aleksanteri's blog

Now; there is a load of bots out there. My own bot, antawot, currently runs an eggdrop though I'm in the process of making my own bot for that. Eggdrop provides a minimalistic bot with a nice load of configuration options (in fact the configuration file is IMO somewhat redundant), and provides a built-in registeration system, seen system and a couple of other things, but it doesn't give any triggers itself; instead it runs with Tcl scripts.

If you want a bot of your own you should allocate some time for this, as it can take some time to get your own bot on. I can, though, tell you how to get an eggdrop bot running.

Eggdrop runs mainly on Linux and *BSD, though there is a Windows port available, called Windrop. Those who run Windows should go to the download page and get the latest version of Windrop, those who run Linux or *BSD, should go and pick the sources for it, and compile the eggdrop. Once you have compiled/installed the bot you should edit the configuration file, eggdrop.conf. Be sure to read the commented parts for instructions, otherwise something might go wrong. Once that's done, you now have to go and fetch or make some scripts for the eggdrop, otherwise you'll end up with a dull bot that does nothing.

You should also give it a NickServ account and make it identify when it is booted, that is, if the network you run it on has NickServ. Also, be sure the identification works; if you have configured it in the manner that it'll protect it's nickname and fails to identify you might end up having a bot that revolves the door. If such happens, don't say I didn't warn you!

So; when you have set up the eggdrop, set up the eggdrop.conf file and got the scripts you can launch the bot. The first run must be done in userfile creation mode. On Linux and *BSD, you run the bot with

eggdrop -m eggdrop.conf

. The -m in there means userfile creation mode; once you have run it for the first time you no longer need the -m switch. I don't know what Windrop does but I think you have to run it in a similar manner.

Once you have launched the bot it should connect to the server you gave it and join the channel(s) you configured, and now you should register to the bot so that it'll know you're it's master on IRC; this is done by /msg:ing the bot "HELLO" (without the quotes, of course), unless you have specifically set another word for it. It should respond that "Hello! I am foobar, an eggdrop bot." and so on. You should also set a password by /msg:ing the bot "PASS <password-here>". It should now work.

Of course that was just instructions for the eggdrop, there's a ton of bots out there, each with their own different properties. I don't currently have a list of all the bots, though.

There is one little thing, though; it doesn't stay on 24/7 unless you keep your computer on 24/7 as well. The reason for this is simple: the eggdrop is an application like Opera and whatever else you might use. If you want that the bot stays on with your computer off, you should get a remote server where to put the eggdrop on. These shell servers tend to cost money, though.

One thing you should know before doing anything is that what you will use your bot for? Will it host a game, will it protect a channel of yours, or... ? Every bot has it's purpose.