echoping appears to compile and run at least on Linux, FreeBSD,
NetBSD, MacOS X, Solaris (gcc only), HP/UX and Tru64. On Mac OS X,
you'll probably need a version >= 10.2. Some versions of RedHat 7 ship
with a completely broken C compiler (echoping displays negative
times).

You do not have to be root to install it.

Just type "./configure", then "make", "make test" if you wish (some
tests depend on local servers and/or Internet access, interpret with
care) and then (as root if necessary), "make install".

(The Makefile has the GNU syntax so, on BSD machines, you will need
GNU make. Typically, you install the port "gmake" and run "gmake"
instead of "make". Otherwise, you will have an error message like
"Need an operator")

There is also a 'make fulltest' if you want to test more things (which
may not be available on your platform).

"configure" has some options: 
--disable-http (suppress the HTTP support)
--disable-smtp (suppress the SMTP support)
--enable-icp   (add the ICP support, to monitor Web proxies like Squid)
--without-libidn   (suppress the IDN support, the handling of Unicode - multi-script - domain names, see RFC 3490)
--with-libidn[=/where/is/libidn] (tell the system where to find the GNU libidn library <http://www.josefsson.org/libidn/>)
--with-gnutls[=/where/is/gnutls] (add the SSL/TLS support, you will need 
         the GNU TLS library <http://www.gnutls.org/>)
--with-ssl[=/where/is/ssl] (add the SSL/TLS support, you will need 
         the OpenSSL library <http://www.openssl.org/>)
--disable-ttcp  (suppress the T/TCP support which is enabled only if 
         your system supports it - FreeBSD does. See 
         <http://www.kohala.com/start/ttcp.html>)
--enable-max-iterations=MAX   (limit the number of iterations (-n option for
          repeated tests) to MAX)
--enable-max-request-size=MAX   (limit the size of the request (-s option) to MAX)

There is no option to disable IPv6. echoping now uses the new (RFC
3493, but first specified in RFC 2133 in september 1997) socket
interface, with getnameinfo/getaddrinfo. If your system does not
support it (Mac OS X <= 10.1), you have no other choices than using
echoping 4.

There is no option to disable the use of dlopen() or the popt
library. dlopen() is necessary for the plugins (and, in the future,
all protocol code will be in plugins). The popt library provides a
better and easier parsing of options and, more important, is necessary
for resuming parsing, something that the plugins rely heavily on.  If
your system does not support dlopen() or if you do not want to install
the popt library (which is free and runs on every Unix), you have no
other choices than using echoping 5.

Standard "autoconf/configure" options are supported such as --prefix
to set the installation root directory.

If 'echoping -h' replies with a "404" error while the file really exists,
check first that you use the FQDN of the server on the command line
(this is a consequence of the HTTP 1.1 protocol, not a bug in echoping
and this will show only if the HTTP server uses "virtual hosting").

To report a bug, email Stephane Bortzmeyer
<bortz@users.sourceforge.net> (if you have an account at SourceForge,
you can use their bug reporting tool, too). If the problem is at the
"./configure" step, do not forget to send configure's output *and* the
config.log.

If echoping segfaults, please send me debugging info. To do so:
make clean
make debug
gdb ./echoping
run the-options-that-exhibits-the-problem
where
list
print the-variables-displayed


$Id$