How To Install minbif on Ubuntu 18.04

In this tutorial we learn how to install minbif on Ubuntu 18.04. minbif is IRC-to-other-IM-networks gateway using Pidgin library

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install minbif on Ubuntu 18.04.

What is minbif

minbif is:

Minbif is an IRC gateway to IM networks which provides the following features:

  • Minbif uses a library which abstracts all IM calls, and has several plugins to support more than 15 IM protocols (IRC included!);
  • Two modes: inetd and daemon fork;
  • Only IRC commands are used to control Minbif;
  • Certificates check;
  • Buddies are IRC users;
  • Each account has a status channel. You see in all connected buddies, and their status on it;
  • Add and remove buddies from list with /INVITE and /KICK commands;
  • Blocked users are bans on the account’s status channel;
  • Display when a buddy is typing a message;
  • Can chat with someone who is not in your buddy list;
  • You can see buddies’ icons (with libcaca) or download them;
  • DCC SEND an image to set your icon on IM networks;
  • Display extended information about buddies with /WII command;
  • Support away messages;
  • Can send and receive files, which are sent or received to/from your IRC client with DCC SEND;
  • Conversation channels are supported;
  • Auto-rejoin conversation channels at connection;
  • Display list of channels on an IM account with /LIST;
  • irssi scripts to increase your user experience of minbif;
  • CoinCoin plugin for libpurple.

There are three methods to install minbif on Ubuntu 18.04. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.

Install minbif Using apt-get

Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt database, We can install minbif using apt-get by running the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install minbif

Install minbif Using apt

Update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, We can install minbif using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install minbif

Install minbif Using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Ubuntu. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating apt database, We can install minbif using aptitude by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install minbif

How To Uninstall minbif on Ubuntu 18.04

To uninstall only the minbif package we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get remove minbif

Uninstall minbif And Its Dependencies

To uninstall minbif and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Ubuntu 18.04, we can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove minbif

Remove minbif Configurations and Data

To remove minbif configuration and data from Ubuntu 18.04 we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y purge minbif

Remove minbif configuration, data, and all of its dependencies

We can use the following command to remove minbif configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge minbif

References

Summary

In this tutorial we learn how to install minbif package on Ubuntu 18.04 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.