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Instant Messaging On Linux
IceFox writes: "In this first installment of a four part series, LinuxOrbit takes a look at AOL Instant Messaging clients available for GNU/Linux. Kaim, Gaim, and the official AOL Linux client are reviewed. It's interesting to note that open source projects are way ahead of AOL in developing a full featured AIM client for GNU/Linux."
First off, this is not meant as flamebait, but a general warning - call it a review, of jabber clients on Linux.
We were going to use Jabber on a project I'm working on as part of the application. We've now decided against that until the clients become more stable and more usable.
The server I'm sure is fine. I downloaded a binary from jabber.org and ran it after editing the configuration file. I think its still running.
But the clients were a different issue. On Linux you have 4 or 5 choices. My first try was the Perl client. That actually downloaded and worked pretty well after a very lengthy compile phase (it compiles Tk). But the language it uses is confusing - the jabber client developers have obviously used some of the server jargon in the clients. This made it extremely odd to use. Whereas with AIM it was enter user/password and I was off, with Jabber it seemed more confusing. Plus I didn't know anyone who used Jabber, so I had to try the AOL or IRC bindings. Those didn't work well and/or were confusing as hell.
Next I tried the Gnome/GTK+ client. After realising the dependencies were spiralling out of control I gave up. Nobody should have to update their entire (up to date Helix) gnome install just to get a jabber client running. OK, I'm exhagerating a little. But it was enough to put me off, and certainly not something we could force on our customers.
Then I tried the Python client. That proved impossible to download, but the homepage wasn't exactly encouraging about its functionality.
Finally the one glimmer of hope was the Mozilla client. That installed with just a few clicks and a restart. Unfortunately it didn't seem to support the alternative protocol bindings, so I was stuck not knowing any jabber users.
In short, my conclusion for now for our project (based on the knowledge of our user's abilities) is that Jabber just isn't there yet on the client front, on Linux. Maybe it will be in 6 months or more. For now, AIM is a great alternative, despite the worrys of AOL's control over the protocol.
Matt. Want XML + Apache + Stylesheets? Get AxKit.
In particular, I'm bitching about the fact that
Everybuddy and Gaim fail to build on Solaris systems simply because the code is written without regard to other systems.
You can say "Well, it says its for Linux" or "GNU isn't UNIX" or some other cop-out, but in reality with these types of programs it doesn't take a lot of effort at the design phase to make it cross (UNIX) platform and still perform just as well.
The "cop out" is "you've got the source, fix it yourself". Maybe these guys don't have Solaris boxes to try things out on. I'm sure if you give them some diffs, they'll gladly accept your fixes (put them in #IFDEF solaris). Fix it for AIX too while you're at it, since you think it's so easy.
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I've heard of Zephyr, though never used it myself. The multiple-namespaces concept seemed pretty doovy.
An IM system I 'grew up' with (it has been around
since 1992 or so, possibly earlier) is
goofey. UNIX command-line client (I think it was developed on ULTRIX originally), central server, unique user names, stored messages. No peer-to-peer file transfer capabilities, but it does have a large fortune database and a Jargon File lookup utility...
It was mostly used by people at or from Monash University, though there are users across the Net.
Incidentally, did anything ever come of
RFC1312, a distributed instant-messaging standard that used a simple user@host mechanism?
You can say "Well, it says its for Linux" or "GNU isn't UNIX" or some other cop-out, but in reality with these types of programs it doesn't take a lot of effort at the design phase to make it cross (UNIX) platform and still perform just as well.
Before this gets knocked down for being flamebait, I just want to point out that I've identified fixes to 3 open source projects before to make them cross platform and the authors don't respond because "if it isn't linux, they don't care". I can understand if you don't have the hardware to test it on, but at least take a suggestion/patch.
<grumble grumble grumble>
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Never hit your grandmother with a shovel, for it leaves a bad impression on her mind...
Is there a Linux IM client that can also handle the voice capabilities of Yahoo! Messenger or one of the other services? Yahoo!'s official client doesn't do voice chat under Linux. Would be nice not to have to touch Ameritech's crappy phone lines at all (I have a cable modem).
Also, anyone know if those Plantronics DSP-series headsets work under Linux? The DSP-500 in particular. They plug in to the USB port. Linux-USB lists Telex's equivalent as working, so I'm hopeful.
.11.0pre's haven't worked on my system at all. They core dump everytime (RPM or ones built by me) I still use the latest stable release and it works extremely well. I prefer it to AOL's client on Windows :)
Keep up the good work!
[waiting for your party to respong]
glad to see there's something NEW going on.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Instant messaging is just another nifty lil' thing that everybody lived without it, but now that it appeared, people gives too much importance
for it.
People lived without computers for thousands of years, and got along just fine. Doesn't mean they haven't become very important.
People lived without shoes for thousands of years, and got along just fine.
People have lived without instant messaging for thousands of years. This does not mean it will not become very important in the near future.
You're monitoring your email every 5 minutes; sounds like you're taking a stab at instant messaging anyway, just with a 5 minute delay instead of a 5 second one. If you really don't want to be interrupted, you should be checking your email a couple of times a day, not all day long.
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The problem with talk/write is that if you're on a dynamic connection, people can't find you. A lot of people still use modems and dynamic PPP, so there's room for this stuff.
If you have cable or DSL, this IM stuff is redundant. If you don't, then it's moderately useful.
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As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
i use tik, which is a client written in tcl/tk, it works flawlessly. i have used it on freebsd, solaris and linux with no headache. since it is tcl/tk, the source is there with you and you can easily tweak it to fit you.
------ Curiosity killed the cat. {satisfaction brought it back | it didn't die ignorant | lack of it is killing mankind
I know exactly what you mean by this. I'm working on a port of EveryBuddy for Win32(You can see it on SourceForge), but because of it being made the way it is, I've suggested some fundemental changes to the design of the program.
However, I haven't heard anything from the EveryBuddy team in more than a month! So I guess the OSS movement has a big problem, because noboddy tolerates improvements/fixes to their projects.
So instead, everyone who wants a project done starts his own project, so that he can decide for himself what needs to be done. Then he creates a project on SourceForge, hoping to attract someone who is willing to help him without getting anything, or making to many suggestions to the project.
Now, normally this is not a problem, because the people helping are called employees, and they get paid for their work. However, in the OSS community, your endproduct has got to be free of charge, so you have no way of paying your employees.
Because of that, only people who find it very interesting to work for others without getting payed will apply to your project. Sadly, theese people only does this because they hope to get something out of it, either coding experience, or a nice reference on their CV.
So I think the problems with the movement is the following:
1) Forking(Why do we have x texteditors, x GUI's)
2) No money(You can't attract professionals without paying them, that simply doesn't work)
-H
Any of my fellow X-haters out there (I'm assuming there still are some people on Slashdot that don't like slowing down their systems with things like Gnome) may be interested in knowing that there are a number of console AIM clients out there. The best one I've found is mfaim, which is available on the libicq project page at Sourceforge.
.sig.
--Moss
This is a
Now there are two of them.
--Moss
This is a
Now there are two of them.
There are two _____.
I really don't agree. I was able to install gabber (the gnome client) by just adding one line to my sources.list and typing apt-get install gabber. I find it works just fine. I've tried to install the Konverse client but haven't yet had success with that. The Java Applet client also works fine on Linux; the pure Java Swagger client works, but isn't (as yet) nearly as polished as gabber or the Windows clients.
But Gabber just works[tm] and is easily up to the standards of the Windows clients. Recommended. The server is also extremely easy to get set up and running. This is often extemely important: if you're setting up a system for communication inside any commercial organisation, you really don't want your messages routed through someone else's server.
Oh, and, re your .sig, if you want to do XML and stylesheets and stuff with Apache or Jigsaw or WebLogic or more or less anything, really, you probably want Jacquard ;-)
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
I have been using GAIM for a while now and I like it a lot more than the official AOL version of AIM or the AOL java version of AIM. It has all of the normal features but it also includes your other IM clients into one package. You can use AIM, Yahoo and MSN Messenger all in one client. It really works well. I would definetly have to say it it WAY ahead of any other AIM client availible.
"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people in the world?"
Try Jabber. It is an open-source, XML-based, fully buzzword-compliant IM system. You can run a server on your internal network which people can connect to using one of the many clients available (such as WinJab). Plus, Jabber can communicate with other transport protocols as well, such as AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, or IRC. This can, of course, be modified at the server level to block access to external servers and/or protocols.
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Friends don't let friends misuse the subjunctive.
The client support for Linux systems seems to be great. I'm using GICU and GAIM both of which seem to work well.
The thing I wonder about though has anyone implemented a AIM or ICQ sever? I ask this because there are some setups, like work, where you want the instant messaging functionality without the distraction of the outside world.
It's interesting to note that open source projects are way ahead of AOL in developing a full featured AIM client for GNU/Linux.
There's nothing interesting about it. Obviously, AOL doesn't care about supporting Linux. If they were actually concerned about Linux support, then they would allocate more development resources to the Linux AIM client and make it better.
- "It's just a matter of opinion!" - PRIMUS
This may sound way out there, but with the strong trend towards moving Linux Distribution towards computer-illiterate people, where are the AOL clients?
I mean, duh, if you want all of those people to user your easy, tailored interfaces (eazel, eazel, eazel!), shouldn't you consider incorporating some sort of familiar environment like AOL into Linux??
Rami
--
rJames.org - illustration
Why not pick up the phone?
A long-distance call to the other side of the planet still costs about fifty U.S. cents a minute, as opposed to local calls, which cost two cents a minute in some countries or a flat monthly fee in others. I don't know about you, but I'd rather local-call my ISP than long-distance call my friends across the pond.
Tetris on drugs, NES music, and GNOME vs. KDE Bingo.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Do you have any plugins that were compiled using an older version of gaim installed and loaded? Got a GDB backtrace you could e-mail me? Thanks :)
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Rob Flynn
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Rob Flynn
Pidgin
A lot of the crash problems have been weeded out. If you find anymore please send me some bug reports. 0.11.0pre4 was released while I was on vacation (after I finally got the server to let me upload it :-P).
Enjoy =)
By the way, We've added Jabber and Napster support as well. =).
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Rob Flynn
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Rob Flynn
Pidgin
Everybuddy is an instant messaging client for Linux which can connect to not only AOL's toc.oscar.aol.com server, but to ICQ, Yahoo!, and MSN's chat services all at once. It displays very nice status information, allows multiple accounts to be logged on at once, can use ispell to help correct typos in a non-intrusive way, and will log all conversations by Contact name. This means you can talk to "Natalie" on AOL and later on ICQ, then either use the view log function to read past conversations or grep the log file for a specific term if need be. The latest version has other great features, such as assigning sounds or a command to be performed when a contact name comes or goes offline. It comes with sound support, has a very nice look and feel, and is IMHO the best choice in IM clients for linux at this time.
AOL needs some server stability, however. For a while last week none of her server-located buddies would work. AOL wouldn't even recognize her username/password pair. A few days later it worked fine again (!) How bizarre. Last night chat rooms didn't seem to work. Many members of my family use AIM, and it's easier for all to join a chat room than to juggle many little windows. Rooms could be created, but invitations to join weren't received by anyone. These annoyances seriously detract from AIM's utility and make users wonder if they're doing something wrong.
On a lighter note, I can't tell you my frustration with my family over their inability to understand that I don't use the AOL client. Just last night mom kept pointing me to certian menu items and features that GAIM doesn't have-- "Help" menus, that kind of thing. I just couldn't make her understand that GAIM != AOL AIM.
Happy new year to all!
Total, seamless integration of ICQ, AIM, Yahoo and MSN in one client. You just can't beat it.
:)
;)
You can refer to multiple accounts of people by a name you choose, so no matter whether he's using ICQ or AIM, he'll show up as "Dustin is now online".
http://www.everybuddy.com
Sorry, no Windows port
In post-9/11 America, the CIA interrogates YOU!
They are located here.
On other subject, I hope the second part of this series (ICQ) makes it to the front page. I have a thing or two to say about GnomeICU (poor; why did Helix choose that one?) and Licq (kicks ass).
What about jabber, that can interface with AIM, ICQ and most other instant messager systems. Its open source and it's native protocol is also an open standard. There are different frontend availible and it supports most platforms (Linux - various i.e. KDE, Gnome..., Windows, Newton, mozilla, MAC, JAVA, BeOS, CE etc..). Most of these clients are released under the GPL however, some are under closed licenses.
There also working on secure communications by the way of PGP/GPG and a web interface. Some clients already support encrytion though.
There is also a commercial server avilable with more features than the open source version but at least this project has an Open source server that didn't have to be reverse engineered.
Its seriously worth a look if you currently have to run different IM clients to keep in contact with people on the various networks. One place to keep all your contacts and the server make communicating between them transparent.
www.jabber.org is the opensource part and sponsored by www.jabber.com, these guys sell the comercial server.
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a brutal anal raping at airport security
You could put it in a shell script or whatever. In anything else, including Windows, BSD, AIX, and Linux, you can just go to http://www.aol.com/aim/aimexpress.html with a java enabled browser and you are running AIM. It works well enough, doesn't require you to download anything, and you have your buddy list on any computer you go to. I use it instead of the windows client as well since it has all the features I use. I only wish there was something just as easy for ICQ on Solaris now.
Mas vale cholo, que mal acompañado.
I used to use ICQ, but nowadays I just don't use any instant messaging. My company 'forces' the persons to use MS Instant Messaging (cool Windows client) for being ready to discuss with co-workers) and I used everybuddy (that supports ICQ, MS, Yahoo and AOL) on Linux, but now I just don't use. I don't like the idea of people monitoring me, if I am online, if I ain't, etc. If they have to reach me, they try e-mail, that I monitor every 5 minutes. If I want just to chat and waste some time, i use IRC. Instant messaging is just another nifty lil' thing that everybody lived without it, but now that it appeared, people gives too much importance for it.
gcc -o sig sig.c sig.c:4: #error NO SIG FOUND make: *** [sig] error 1