====== A Tilde Account ======

A tilde account is a home directory on a shared unix machine: a shell login, a ''~'' directory, and a set of publishing and social tools that vary by host. This page describes what an account typically includes and where hosts differ. Terms are defined in [[tilde:glossary|Glossary]].

===== What You Get =====

  * A shell login over SSH and a ''~'' home directory
  * A web space, usually ''~/public_html/'' served at ''host/~you/''
  * Often gopher (''~/public_gopher/'') and gemini (''~/public_gemini/'') spaces alongside the web site
  * Local mail, IRC, finger files (''.plan'', ''.project''), and tools written by other members

===== Where Hosts Differ =====

^ Aspect ^ Typical ^ Variants ^
| web space | ''~/public_html/'' | sdf serves ''~/html'' (a symlink outside home); cosmic.voyage serves ''~/ships/<name>/'' instead of ''~user'' dirs |
| login shell | bash | csh on tilde.pink, ksh on sdf; ''chsh'' may or may not be offered |
| mail | local spool read with ''mail''/''alpine''/''mutt'' | tilde.club gives a real maildir with sieve and ''.forward''; envs.net is server-side IMAP; cosmic mail only reaches other pubnixes |
| IRC client | weechat or irssi | some hosts run a local ircd (''town chat'' connects to one); others point at ''irc.tilde.chat'' |
| persistence | none | byobu/tmux sessions keep IRC connected between logins; sessions die on server reboot |
| publishing extras | guestbook (''guestbook.txt'') | sdf supports CGI (''guestbook.cgi''); club ships the bashblog engine; town has ttbp, bink, and a launcher of community tools |

===== Conventions Worth Knowing =====

  * ''~'' names are usernames: ''tilde.town/~name''. The same person may have different logins on different hosts
  * ''EDITOR''/''VISUAL'' are usually pre-set (often to micro); rw.rs leaves them unset
  * ''~/.hushlogin'' suppresses the login banner on most hosts; tilde.green uses its own ''~/.config/tilde-green-hushed-login-mail''
  * Credentials are stored on the host but outside any synced or published tree: ''.ssh/'', mail configs, IRC configs. See [[tilde:join|Joining a Tilde]] for key hygiene
  * Some hosts are deliberately minimal: rw.rs ships no ''finger'', ''byobu'', or ''mutt''

===== See Also =====

  * [[tilde:start|tilde.town]]
  * [[tilde:join|Joining a Tilde]]
  * [[tilde:commands|Commands]]
  * [[tilde:apps|Tilde Apps]]
  * [[tilde:glossary|Glossary]]
  * [[tilde:tildeverse|The Tildeverse]]
  * [[start|Return to wiki home]]