source: debian/README.Debian @ 18ff38f

                   *** NEWS (Version 1.2 and later) ***

Starting from version 1.2, BitlBee has a forking daemon mode. The Debian
package now uses this mode by default, instead of inetd mode. If you don't
want to use this, you can disable the init scripts (best way to do this is
by editing /etc/default/bitlbee) and restore the inetd.conf entry. This
should be necessary only once, it won't be touched during upgrades.

Another important change in BitlBee 1.2 is the file format used for your
personal settings. Everything's now saved in a single .xml (per account,
of course) file instead of $nick.accounts and $nick.nicks. One advantage
of this new format is that the passwords are actually encrypted instead of
just vaguely obfuscated. BitlBee can still read the old files, and will
save things in the new format when you save/disconnect. After that, you
can safely remove the old-style files (this is recommended).

I tried making this transition (the new file format but especially, in this
case, the inetd->forkdaemon mode change) as smooth as possible, but I'm
aware that many BitlBee users will have their own hacks already to run the
program. I hope the package won't break any of this for anyone. 1.2-2
should fix at least some of the issues.

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Debconf should have asked you on what port you want BitlBee to run. If it
did not, the port number should be 6667 or 6668. (6668 if you already got
something running at 6667)

Fire up your favourite IRC client and connect to localhost:6667 (or 6668),
and read the documentation (type help for a list of commands).

Have fun!

The /usr/share/doc/bitlbee/examples/ directory contains some programs and
scripts you might like or need. They're not really examples but it's quite
normal behaviour to put small contrib stuff like that in there.