1) What is BrijnSMS?

BrijnSMS is a small script written to allow authenticating and logging of
messages send thru SMS Client.

A bit longer: In the Netherlands, where I live, sending a SMS-message isn't
very cheap :( This also means that there are almost no free SMS-services. If
you want to allow friends, family and co-workers to send you a message,
without becoming a free service yourself (news travels fast on the net), you
will need some authentication.

BrijnSMS is written in PHP and uses Mysql as database back-end. The BrijnSMS
administrator can create user accounts for people that are allowed to send
messages. He can also add people that can receive SMS messages. This is for
security reasons. If the services is hacked it is not possible to send SMS
messages to random phones (if the database password or administrator account
is hacked it is possible of course :). Both Sender and Receiver accounts can
be assigned to groups. This way it is possible to hide the Receiver accounts
belonging to the family group from a user that is part of the friends group.

BrijnSMS is a front-end to SMS Client and handles all SMS services supported
by it (an up-to-date overview can be found at the homepage of SMS Client). 


2) What do I need to run BrijnSMS?

The current version of BrijnSMS is the first release. It has only been tested
by a small group of users, and only in demo mode (not actually sending SMS
messages). It is also the first software that I release in this way. So the
normal disclaimers and warnings for Alpha software apply :-) This said, I
think that it should work without to much hassle. You can download the latest
version of BrijnSMS from http://www.sms.brijn.nu

BrijnSMS is developed and tested using the following software:
- Apache 1.3.9		http://www.apache.org
- MySQL	3.22.26a	http://www.mysql.org		
- PHP 4.0b2		http://www.php.net
- SMS Client 2.0.7s-8	http://www.styx.demon.co.uk
- Linux 2.2.12		http://www.kernel.org
Any platform with MySQL and PHP should work, if you have installed BrijnSMS
on another platform, please let me know (bas@brijn.nu).

Full installation instructions are included in the INSTALL file in this distribution.


3) Is BrijnSMS free?

Yes, BrijnSMS is released under the GNU General Public License. Please note
that the packges that BrijnSMS uses are under other licenses!


4) Should I report problems?

Yes :-) All problem reports, succes stories and suggestions are very
welcome! This is the first program I have made public, so it will probably
 contain a lot of errors :-)

Bas Rijniersce, Oktober 1999, bas@brijn.nu
