You could create an ad-hoc solution with netcat
http://techie-buzz.com/foss/create-chat-server-netcat.html

Might not be as streamlined as what you have in mind, but definitely old school.

On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 12:56 PM, <joe@actionline.com> wrote:

Sorry ... investigating a little further, I see that I posted a similar
question previously and received several replies.  But I was never able to
get anything to work.  So, I'll re-read the previous responses to try to
find a solution.

Joe

> How can one set up a simple 'chat' with Linux?
>
> Many years ago, on my original unix system, I had a very simple command
> line chat utility that worked very well - very simple and very efficient.
> I could just establish a simple modem connection with another user and at
> the command line type: chat michael <E> and my friend michael and I could
> begin typing back and forth on the command line. Everything that both of
> us typed was then saved (or appended as an option) to a designated file.
>
> Is there any similar utility or capability available with Linux today?
>
> Or, alternatively, what is the best/simplest/easiest way to achieve a
> similar result?
>
> I searched and found /usr/sbin/chat on my system, but I cannot find a man
> page for it and I cannot tell that it does anything.
>
> We see a variety of "chat" utilities on various commercial websites (none
> as simple and efficient as the old unix 'chat' that I used in the past,
> but what options are available now?
>
>
>
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