source: skype/README @ e72d869

Last change on this file since e72d869 was e72d869, checked in by Miklos Vajna <vmiklos@…>, at 2008-01-15T03:17:26Z

link HACKING

  • Property mode set to 100644
File size: 8.4 KB
RevLine 
[0c60f96]1= Skype plugin for BitlBee
[668a122]2Miklos Vajna <vmiklos@vmiklos.hu>
[afe221f]3
[56e4ac4]4== Status
5
[4eaadf6]6[Wilmer van der Gaast (author of BitlBee)]
7____
8Okay, this exists now, with lots of thanks to vmiklos for his *excellent*
9work!!
10
11It's not in the main BitlBee and it'll never be for various reasons, but
12because it's a plugin that shouldn't be a problem.
13____
14
[56e4ac4]15One day I browsed the BitlBee bugtracker and found
16http://bugs.bitlbee.org/bitlbee/ticket/82[this] ticket. Then after a while I
[1138b25]17returned and saw that it was still open. So I wrote it.
[56e4ac4]18
[2042b56]19It's pretty stable, I use it for my daily work. Being a plug-in, no patching
[20994cb]20is required, you can just install it after installing BitlBee itself.
[75742cc]21
[4c3a4c8]22NOTE: You will see that this implementation of the Skype plug-in still requires
[54c269d]23a Skype instance to be running. This is because I'm not motivated to reverse
24engineer Skype's
25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype_Protocol#Obfuscation_Layer[obfuscation
26layer]. (Not mentioning that you should ask your lawyer about if it is legal or
27not..)
28
[22d97b4]29== Requirements
30
[3d9fd79]31* Skype >= 1.4.0.99. The latest version I've tested is 2.0.0.27.
[c60b864]32* bitlbee >= 1.1.1dev. (This is the latest version I've tested, probably
[57f0440]33  newer versions will work, too.)
[eb39102]34* Skype4Py >= 0.9.28.7. Previous versions won't work due to API changes.
[c60b864]35* Python >= 2.5. Skype4Py does not work with 2.4.
[22d97b4]36* pygobject
37
[760ed1f]38`bitlbee-skype` has been tested under Linux and Windows. Skype is available
39under OSX, too, so it probably works, but this has not been tested.
40
[9e03e55]41== How to set it up
[afe221f]42
[751b149]43Before you start. The setup is the following: BitlBee can't connect directly to
44Skype servers (the company's ones). It needs a running Skype client to do so.
45In fact BitlBee will connect to `skyped` (a tcp server, provided in this
[4c3a4c8]46package) and `skyped` will connect to to your Skype client.
[751b149]47
[7e4f0ca1]48NOTE: The order is important. First you have to start Skype. Then `skyped` can
[64f8b8ea]49connect to it, finally BitlBee can connect to `skyped`. (In fact `skyped`
50automatically reconnect if you restart Skype.)
[7e4f0ca1]51
[11eed8f]52- If you happen to be a happy Frugalware user, you can install the `bitlbee`
53  and `bitlbee-skype` packages from
54  http://ftp.frugalware.org/pub/other/people/vmiklos/bmf/[my repo].
55
[d044a5a]56- You need the BitlBee testing/development version:
[afe221f]57
[0c60f96]58----
[ccb50f5]59$ wget http://get.bitlbee.org/src/bitlbee-1.1.1dev.tar.gz
60$ tar xf bitlbee-1.1.1dev.tar.gz
61$ cd bitlbee-1.1.1dev
[0c60f96]62----
[afe221f]63
[d044a5a]64NOTE: You no longer need additional patches, as of version 1.1.1dev.
[b8b0bfd]65
[afe221f]66- Now compile and install it:
67
[0c60f96]68----
[ccb50f5]69$ ./configure
70$ make
71# make install install-dev
[0c60f96]72----
[afe221f]73
74- Get the plugin code:
75
[0c60f96]76----
[3b495c0]77$ wget http://vmiklos.hu/project/bitlbee-skype/bitlbee-skype-@VERSION@.tar.gz
78$ tar xf bitlbee-skype-@VERSION@.tar.gz
79$ cd bitlbee-skype-@VERSION@
[0c60f96]80----
[afe221f]81
[3b495c0]82It doesn't matter where do you get it, it'll install the plugin to `/usr/local`
83by default (that's the location where BitlBee searches for plugins by default).
[6e97a7a]84
[afe221f]85- Compile and install it:
86
[0c60f96]87----
[ccb50f5]88$ ./configure
89$ make
90# make install
[0c60f96]91----
[afe221f]92
[c15f71a]93- Install http://skype4py.sourceforge.net/[Skype4Py].
94
95(You may remember that previous versions of `skyped` did not require this
96package. This because it now uses the X11 interface of Skype (because the
[4c3a4c8]97previously used `DBus` interface had
[c15f71a]98http://forum.skype.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=94545&view=findpost&p=431710[known
99problems]), but I wanted to prevent a large code duplication from that project.
100In addition it then no longer requires the `dbus-python` package, just
101`pygobject`.)
102
[52d377d]103- Edit `/usr/local/etc/skyped/skyped.conf`: adjust `username` and `password`. The
[e65ceaa]104  `username` should be your Skype login and the `password` can be whatever you
105  want, but you will have to specify that one when adding the Skype account to
106  BitlBee (see later).
107
[52d377d]108NOTE: Here, and later - `/usr/local/etc` can be different on your installation
109if you used the `--sysconfdir` switch when running bitlbee-skype's `configure`.
110
111- Generate the SSL pem files:
112
113----
[ccb50f5]114# cd /usr/local/etc/skyped
115# openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -nodes -config skyped.cnf -out skyped.cert.pem \
[52d377d]116        -keyout skyped.key.pem
117----
118
[ccb50f5]119NOTE: Maybe you want to adjust the permissions in the `/usr/local/etc/skyped`
120dir. For example make it readable by just your user.
121
[2fcad6e]122- Start Skype and `skyped` (the tcp server):
[afe221f]123
[0c60f96]124----
[ccb50f5]125$ skype
126$ skyped
[0c60f96]127----
[ba20c39]128
[c60b864]129NOTE: You should run `skyped` on the same `X11` display, otherwise it won't be
130able to connect to Skype!
[afe221f]131
[4c3a4c8]132- Start your `IRC` client, connect to BitlBee and add your account:
[7338d59]133
134----
[10a42d9]135account add skype <user> <pass> localhost
[7338d59]136----
137
[e65ceaa]138<user> should be your Skype account name, <pass> should be the one you declared
[10a42d9]139in `skyped.conf`. If you want to run skyped on a remote machine, replace
140`localhost` with the name of the machine.
[7338d59]141
[23b84e1]142== Setting up Skype in a VNC server (optional)
143
144Optionally, if you want to run Skype on a server, you might want to setup up
[4c3a4c8]145a `VNC` server as well. I used `tightvnc` but probably other `VNC` servers will
[23b84e1]146work, too.
147
148First run
149
150----
[ccb50f5]151$ vncpasswd ~/.vnc/passwd
[23b84e1]152----
153
154and create a password. You will need it at least once.
155
156Now create `~/.vnc/xstartup` with the following contents:
157
158----
159#!/bin/sh
160
[19b805c]161sleep 1
162skype &
163sleep 5
164skyped
[23b84e1]165----
166
[57087df]167Adjust the permissions:
168
169----
[ccb50f5]170$ chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup
[57087df]171----
172
[23b84e1]173Then start the server:
174
175----
[ccb50f5]176$ vncserver
[23b84e1]177----
178
[4c3a4c8]179Then connect to it, and set up Skype (username, password, enable auto-login, and
[23b84e1]180allow the `SkypeApiPythonShell` client when Skype asks about it).
181
[dffa24f]182Please be aware about that Skype has serious memory leak issues. After running
183with for a few weeks it may eat >300 MB of memory. Just don't forget to restart
184your VNC server regularly. (How ugly.)
185
[9e03e55]186== What works
[b6d26ac]187
[adce2de]188- Download nicks and away statuses from Skype
[b6d26ac]189
[39a0d64]190- Noticing joins / parts while we're connected
191
[93ece66]192- Sending messages
193
[8dd21bb]194- Receiving messages
195
[72f697b]196- Receiving away status changes
197
[62bb4e4]198- `skyped` (the tcp daemon that is a gateway between Skype and tcp)
[ed2e37f]199
[62bb4e4]200- Error handling when `skyped` is not running and when it exits
[afe221f]201
[62bb4e4]202- Marking received messages as seen so that Skype won't say there are unread messages
[440665b]203
[6627d92]204- Adding / removing contacts
205
[23411c6]206- Set away state when you do a `/away`.
207
[d3cbd17]208- When you `account off`, Skype will set status to `Offline`
[348a3a2]209
[d3cbd17]210- When you `account on`, Skype will set status to `Online`
[348a3a2]211
[d3cbd17]212- Detect when somebody wants to add you and ask for confirmation
[8dd21bb]213
[df9255d]214- Detect when somebody wants to transfer a file
215
[d6a371e]216- Group chat support:
217
218  * Detect if we're invited
219
220  * Send / receive group chat messages
[93ece66]221
[ff58445]222  * Invite others (using `/invite <nick>`)
[c5dd164]223
[d6a371e]224  * Part from group chats
[c5dd164]225
[ff58445]226  * Starting a group chat (using `/j #nick`)
227
[e103e73]228- Topic changes in group chats:
229
230  * Show the current topic (if any) on join
231
232  * Notice when someone changes the topic
233
234  * Support changing the topic using `/topic`
235
[fb36492]236- Viewing the profile using the `info` command.
237
[a06a0a5]238- Handling skype actions (when the `CHATMESSAGE` has `EMOTED` type)
239
240- Setting your mood text using the `nick` command.
241
[ccb50f5]242- Running Skype on a machine different to BitlBee is possible, the
243  communication is encrypted.
244
[d6a371e]245== What needs to be done (aka. TODO)
[c5dd164]246
[846ceffb]247- Add a question callback for calls.
248
[d6a371e]249- Notice if foo invites bar. Currently you can see only that bar joined.
250
[4285920]251- Public chats. See link:http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=98872[this
252  forum thread], it is still unclear how could it be done for you to be able to
253  `/join` to a public chat..
[d6a371e]254
[fdde7d8]255- Split skyped from the plugin, so that one could install just the relevant
256  code if they are not running on the same machine.
257
[0c60f96]258== I would like to have support for ...
259
[23b84e1]260If something does not work and it's not in the TODO section, then please
[e72d869]261contact me! Please also try the link:HACKING[git version] before reporting a bug, your
[80d9004]262problem may be already fixed there.
[23b84e1]263
264In fact, of course, I wrote this documentation after figured out how to do this
265setup, so maybe I left out some steps. If you needed 'any' additional tricks,
266then it would be nice to include them here.
[afe221f]267
[f78f949]268== Known bugs
269
[5652d43]270- None at this time.
[f78f949]271
[0c60f96]272== Screenshots
273
[668a122]274You can reach some screenshots link:shot[here].
[ddd3502]275
[25d87e4]276== Additional resources
[a60c3c2]277
[25d87e4]278You can reach the Changelog link:Changelog[here], and a gitweb interface
[3d73b02]279http://repo.or.cz/w/bitlbee-skype.git[here].
[a60c3c2]280
[c09f90f]281The Skype API documentation is
282https://developer.skype.com/Docs/ApiDoc[here] if you're interested.
283
[65e4020]284== Thanks
285
286for the following people:
287
288* Wilmer van der Gaast, for answering questions about the bitlbee plugin interface
289
[56a3616]290* Arkadiusz Wahlig, author of skype4py, for making suggestions to skyped
[65e4020]291
[9834597]292* Gabor Adam Toth (tg), for noticing extra code is needed to handle multiline
293  messages
294
295* Cristobal Palmer (tarheelcoxn), for helping to testing the plugin in a
296  timezone different to mine
[65e4020]297
[437ddf5]298* people on `#bitlbee` for feedback
299
[eb9cbb8]300Back to my link:/projects[projects page].
301
[0c60f96]302// vim: ft=asciidoc
Note: See TracBrowser for help on using the repository browser.