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AIM Now (Mostly) Open To Developers
gregsblog writes "Today is a historic day at AOL as we announced a software development kit for AOL Instant Messenger. Open AIM will empower you, as the developer, to write custom clients and plugins.
For now, lets concentrate on the Open AIM SDK and get into what it can do for you. First, the development kit is written using COM, so plugins and custom clients can be written for Windows in languages like C++, VB, C#, and eventually J-Script. In the near future we will have solutions for LINUX, MAC and Windows Mobile devices. Why is this important? We now have a solution to provide all AIM users and consumers to build their own IM clients and to extend the features of Triton via plugins. Of course all of this is free of charge. How do I get started? Well my team has provided a quick start guide, and tutorials, in addition to numerous coding examples, from the simple to the complex. Our examples are in C++ and C#.
What are the limitations? Basically anything goes, with the exception of writing multi-headed clients."
... I mean, we've only been using Gaim for about five years now...
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
I can interface with it on the hardware level? Cool...
Fleur de Sel
Maybe they'll offer AIM certifications. Like you could be an CACC... Certified AIM coder and configurer. They'll offer classes for $1200 a pop and provide stats on what the average CACCs make each and every year.
Maybe there's no step 3 in regards to instant messaging. With Jabber being open and being used more and more (Google Talk is a Jabber account), with tools such as Gaim (heck, even with iChat you can connect to all IM protocols), I fail to see how any corp could be making money out of instant messaging protocols...
Animoog.org
In the near future we will have solutions for LINUX, MAC and Windows Mobile devices.
Wow. That is really cool that they are planning to embed AIM capabilities directly into the Media Access Control sublayer. That should make AIM even more ubiquitous. It's a shame they have no plans to get this AIM SDK up and running on Mac OS X, though.
BTW, what does "LINUX" stand for? I've never heard of it.
The overall effectiveness of this will of course be determined by the users who are writing their own clients/plugins. Your mileage may vary. However, I do see this as a positive step forward, if only in an academic sense. With a major company making such an effort to have their software available for community modification, with tutorials and examples, I'd have to say that this is a nice step away from the monoculture software development. Even if you can't get anything truly useful out of it, it is interesting to take a look at what is offered and see what you might be able to learn from it. Never hurts to experiment.
Randimal: AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG-CG-AT-AT-CG-AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG-AT-CG-CG-AT-AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG
"Developers are not permitted to build Custom Clients that are multi-headed or interoperable with any other IM network."
The definition of "almost, but not quite totally useless" seems more appropriate.
-Charles
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
From the Gaim Wikipedia article:
Recently, the Gaim developers have started to separate the core code--which handles things such as network connections and messaging--from the GUI code, which controls how these actions are presented to the user. After the code split is complete, it will be possible to write client programs using a developer's GUI library of choice. The core library produced by the split will be called libgaim; an in-development but stable version of this library is already in use in the Adium, Fire, and Proteus clients as well as the Meebo web-based application.
So, in other words, AOL are going to have something much more limited than libgaim (AIM protocol only) available in the "near future"? Uhhh... congratulations AOL! Now bugger off, you jerk-burgers!
Verboten? Then I will nicht use it on meinen boxen.
We don't need no stinkin' SDKs.. why not officially document and open up the API instead? That way we can call it and do what we want on any platform without having to worry about SDKs.
Yes, it would be just terrible if something like that were to happen...
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
I, for one, am very glad they're making steps to opening the API to outside developers.
But one critical question comes to mind: In the past, AOL has been very picky and fussy about "non-authorized" tools and processes accessing their "IM network infrastructure." Their TOS does not (or, at least, did not) allow anything other than genuine AOL AIM clients to access their infrastructure.
Does this new development opportunity change the TOS such that non-AOL AIM clients can now access the infrastructure (while remaining within the boundaries of acceptability)? Several companies have banned anything other than genuine AIM clients because of AOL's AIM TOS. Has this changed?
A Passionate Independent Musician
From AIM's FAQ:
Q: Are there any restrictions on what I can build?
A: We tried to make the Open AIM Program as restriction-free as possible, but in order to help protect our network and users, certain rules apply. We have highlighted some below, but please refer to the Developers License Agreement for details.
* Developers are not permitted to build Custom Clients that are multi-headed or interoperable with any other IM network.
* Custom Clients developed for use on a mobile device or via a wireless telecommunications carrier's network and/or wireless services require separate licensing and business agreements with AOL. Any inquiries regarding mobile applications should be sent to AIMCommercial@aol.com.
* Custom Clients designed for sale to a corporate customer base or to serve a corporate employee base require separate licensing and business agreements with AOL. Any inquiries regarding enterprise use should be sent to AIMCommercial@aol.com.
I think that iChat is the "official" AIM client on Mac OS X. Back when it first came out, there was much hoopla about Apple having reached some sort of agreement with AOL, which I assume probably involved a gym bag stuffed with cash or a horse's head in somebody's waterbed, that allowed them to make a non-AOL but still completely interoperable client.
You'll notice that unlike Gaim, and like the official AIM client, iChat does all the file transfer and direct connect stuff without problems (almost all the time, so basically in the same situations that the AIM program would).
I think this is why AOL's Mac OS X efforts have been effectively suspended -- Apple is doing it for them.
And frankly, given what a pile of turds the AOL client always was, I'm quite happy that they leave it this way.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."