Eggdrop
- For other uses, see Egg drop.
| Developer(s) | Eggheads |
|---|---|
| Stable release | |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Type | IRC bot |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | www.eggheads.org |
Eggdrop is a popular IRC bot. It was originally written in December 1993 by Robey Pointer, for the EFnet channel #gayteen. Eggdrop started out as an efficient substitute for cEvin, Jamie's IRC bot which was reaching limitations due to its script based design.
Eggdrop is written in the C programming language, and features an interface for scripts that allows the user to enhance the functionality of the bot. The language used in the script interface is Tcl.
In its time, the eggdrop has become one of the most popular IRC bots. Many of the bots that are run by normal IRC users (as opposed to the bots run by IRC operators, which are usually the network services like ChanServ and NickServ) are eggdrops.
Due to its popularity, the eggdrop has a plethora of different scripts available for inclusion, most of them written by users. The additional features provided include such things as trivia games, file distribution mechanisms (usually via the DCC protocol) and random insults of other users on the channel.
It also features such uses as a botnet, which allows one to link multiple bots together to act in a coordinated fashion, i.e., sharing information about users, performing actions when other bots die (shut down), and setting a ban on a person in each channel synchronously. People connected to any bot on the botnet via DCC CHAT or telnet are also able to communicate with each other within the botnet on various channels (channel 0, the default, is referred to as the "party line"), in a sort of miniature IRC.
Support
Eggdrop help via IRC is available in #eggdrop on Undernet [1]. On IRCnet and DALnet, support is available in #eggdrop. On QuakeNet support is available in #eggdrop.support. Eggdrop help is also available on EFnet and freenode in the channel #egghelp. (The EFnet channel #eggdrop is not a help channel as of May 2006.) Eggdrop help is also available on UniBG in the channel #EggFAQ There is also a help channel for Tcl programming, and the Eggdrop specific extensions to Tcl on most major networks called #tcl.
