I will use this writeup to beg the following question: Why not a non-java chatterbox client that can be distributed as a binary or as source, so that it can run in a more optimized environment?
As of right now, I can't use the Java Chatterbox, as I'm at my girlfriend's apartment, on her roommate's iMac (with MacOS 8.6), and Netscape 4.5 pukes every time I even try to open the Java Chatterbox node.
If only there were a text client, compilable under *nix, I could telnet to a shell, compile the client, and use the chatterbox from there. Instead, I will have to use the chatterbox nodelet, which only refreshes when I load a page from e2.
Other advantages would include having binaries that are more optimized for the platform it is running on. There could also be features added to the independant client, such as making links that would open a web browser to the appropriate node, spell checking (and &Diety knows, when it comes to spelling, I am The Weakest Link), and who knows what else.
Since the writing, I've discovered #catbox on slashnet. Still, a seperate chatterbox client for the Windows platform would be nice. Actually, a client for multiple platforms including Windows would be nice.
I'd write it myself, but I'm no coder.