Eggdrop
Developer(s)Eggheads[1][2]
Initial releaseDecember 1993; 30 years ago (1993-12)
Stable release
1.9.5[3] Edit this on Wikidata / 11 March 2023
Preview release
1.9.2rc2[4] Edit this on Wikidata / 7 February 2022
Repository
Written inC, Tcl
Operating systemUnix-like
Size1 MB
TypeIRC bot
LicenseGPL-2.0-or-later
Websitewww.eggheads.org

Eggdrop is a popular IRC bot and the oldest that is still being maintained.[5][6][7]

Development History

It was originally written by Robey Pointer in December 1993 to help manage and protect the EFnet channel #gayteen; one Eggdrop bot version was named Valis.[8][9][10] Eggdrop was originally intended to help manage and protect channels from takeover attempts and other forms of IRC war.[7][11][12][13][14]

Features

The bot is written in the C programming language and features interfaces for C modules and Tcl scripts that allow users to further enhance the functionality of the bot.[6][10][15]

A large number of Tcl scripts are available to expand the bot's functionality, most of them written by Eggdrop users.[6][16][17] Scripts are available to add and extend support for: online games, stats, user and channel management, information storage and lookup, greeting channel members, tracking last seen times, botnet management, anti-spam, file serving and distribution (usually via the DCC protocol), IRC services (similar to ChanServ and NickServ), and much more.

Eggdrop includes built-in support for sharing user information and channel bans. However, a script is required to simultaneously control multiple bots and for bots to coordinate channel management and modes.

The bot also features a "botnet", which allows multiple bots to be linked together to share data and act in a coordinated fashion.[10][13][15][18][19] The botnet supports a "party line", which is accessible via DCC CHAT and Telnet. People can communicate within the botnet on various channels in an equivalent to a miniature IRC. Channel 0, the default, is referred to as the "party line".[13][20]

Popularity

Over the years Eggdrop has become one of the most popular bots run by IRC users.[13][21][22]

See also

References

  1. ^ AUTHORS Archived 2013-04-14 at archive.today - List of Eggdrop developers and development history
  2. ^ THANKS Archived 2013-04-14 at archive.today - List of Eggdrop contributors
  3. ^ "Release 1.9.5". 11 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Eggdrop Release v1.9.2 Release Candidate 2". 7 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Homepage". eggheads.org. Archived from the original on 2008-12-30. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  6. ^ a b c Mutton, Paul (July 2004). IRC Hacks. O'Reilly Media. p. 294. ISBN 978-0-596-00687-7.
  7. ^ a b Bejtlich, Richard (November 2005). Extrusion Detection: Security Monitoring for Internal Intrusions. Professional Series. Addison-Wesley. p. 308. ISBN 978-0-321-34996-5.
  8. ^ Leonard, Andrew (July 1997). Bots: The Origin of New Species (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Hardwired. ISBN 1-888869-05-4. Meanwhile, back in #gayteen, Pointer's other IRC haunt, a raging power struggle had alienated most of the regular members of the channel
  9. ^ Leonard, Andrew (April 1996). "Wired 4.04: Bots Are Hot!". Wired Magazine. Condé Nast Publications. p. 5. Retrieved 2008-12-26. There are bots that greet newcomers to channels with information about the channel. Valis, the gaybot at #gayteen, is such a bot.
  10. ^ a b c "ABOUT". eggheads.org. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  11. ^ Lewis, Chris; Steve Pickavance (February 2006). Selecting MPLS VPN Services. Networking Technology. Cisco Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-1-58705-191-3.
  12. ^ Piccard, Paul; Brian Baskin; George Spillman; Marcus Sachs (May 2005). Securing IM and P2P Applications for the Enterprise (1st ed.). Syngress Publishing. p. 401. ISBN 978-1-59749-017-7.
  13. ^ a b c d Damer, Bruce (October 1997). Avatars! Exploring and Building Virtual Worlds on the Internet (1st ed.). Peachpit. ISBN 978-0-201-68840-5.
  14. ^ Clemm, Alexander; Lisandro Zambenedetti Granville; Rolf Stadler (December 2007). Managing Virtualization of Networks and Services. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer Science+Business Media. p. 1. ISBN 978-3-540-75693-4.
  15. ^ a b "README". eggheads.org. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  16. ^ "egghelp.org: Tcl Archive". eggheads.org. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  17. ^ "eggheads.org FTP: Scripts". eggheads.org. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  18. ^ "BOTNET". eggheads.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  19. ^ Piccard, et al., p. 390
  20. ^ "PARTYLINE". eggheads.org. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  21. ^ Orwant, Jon (August 2004). Games, Diversions & Perl Culture. Best of the Perl Journal (1st ed.). O'Reilly Media. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-596-00312-8.
  22. ^ Casey, Eoghan (March 2004). Digital Evidence and Computer Crime (2nd ed.). Academic Press. p. 497. ISBN 978-0-12-163104-8.

External links

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