You can install the ectec GUI as a python package/distribution or as a
standalone compiled executable. Both installation methods are explained in the following.
If you want to build ectec from source instead refer to the instructions
in python/ectec-gui/README.md.
First you will need to install a recent version of
Python (>=3.7) including the pip package installer.
Then head to the latest release of this repository. Download either
the wheel distribution named ectec-<version>.whl or the sdist distribution
named ectec-<version>.tar.gz.
Open a terminal in the folder you downloaded the
distribution to.
Run the following with the file name of the archive you just downloaded:
> pip3 install <distribution file name>After that you launch the two GUI programs with the commands ectecgui-client
and ectecgui-server.
This distribution doesn't require installing python since all dependencies including python are contained in this distribution. The distribution contains compiled files and two platform specific executables that start the GUI. Therefore there are three different versions of this distribution - one for each common operating system: Linux, Windows and MacOS. To get started you simply have to download the archive for your OS and extract its contents. There you will find the executables that launch the app. This installation method doesn't install the application system-wide but instead supplies a portable version of the app that is contained in one folder.
The chattool consists of two programs (graphical user interfaces). One of them starts a server that the other program (called client) can connect to. All clients connected to the same server can exchange messages. A client can connect to a server on the same machine or on a different one. If one wants to connect to a remote server, one has to know the ip address and the port the server is running on. They are displayed in the server program (GUI).
The client GUI allows sending the messages to the other server. The messages are passed to the server that forwards them to the other clients. A message consists of a body with text one or multiple receivers and a sender. A client sending a message can't be sure that only the specified receivers receive/read the message. A receiver cannot be sure that it actually originates from the specified sender. That seems impractical for a chat tool. However, this is how the internet works and this chat tool tries to simulate the internet.
Currently the tool only supports limited functionality. One can connect to a server, send and receive messages. The user can specify different senders and receivers for a sent message. The server is able to list connected clients, block new incoming connections when the option is selected and kick clients from the server. This feature set is not sufficient for learning how encrypted communication works. However this project is under continous development. The planned features and their order as well as timely scope of implementation are laid out in the roadmap.
If the program raises an error, something doesn't work as expected or you just found something that could be improved, you're welcome to submit an issue report on the repository page of this project that can be found on Github.
When opening an issue choose the appropriate template (bug report, feature request, …). Other types of feedback for which no template exists are welcome nonetheless. Then fill in the template. You may omit some parts of it but the templates usually request the information actually needed for solving an issue.
Contributions to this project are accepted with thanks. If you want to help, you have many possibilities: coding, writing documentation or guides, testing or just giving feedback.
Copyright and licensing information can be found in the file LICENSE which should be in the same folder as this file.