and sluggish (at least to me) and 3. is too much
122 work for too little gain, i think the current situation with double
123 esc is the best choice. centericq was using timeout esc in the past (i
124 think it's the default way ncurses handles esc) and at least i'm happy
127 perhaps there could be a configurable choice between double-esc and
128 timeout, if that doesn't complicate the input routines too much.
132 Q: From: staale@lorentzen.org
134 > + [icq] connecting to the server
135 > + [icq] disconnected, turboing
139 > I've tried different icq-servers, with no luck. Anyone with a
140 > clue to what this can be?
142 A: It means exactly "turboing". You're loggin in and out too fast, so
143 that the server turns on DoS attack protection. All you can do is
144 to try again in half an hour.
148 Q: WTF?! My centericq binary is more than 20Mb. SOS! HELP! Virus? Aliens?
150 A: There are three steps you need to take.
152 1. Look at other applications written in C++ compiled in your system.
153 2. Read the install(1) and strip(1) man-pages.
154 3. Type "strip centericq; ls -l centericq"
158 Q: I need a program for sending messages on IM networks from the command
159 line. Is it possible to write a program that would use the centericq
160 libraries, or maybe there is a special batch mode in the program?
162 A: Batch mode like you described is not possible to be implemented, because
163 due to frequent logons followed by disconnections the servers will turn
164 on their DoS attacks protection. So there is the only decent way which
165 consists in sending messages in batch mode through an already running
166 centericq instance. If you want to run it like a "daemon", use
167 screen(1). More details on the batch mode usage can be found in the
172 Q: ICQ new UINs registration doesn't work! It just sends a request and
173 then after 30 seconds reports a timeout.
175 A: It does work. Though, the ICQ server doesn't report the "password is
176 too simple" situaion. Try to enter another one, more complicated. Also,
177 as far as I know, "xxx123" is complicated enough to be accepted by
182 Q: What about storing passwords in some kind of an encrypted mode in the
185 A: It doesn't make much sense, because in many cases they're transferred
186 unencrypted. And also the program must first decrypt them before sending,
187 so the one who really wants to find out them anyway will make it quite
188 easily. But if you still think that such a crypting will help, please
189 consult homepage of the program which was made especially for ones
190 like you: http://konst.org.ua/kripp/
194 Q: When $HOME/.centericq/config gets created, you should set it mode 0600
195 so only the user can read it. It contains passwords in clear text
196 which other users on a system could read.
198 A: Your filesystem permissions knowledge is very sound, but please just try
199 to access the config file before making any affirmations. You'll see
200 that the .centericq directiory permissions do not allow others to read
201 your configuration data.