tinmop/README.org

#+OPTIONS: html-postamble:nil html-preamble:nil
#+AUTHOR:
#+TITLE: tinmop

* Introduction

  Tinmop        is       an        opinionated       client        for
  [[https://pleroma.social/][Pleroma]]  (using the  mastodon API)  and
  [[https://gemini.circumlunar.space/][gemini protocol]].   It offer a
  distraction free terminal interface.

  The name is a recursive acronym:  "Tinmop Is Not Mutt or Pine".  The
  older of us can remember that, in turn, Pine is sometimes considered
  an  acronym as  well:  "Pine Is  Not Elm"  and,  finally, Elm  means
  (according to Wikipedia): "Electronic Mail".

* Peculiar Features

  - tree structure of messages;
  - subscriptions of hashtag;
  - programmable and extensible;
  - encrypted direct message (but see [[FAQ]]);
  - no mentions notification, no knowledge of when or who favourited
    your status;
  - No blocking or muting, the client can be configured to ignore
    a list of accounts.

** Important note

   This  is  alpha quality  software,  many  things are  broken,  some
   feature  are missing  some  works  with unintended/unexpected  side
   effects; this software is for  testing only and remember that there
   is [[NO WARRANTY][NO WARRANTY]].

* Dependency

** Programs + to build the package:
     xgettext;
     a C compiler.

   + to install  the package, including running the  script to install
     lisp libraries (~quick_quicklisp.sh~):
     - GNU AWK (Gawk);
     - BASH shell.

   + to run the program:
     - SBCL compiler;
     - xdg-open;
     - your favourite editor (default: nano).

All  the dependencies  above  should be  available  using the  package
manager of your distribution (~apt~, ~yum~ etc).

** Lisp Libraries

   - alexandria;
   - cl-ppcre;
   - tooter;
   - croatoan;
   - osicat;
   - cl-spark;
   - access;
   - sqlite;
   - sxql;
   - sxql-composer;
   - marshal;
   - bordeaux-threads;
   - log4cl;
   - local-time;
   - cl-colors2;
   - cl-i18n;
   - clunit2;
   - esrap;
   - ieee-floats;
   - parse-number;
   - cl-html5-parser;
   - unix-opts;
   - crypto-shortcuts;
   - drakma.

   All these libraries  will be downloaded, compiled  and installed by
   the script ~quick_quicklisp.sh~, see below.

** Foreign (C language) library

   - libssl  (TLS socket)
   - linidn2 (i18n domain name aka idna)

     The  C library  should  be installed  with  their header  (~*.h~)
     files.  On Debian  or derived  system this  means installing  the
     library package with the ~-dev~ suffix as shown below:

     #+BEGIN_SRC sh
     # apt-get install libssl-dev libidn2-dev
     #+END_SRC


* Install

  1. optional step needed only if  you have not already the configure script,
     you will need ~autotools~ for that.

     #+BEGIN_SRC sh
     $ autoreconf -fiv
     #+END_SRC

  2. run ~configure~ and resolve the missing dependencies (if any)

     #+BEGIN_SRC sh
     $ ./configure
     #+END_SRC

  3. the script ~quick-quicklisp.sh~ will download and install the library manager and the
     library on your home dir.

     #+BEGIN_SRC sh
     $ ./quick_quicklisp.sh
     #+END_SRC

     This step is optional if you have already installed quicklisp, in
     this case just  load the [[Dependency][dependencies]]
     using  the client installed on your computer.

  4. clone  in ~$HOME/quicklisp/local-projects/~ the latest  version of
     croatoan, a library to wrap the ncurses TUI library.

     This step is temporary as this version will get into quicklisp eventually.
     #+BEGIN_SRC sh
     $ cd $HOME/quicklisp/local-projects/
     $ git clone https://github.com/McParen/croatoan.git
     #+END_SRC

  5. build the executable:

     #+BEGIN_SRC sh
     $ make
     #+END_SRC

  6. install on your system:

     #+BEGIN_SRC sh
     # make install
     #+END_SRC

  7. take a look the manpage:

     #+BEGIN_SRC sh
     $ man tinmop
     #+END_SRC

  8. run the software!

     #+BEGIN_SRC sh
     $ tinmop
     #+END_SRC

  9. An error will be printed about a missing file
     place a simple configuration file in one of the directory the software indicated.
     See [[FAQ][the FAQ below]].

* Usage

  See the command line options:

  #+BEGIN_SRC sh
   $ tinmop -h
  #+END_SRC

  To get instruction about configuration:

  #+BEGIN_SRC sh
   $ man tinmop
  #+END_SRC

* BUGS

  Please file bug reports on  the
  [[https://notabug.org/cage/tinmop/][notabug repository]].

* Translations

  Only Italian translation is regularly updated.

* License

  This program is released under  GNU General Public license version 3
  or later (see COPYING file).

  The  program  use data  and  code  from  other sources,  please  see
  LICENSES.org for credits.

  Although  any efforts  has  been  put to  make  the  list of  credits
  exhaustive,  errors are  always possible.  Please send  correction to
  cage-dev at twistfold dot it.

* Privacy

  The author of  this software collects no user  data information with
  this software.

  But this software is a client to connect and interact to one or more
  remote computer.  So potentially it could share a lot of information
  with other actors but just after the user allowed it to do so.

  It is the user responsibility to checks the privacy conditions of the
  instance this software connect to.

  Moreover    launching ~quick_quicklisp.sh~     will     contact
  [[https://www.quicklisp.org/]],               check              the
  [[https://beta.quicklisp.org/quicklisp.lisp][quicklisp sources]] for
  details.

  By default, pressing "!" will contact the remote service located at:
  "gemini://houston.coder.town/search".

* Contributing

  Any help  is appreciated. If  you intend to contribute  please point
  your  browser to  the
  [[https://notabug.org/cage/tinmop/issues][issue  tracker]] or file a
  [[https://notabug.org/cage/tinmop/pulls][pull request]].

  But, please take a minute to read the file [[./CONTRIBUTING.org]]

* FAQ

  - I just tried to  start the program for the first  time but it give
    me a weird error, what's wrong?

    Did you wrote a configuration file before starting?

    Tinmop  expects  a configuration  file  in  your config  directory
    (usually ~$HOME/.config/tinmop/~).  This  file  must contains  at
    least  the username  and  the name  of the  instance  you want  to
    connect.

    Example :
    #+BEGIN_SRC text
      # a line starting with a '#' is a comment

      # a file can be included in another with this directive:
      # use "shared.conf"

      # The server instance name
      server = server address

      # your username
      username = username
    #+END_SRC

    If  this file does not  exists or is invalid  tinmop will
    refuse to start.

    Please check the man page (tinmop(1)) for more information.

  - The ~quick_quicklisp.sh~ script failed  and refuse to start again,
    what can I do?

    If tinmop is the first Common lisp program you have ever installed
    installed,  try to  rename the  directory ~$/HOME/quicklisp~  and,
    then, restart the script.

    If problem persists [[BUGS][contact me]].

  - Is tinmop compatible with mastodon servers?

    Unfortunately no, the  way some API endpoint provide  the toots is
    not  suitable for  this client,  for more  information please  go
    [[https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon/issues/13817][here]].

    I hope  this will change  in the  future but this  depends entirely
    from the people are developing the server.

  - OK the program is running but how can i use it?

    Press the key ~?~ to get a list of the available keys available.

  - Tinmop crashed! Where can i report that?

    The issue tracker is here:

    [[https://notabug.org/tinmop/issues/]]

    Please also,  if possible, send  the backtrace of the  process. To
    print a  backtrace just  write ~backtrace~  when the  debugger has
    been invoked. *Important note*

    The  backtrace can  contains sensitive  and personal  information,
    please  always *carefully  checks* the  backtrace contents  before
    making this information public!

  - Are the encrypted messages secure?

    *No*. First only a symmetric  encryption scheme is implemented (so
    there is a problem of secure  key exchanging). Moreover i am not a
    crypto expert and probably i made  something wrong. Note that i am
    not claiming that the algorithm  (AES256) or the implementation of
    such encrypting  algorithm is flawed  but that, likely,  is flawed
    the code i wrote to use the crypto library in this software.

    So, please do not consider the encrypted message secure at all.

* NO WARRANTY

  tinmop: an humble mastodon client
  Copyright (C) 2020  cage

  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
  (at your option) any later version.

  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  GNU General Public License for more details.

  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  along with this program.
  If not, see [[http://www.gnu.org/licenses/][http://www.gnu.org/licenses/]].

* Acknowledgment

  My deep thanks to the folks that provided us with wonderful SBCL and
  Common lisp libraries.

  In particular i want to thanks the authors of the libraries Croatoan
  and Tooter for their help when I started to develop this program.

  There  are more  people  i borrowed  code and  data  from, they  are
  mentioned in the file LINCENSES.org

  This program  is was born  also with  the help of  CCCP: "Collettivo
  Computer Club Palermo".

  Also thanks to "barbar" for testing of the installation scripts.