Name           DSLI  Description                                  Info
-------------  ----  -------------------------------------------- -----
Net::ICB       bdpO  ICB style chat server interface.             JMV

# Net::ICB ver 1.6     10/7/98
# John M Vinopal        banshee@resort.com
#
# Copyright (C) 1996-98, John M Vinopal, All Rights Reserved.
# Permission is granted to copy and modify this program for
# non-commercial purposes, so long as this copyright notice is
# preserved.  This software is distributed without warranty.
# Commercial users must contact the author for licensing terms.
#

DESCRIPTION
-----------

Net::ICB provides an object interface to a fnet/icb style chat server.

FNET or ICB is an old chat protocol dating back to 1988.  The original
code was written in fortran on some godforsaken machine at UKY by Sean
Casey.  After the server was rewritten in C, servers sprung up and died
over the years.  As of 1998, approximately 4 public servers run, the most
popular of which peaks at ~150 people.  See http://www.icb.net/ for more
information.

PREREQUISITES
-------------

    * Perl 5.004 or greater.  (IO::Socket::Inet)

    * Internet connection to ICB server.
      The official web site for ICB is http://www.icb.net/.

    * Client chat software (optional)
      See ftp://ftp.abattoir.com/pub/fnet.pl-...

BUILDING THE MODULE
-------------------

Net::ICB is all perl, no compilation.  Alter the $DEF_ variables
to suit your site's needs.  Now build and test the module:

    perl Makefile.PL
    make
    make test (requires a live internet connection)

INSTALLATION
------------

    make install

FEEDBACK
--------

How to report a problem with Net::ICB.

To help me help you, I need of the following information:

 1. The version of Perl and the operating system name and version you
    are running.  The command 'perl -V' should provide everything.

 2. The version of Net::ICB you have installed.  If you've installed
    NET::Fnet, this one-liner will tell you:

       perl -e 'use Net::ICB; print "ICB ver $Net::ICB::VERSION\n"'

    Otherwise search ICB.pm for a line like this:

       $VERSION = 'X.XX';

 3. The server you're connecting to (if you've gotten that far).

 4. Finally if this is a bug, a fix or a small example of the bug.

CHANGES
-------

See the Changes file.

John M Vinopal <banshee@resort.com>