Grillo 0.1

A terminal based chat server and client.

========
Overview
========

Grillo is a terminal based chat server and client. It was originally
written as an `chat server entry`_ for the `Rossetta Code Project`_.
It was then extended further into reusable threaded classes for the
server and client, with command line options and some basic in-chat
commands.

Grillo is named after the `Italian phone`_ of the same name,
developed in 1965. They both share the common theme of being a very
small communications device for their class, while being implemented
with relatively basic technology.

Given that there are many richer and more powerful applications
available for implementing the features Grillo provides, its best
use at the least is to serve as a good example of how to do basic
socket programming in Python, as well as a demonstrating some simple
tricks for controlling threads.

Installation
============

Assuming you have `setuptools`_ installed, the easiest method is to
install directly from pypi by running the following command::

$ easy_install -U grillo

Otherwise you can download Grillo and install it directly from
source::

$ python setup.py install

Usage
=====

Once installed, the command ``grillo`` should be available which can
be used for starting a server, client, or both at once (the default)::

$ grillo --bind host:port [--server-only|--client-only]

Note that the Grillo does not need to be installed in order to
connect to a Grillo server, as the telnet command available on most
modern systems can be used::

$ telnet host port

.. _`chat server entry`: http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Chat_server#Python
.. _`Rosetta Code Project`: http://rosettacode.org/
.. _`Italian phone`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grillo_telephone
.. _`setuptools`: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools