* [How to do anything](https://mastodon.social/@wikihow)
**Bots as Tools to Intervene in Conversations**
What would it mean to become more entangled with bots, redistribute the labour of making and maintaining a collective, but without falling into the metaphorical understanding of bot as a servant?
@ -37,62 +36,51 @@ Currently, we use:
* [Streambot](https://git.vvvvvvaria.org/varia/xmpp.streambot): a bot that saves the images sent to the main Varia group chat and creates an [html page](https://vvvvvvaria.org/stream/) for them.
* [Logbot](https://git.vvvvvvaria.org/varia/logbot): a bot that [logs](https://vvvvvvaria.org/logs/) the quotes that are sent to it.
* You can find a genealogy of the bots around Varia in this footnote[^2]
* You can find a genealogy of the bots around Varia in this footnote[^genealogy]
<br>
Let's look into the bots [examples](https://git.vvvvvvaria.org/ccl/bots-of-conduct):
### Transit
**_name:_** transit.py;
**_action mode:_** announces when someone enters or leaves the room;
**_name:_** transit.py
**_situation:_** finding non-verbal ways of communicating through presence and absence; making presence felt otherwise;
**_action mode:_** announces when someone enters or leaves the room
<br>
**_situation:_** finding non-verbal ways of communicating through presence and absence, making presence felt otherwise
### Gather
**_name:_** gather.py;
**_action mode:_** generates a shared language; it creates a collective document;
**_name:_** gather.py
**_situation:_** a collective discursive setting that generates its own vocabulary;
**_action mode:_** generates a shared language; it creates a collective document
<br>
**_situation:_** a collective discursive setting that generates its own vocabulary
### Greet
**_name:_** greet.py;
**_name:_** greet.py
**_action mode:_** sends a message when it enters the room;
**_action mode:_** sends a message when it enters the room
**_situation:_** when there is a theme, for example: "send a reference to an existing or imaginary code of conduct, complaint, guideline, bug report, open letter, license or other social-technical protocol and explain why it is of interest to you."; how one wants to be introduced;
<br>
**_situation:_** when there is a theme, for example: "send a reference to an existing or imaginary code of conduct, complaint, guideline, bug report, open letter, license or other social-technical protocol and explain why it is of interest to you."; how one wants to be introduced
### Spark
**_name:_** spark.py;
**_action mode:_** replies to a specific word; brings alternatives into the situation; tries to create new habits and terminologies;
**_name:_** spark.py
**_situation:_** potentially in moments when a situation seems difficult and there is a need for more joyful interactions;
**_action mode:_** replies to a specific word; brings alternatives into the situation; tries to create new habits and terminologies
<br>
**_situation:_** potentially in moments when a situation seems difficult and there is a need for more joyful interactions
### Whisper
**_name:_** whisper.py
**_action mode:_** takes what someone says to it in confidentiality and echoes it to a group chat, thus anonymising it;
**_situation:_** there are remarks or complaints in the room, but the person does not feel comfortable to bring up the issue themselves;
**_action mode:_** takes what someone says to it in confidentiality and echoes it to a group chat, thus anonymising it
<br>
**_situation:_** there are remarks or complaints in the room, but the person does not feel comfortable to bring up the issue themselves
## Installing and Running the Bots
@ -107,7 +95,7 @@ Some installation guides can be found under the following links.
**python3 + pip3**:
*For computers running **Windows OS** or **Mac OS***:
For computers running **Windows OS** or **Mac OS**:
1. check what version of Python you have on your computer with `$ python --version`
2. if you have python 2.x, try also the following, to be sure that you don't have python3 already: `$ python3 --version`
@ -119,9 +107,9 @@ Some installation guides can be found under the following links.
pip3 comes installed with python3.
You can check if it installed correctly by running: `$ pip3 --version`
<br>
-----
*For computers running **Linux OS***
For computers running **Linux OS**:
* open the terminal
* check which version of python you have:
@ -135,33 +123,31 @@ You can check if it installed correctly by running: `$ pip3 --version`
This is the Python library we use to make the bots. You can install it by running: $ pip3 install slixmpp
**run the bots!**:
**code editor**:
* if you dont have a code editor, we can suggest (among others) [Sublime Text](https://www.sublimetext.com/)
* to install the conversations app on your phone, you could use either Conversations or [Quicksy](https://quicksy.im/) for Android phones (among others)
## Run the bots!
* download the bots from this page
* go to the folder where you have installed them
* go to the folder where you have downloaded them
* run the following commands in the terminal:
> pip3 install slixmpp requests
`$ pip3 install slixmpp requests`
* to run a bot, you can copy paste the commands which are already mentioned in the bot file, but a general command looks like this:
* if you dont have a code editor, we can suggest (among others) [Sublime Text](https://www.sublimetext.com/)
* to install the conversations app on your phone, you could use either Conversations or [Quicksy](https://quicksy.im/) for Android phones (among others)
`-j` stands for JID (jabber id) \
`-r` means room \
`-n` stands for bot nickname \
`-o` stands for for output \
`. ` means here \
## Footnotes
**Link to references [pad](https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/Bots_of_Conduct_References) — further references and materials assembled by Joana and Cristina - feel free to add your own!**
[^1]: Varia is not merely a collective, nor merely a space. Varia is an interdependent concatenation of both
