infobot thoughts

[Tim R. <Ti...@Ri...>]

I heard from lenzo. I'll keep everyone informed as we chat.

Some thoughts on the way forward (in no particular order):

1) infobot will stay in Perl. There are many other bot projects around 
if folks want one in another language. see 
http://supybot.sourceforge.net/ for one in python

2) we need a new framework to better support tons of modules. Many of 
the current and new modules should be forkers so that the base bot does 
not get hung up.

3) I'd like to see sql backend instead of dbm. I'd prefer sqlite and 
mysql, and any more that others want to add. sqlite allows for simple 
file based access like dbm, but with the richer search capabilities.

4) I'd like to get as many of the infobot clones, and forks to join back 
into the main tree. More eyes, more hands = more progress.

5) I'd like to add email, web, and local admin interfaces at least. 
email for things like CIA does now:

http://cia.navi.cx/stats/project/infobot

ie: posting cvs commits to a channel. web for basic factoid editing / 
administration as well as new features like patchbot support:

http://sial.org/pbot/

and local interface for development and administration.

I have nothing against adding more protocols, but these are the main 
ones I would like to see.

6) I'd like to keep the run time memory and cpu footprint low. Use 
forking, and a single select() call on the multiple interfaces would be 
a Good Thing.

7) I'd prefer that the code remain cross platform. Linux, *BSD, OSX, 
*ix, and even (gag) win* should be supported. This likely means we avoid 
perl threads etc. and stay multi-process.

I setup a MediaWiki on SF, I don't yet have short URLs working and have 
not skinned it etc, but we can start using it if folks want.

http://infobot.sourceforge.net/wiki/

Probably want to set it up to require registration to edit, but I have 
not done that yet.

-- 
Tim Riker - http://rikers.org/ - Ti...@De...
Linux Technologist - Ti...@TI... - http://www.TI.com/
BZFlag maintainer - http://BZFlag.org/ - for fun!