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Gaim Maintainer Rob Flynn Interviewed
gaimster writes "LinuxQuestions.org just interviewed gaim maintainer Rob Flynn. gaim version 1.0.0 was recently released and it has been the most active project on SourceForge for a while. In the interview, Rob explains what it's like to maintain such a popular project, how he got involved with gaim and what he thinks of some of the IM protocols that gaim supports. He also explains the Ebay auctions that gaim had a while back."
So brittle. The day will come when we will exist in defensive pods that are impervious to nearly all weaponry. Just host consciousness in a sturdy pod.
At that point we'll be spread out in space alone or in small groups. Protocols wouldn't be a problem, and even if they were we'd have enough computing power to easily translate. So no need for all these IM formats.
-I am an elective eunuch.
I honestly can't understand /.'s obsession with Gaim.
It's a great open source project, that's for sure, but it still lacks so many important features.
No global hotkeys? You gotta be kidding me. The logging system is truly awful too, with all those countless directories (the authors claim that this is the best solution to avoid errors in the logging system, but I've seen many better solutions from other programs).
Another undeniable thing is Gaim isn't stable enough. The latest version already locked up on me (on Windows XP) a good handful of times, and some friends claim to have problems with its stability too. Yes, even under Linux -- amazingly, nowadays it's *very* rare to have any application lock up on me under XP. Including other IM's.
That said, I'd still understand all the fuzz if another such project didn't exist. But hey, wait a second, there's Miranda Instant Messenger! A much more stable program, which is also free, and features a huge plugin database that adds a lot of functionalities Gaim can only dream about right now. Including global hotkeys and an amazing logging system...
OK, I know Miranda is Windows-only.. But that doesn't impede us to compare it to Gaim, considering both programs are freeware. So, well, I just think it's sad that Gnome and KDE users have to lean on Gaim for an IM'ing solution right now. If I were still running X, I'd be seriously disappointed with this reality.
Since I use the MSN network more than any other IM network, I cannot recommend GAIM to anyone. It drops connections all the time and displays a big, mandatory connect window whenever it tries to reconnect. It's always reporting inconsequential errors in a system window that cannot be disabled. I had to terminate the client while watching a movie during an internet outage because it kept superimposing messages over BSplayer every 5 minutes. The file manager is absolute garbage, and the directory shortcut buttons point to ridiculous places. The only unique feature I like is sorting contacts by log size.
GAIM is nowhere near ready for 1.0. Maybe it is tolerable if you use Linux and have no other option, if you have low standards, or you must support freeware at any (no) cost. If you use Windows, Trillian is superior in every way.