paláver (-ah'v-) 1. n. conference,
(prolonged) discussion, esp. between
savages and traders etc.; empty words,
talk, cajolery. 2. v.i. & t. use many words
cajole. [Port. palavra f. L(PARABLE)]
SOURCE: Australian pocket Oxford dictionary
Palaver is a multi-platform IRC client, supporting a pluggable architecture. Other IRC clients support 'scripting' in an attempt to let users customise their client. The problem with scripting is that it cannot change the basic appearance of the client, or add new functionality. The scripts also have full access to system resources - a malicious script could wipe out your hard drive's contents, or allow other users to access you computer.
Palaver overcomes these problems by:- Using a well known, clean, programming language (Java) rather than a custom scripting language.
- Providing the ability to totally re-write the user interface and add new features.
- Providing security: Plugins are more restricted than applets - they cannot access any system or network resources by themselves.
Features:
- Multi-platform: Runs on Windows 9x/NT, MacOS, Linux, ...
- Safe: Plugins are not able to access system resources on their own, a bug in a plugin will not crash the system.
- Small: The core, including several plugins, is only 200k.
- Completely pluggable: Plugins are not limited to just changing the appearance of the user interface.
- Supports simultaneous connections to many IRC servers.
- Supports multiple plugins at once.
Limitations:
This software is under development, and as such, has certain limitations:
- Some features have been disabled (in particular, security for filesystem IO)
- There is no user or developer documentation. However, all the plugins use the standard ircII commandset.
Minimum system requirements:
- A java runtime environment (JRE 1.4.1+ recommended, get it from java.sun.com)
- Access to the internet
Compatibility:
NOTE: Individual plugins may not be cross-platform/cross-version compatible. Eg. JFC/Swing-based applications are not compatible between JDK/JRE 1.1.6 and JDK/JRE 1.2.x. It is up to plugin authors to ensure maximum compatibility of their plugins.
The Palaver core (excluding JFC/Swing based plugins) has been tested on:
- Linux (x86): JDK/JRE 1.3.x, 1.4.x
- MacOS: pending
- Sun/Solaris: JDK/JRE 1.1.3, 1.1.5, 1.1.6
- Windows 95/98/NT4/2000/XP: JDK/JRE 1.1.5, 1.1.6, 1.2.x, 1.3.x, 1.4.x, 1.5.x
- Microsoft JVIEW 4.79.2405 (win98)
Notes on the current version:
- Developer docs / plugin sources not included
- User docs not completed (user commands are similar to most other clients).
- Only basic DCC send/receive
- Standard set of plugins are not yet completed
Download
Palaver041.zipCore plugins (part of the Palaver package):
| Screen shot | Plugin Name | Version | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | NoGUI | 0.41 | Yiannis | Console plugin for those without a window manager - eg. when running from a telnet session |
 | AWTGUI | 0.41 | Yiannis | An AWT version of NoGUI - very basic GUI using minimal resources |
 | SwingGUI | 0.41 | Yiannis | NoGUI using the JFC/Swing classes - bulkier than the AWT version. |
 | Tunnel | 0.41 | Yiannis | Used to "connect" multiple channels together even if they're on different servers. |
 | XGUI | 0.41 | Yiannis | Fancy multi window plugin using JFC/Swing. Includes user-customizable textured/transparent/translucent windows. |