talkd(1M)                                                  talkd(1M)


       NAME
             talkd, otalkd - remote user communication server

       SYNOPSIS
             in.talkd
             in.otalkd

       DESCRIPTION
             The talkd command is the server that notifies a user that
             somebody else wants to initiate a conversation.  It acts as a
             repository of invitations, responding to requests by clients
             wishing to rendezvous to hold a conversation.

             In normal operation, a talk client initiates a rendezvous by
             sending a CTL_MSG to the server of type LOOK_UP (see the
             protocols/talkd.h header file).  This causes the server to
             search its invitation tables to check if an invitation
             currently exists for the client.  If the lookup fails, the
             caller then sends an ANNOUNCE message.  This causes the server
             to broadcast an announcement on the callee's login ports
             requesting contact.  When the callee responds, the local
             server first uses the recorded invitation to respond with the
             appropriate rendezvous address.  Then, the caller and callee
             client programs establish a stream connection through which
             the conversation takes place.

       USAGE
             otalkd is an older version of talkd.  otalkd supports an
             architecture-dependent version of the talk protocol, whereas
             talkd supports an architecture-independent version of the talk
             protocol.  Since the two protocols use different UDP ports, it
             is permissible to configure inetd to run both versions
             simultaneously (this is the default configuration).  When a
             talk request is received, the user is instructed to run either
             talk or otalk, depending on which protocol is being used by
             the remote user.

       REFERENCES
             inetd(1M), services(4), talk(1), write(1)









                           Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 1