Unreal IRCd Network Links Bot.

Connects to an Unreal IRCd Network Server Hub and Lists the Servers Linked to the Hub.
This should work on any IRCd server that honors the STATS l comamnd, but is only tested
on Unreal IRCd servers. http://www.unrealircd.com/

Dependencies:

    Net::IRC (Bundled)
    JSON http://search.cpan.org/~makamaka/JSON-2.16/lib/JSON.pm
    A Webserver with PHP Enabled. (PHP is optional, but easiest to use).

Installation:

1. First acquite the software. There are two ways to acquire this software:
    
    a. You may install this by using the the tarball archive found at 
    http://ircd.zoelife4u.org/linkbot/ and extract it with:
        
        tar -xjvf ircd_linkbot.tar.bz2
    
    b. You may use the GIT repository: git clone git://github.com/jnbek/ircd_linkbot.git

2. Install the linkbot.pl file and the Net directory to a place of your liking, i recommend $HOME/bin.

    a. cp linkbot.pl $HOME/bin && cp -r Net $HOME/bin
    b. cd $HOME/bin
    c. chmod 755 $HOME/bin/linkbot.pl
    d. Open $HOME/bin/linkbot.pl and edit line 82 to match the ports your hub listens on. They are | seperated.

3. Configure the options in the linkbot.pl file to suit your network needs. Note, if you choose the Ajax route
below you will need to configure linkbot.pl to write the json file to the same directory containing the html file.
if you choose the PHP route below, simply change the path and filename in both linkbot.pl and irclinks.php to the same location.

4. Install either the irclinks.php file in the php/ directory OR the getlinks.js file in the ajax/ directory
    to the web server directory that will contain the page(s) displaying your network's link information.

    a. If choosing the PHP route, in the page you wish to display your links, simply place:

        <?php include('/path/to/irclinks.php'); ?>
       
       Where ever you want the listing to show. This file contains the table structure necessary to properly
       display the network links.
    
    b. If you choose the AJAX route, in the page you wish to display your links, in the head section add:
        
        <script type="text/javascript" src="getlinks.js"></script>
       
       And in the body section where you wish the link table to display:
       
       <div id='server_links'></div>
       <script type="text/javascript">
       getJSON();
       </script>
   
   Simple as that. Note the CSS is up to you. I use two classes irc_stats and server_1, you may style them
   to your liking.

5. Install the cron. As the user that will execute the linkbot, execute:
    crontab -e < cron/linkbot.cron 
   Note: this user will need write access to the JSON file's location.

FAQs:

Q. Will you help me install this?
A. No, the instructions are very simple, since the STATS l command requires oper access, 
you will already know enough to make this work.

Q. Why Net::IRC, don't you know it's DEPRECATED?
A. Yes, I know it's deprecated, and I don't care, it meets the needs for what this script does.
It doesn't need all the power that POE::Component::IRC offers, and AnyEvent::IRC is too convoluted
for the needs of this script. Fact is, Net::IRC should not be deprecated, but left alone, since the 
IRC Protocol hasn't changed and likely won't change. Net::IRC meets the need in it's own simplicity.
I chose to bundle Net::IRC with the script as it's deprecated state means it may become more
difficult to install as time progresses, and it being pure perl, will work on any platform perl runs.

Q. Why JSON, you got something againsts CSV or XML?
A. No, CSV and XML are cool, but JSON is a great lightweight container that can be easily parsed
from a Client Side Javascript, and it's all about ease when programming right?

Q. What's the history of this script?
A. My very first script EVER (in any language) was an IO::Socket version of this script in Perl. It still works, but I wanted
to try something different. So I rewrote it as this!! After 6 years, change can be good, right?

Q. Can I see a real world example of this in action?
A. http://ircd.zoelife4u.org/ It's the Server List as of.. table.

Q. Why the weird CSS class names?
A. I don't remember why I chose those class names, they rolled over from the original IO::Socket script.

Q. Why did you write this, are you bored or something?
A. Yes.