[Techtalk] Chat Server, Take 2

[James Sutherland]

On Mon, 4 Jun 2001, James wrote:

> 1.  I'd much rather use the box sitting over here for a web based
> email server for teachers so we don't have to go around setting up pop
> accounts and configuring Outlook Express.  It would also allow
> teachers to access their mail anywhere.

No reason it can't do both - depending on the size of school and your use
of SSL, neither should impose a huge load.

> 4.  Kids here are also stupid.

Look on the bright side: it's harder to beat someone up online than IRL :)

> 5.  Kids here are lazy and it will be another web thing we put so much
> time into and they don't use.

Always a risk, but I suspect chat would be a popular service for them...
(Now, WHY otherwise sane people would go to the trouble of accessing a
chat service to talk to someone living a few hundred yards away is another
matter, but they seem to like it...)

> Now this time, my sysadmin is so obsessed he is willing to pay for it
> (Since somehow we got state money for software).

Sounds good - I'd use an OSS system and put the money into hardware,
though...

> The requirements are:

> - Run on Linux and Apache, though NT is a slim possibility, but I sure
> as hell won't be doing setting it up and maintaining it.
> - Easy to use, configure and maintain
> - Be able to support moderation (a la +m in IRC), so we can control
> the flow of chat
> - Be able to ban pesky kids
> - Be able to kill the server when not in use so the dumb kids here
> won't get seduced by a 45 year old unemployed construction worker at
> 3am.

An IRC backend plus a Java client will do this from any old *nix box at no
licensing cost. If you run something like the DrDevil ircd, this gives
admins (IRCops) total power, which you'd probably want.

If the public access clients are NT machines, where each user has their
own domain logon, you can run an NT identd server on each client; then, if
user abc23 is being a pain, just add a ban or Gline for abc23@* and he's
gone.


James.