| BitlBee | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| Developers | BitlBee team, with Wilmer van der Gaast as Lead Developer |
| Initial release | 9 August 2002; 23 years ago (2002-08-09) |
| Stable release | |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C[3] |
| Type | Instant messaging |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later[4] |
| Website | bitlbee |
BitlBee is across-platformIRCinstant messaginggateway, licensed under the terms of theGNU General Public License.
BitlBee communicates with the user via the IRCprotocol, providing a gateway to popular chat networks such asAIM andICQ (viaOSCAR),Microsoft Messenger service (viaMSNP),Yahoo! (viaYMSG) andFacebook Messenger (viaMQTT with a plugin[5]) and the microblogging networksTwitter,[6]Identi.ca, andGNU Social. Since version 3.0, BitlBee can be built to use thelibpurple library, which supports file transfers on many IM networks, and supports GaduGadu, QQ and other less well-known protocols.[7]Off-the-record messaging is supported by Bitlbee.[8] It supports the display of remote user status using the IRC voice attribute:online users are shown with voice,away users are shown without. Many IRC commands such as /WHO and /QUERY are available, though the capabilities of the remote IM protocols limit which IRC commands will work.
It can be installed and operated on a user's personal computer, a local server,[9] or accessed on public gateway servers.[10] A user registers with the BitlBee server for future credentials storage. Service protocols are added along with their credentials; following this, the software will display the user's buddy list as normal IRC users in a channel.[9] Conversations can be public, or use the private message facility of IRC.[11]
BitlBee runs onLinux,Unix,BSD,Windows,AmigaOS[9] andmacOS.
