README

README Last updated April 26, 2002 by Neurophyre

What vDOC is:

* vDOC is an Internet-only BBS (Bulletin Board System), designed for
  multiple users to post public messages in specific messaging areas
  (rooms), send private mail to one another, and communicate directly
  with each other via a form of instant messaging (eXpress messages).

* vDOC supports user logins via Telnet, SSH, ISCABBS clients, and SSL
  versions of ISCABBS clients.  vDOC supports a number of users
  simultaneously, and while to my knowledge I've not seen a system
  running a close relative of this code with more than about 100 users
  on at a time, vDOC supports at least that many and possibly more.

* vDOC is relatively stable under normal operating conditions (leave
  the 100-hour maximum login timeout in, and everything should be fine
  99% of the time or more).  vDOC has a fairly clean, attractive user
  interface without a lot of visual clutter.

* vDOC is one of (presumably many) local variants of DOC, which is short
  for Dave's Own version of Citadel.  DOC was a codebase (or codebases)
  which ran on ISCABBS (a student-run BBS at University of Iowa) from
  the early 1990s until the present time, at the writing of this document.
  DOC is descended in concept from Citadel, a family of BBS software
  dating back to the early 1990s.

* vDOC is directly descended from DOC 1.7, with modifications by several
  people, hence the name vDOC ("variant DOC") 1.7.  The full name is 
  somewhat ungainly:  DOC Version 1.7, f3m0n0, which refers to the
  revision levels by various programmers present in the current version.
  It stands for Dave's Own Citadel Version 1.7, Firebird rev. 0.3, Marx
  Marvelous rev. 0, Neurophyre rev. 0.  You'll see the full name when
  you log in, but vDOC 1.7 is good for short.

* A VERY incomplete list of the people that I know have contributed to
  vDOC, in quasi-chronological order, without regard to the relative
  size of their contributions ( :-P ):

  Serendipity
  Firebird
  Ivor
  Neurophyre
  Marx Marvelous

What vDOC is not:

* vDOC is not a dial-up BBS system.  Though it would be possible to
  make it act as such on a properly configured Unix or Linux system,
  vDOC does not have file storage or download areas, interfaces to
  FidoNET or similar messaging systems, and so forth.  vDOC is
  primarily intended as an Internet-only BBS for the sole purpose of
  communication amongst users.

* vDOC does not, and most likely never will have any interface with
  the Web, any of scores of instant messaging systems, USENET, e-mail,
  wireless telephones, talking toilets, and the like.

* vDOC is not modern or elegant.  While its user interface is more
  pleasant than some similar Citadel variants, and it is relatively
  stable, the source is unpleasant in many areas, contains legacy code
  directly descended from ISCABBS which has never been removed, and uses
  giant circular files to store the message base.  If you want something
  much newer, under active development, and more complex, get
  Citadel/UX.

  Citadel/UX: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=citadel%2Fux

* vDOC is not up-to-date in any major sense.  To my knowledge, nothing
  more than incremental maintenance is being done on any installation of
  DOC 1.7 that is publically available.  To wit:  I'm not a programmer,
  I'm just writing these docs so that people who don't want the
  complexity of Citadel/UX or whatever can get some use out of this code.
  UPDATE:  There's been a bit of interest in doing some work on this
  codebase.  However, I still wouldn't term it as being under 'active
  development'.

* vDOC is not bug-free.  Run it long enough and you will encounter bugs.
  However, close relatives (without my and Marx Marvelous' modifications)
  of vDOC have run stably for long periods of time on a BBS supporting
  an average of 50-100 users online continously.

* vDOC is not GPL.  Due to issues with a contributor to vDOC, the GPL
  does not apply, but _as far as I know_ you are free to copy, use,
  redistribute, modify, reuse, or assimilate pieces of the vDOC source
  so long as you give credit to all contributory authors listed in the
  list above.  If you differ with this assessment, or know of others that
  have contributed to vDOC anywhere in its chain of descent, please let me
  know at spambox@evernex.com.

* vDOC is NOT distributed with ANY WARRANTY, express or implied, even an
  implicit warranty or guarantee of fitness for a particular purpose.
  By compiling or using vDOC, you agree to hold any and all authors,
  programmers, or redistributors of vDOC harmless from any and all damages
  that may be caused, whether directly or incidentally, by the compilation,
  use, abuse, or malfunction of vDOC, or any software or other products
  which incorporate code or other parts from vDOC in any form.

What to do with vDOC:

* You may use vDOC to set up your own Internet BBS fairly easily on a Unix
  or Linux system.

* To get started, read the INSTALL.OVERVIEW file, and then the
  INSTALL.COMPILING file.  You'll need a Unix or Linux system with a C
  compiler, and if you want to support SSL clients, you'll also need to
  have OpenSSL installed.