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AOL Is Cutting Off Third-Party App Access To AIM (9to5mac.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 9to5Mac: AOL announced today that it is starting to cut off third-party app access to its Instant Messenger service. As first noticed by ArsTechnica, AOL began notifying users of at least one third-party app, Adium, that it would become obsolete starting on March 28th. At this point, it's unclear whether or not all third-party applications will be rendered useless come March 28th, but the message presented to Adium users seemed to strongly imply that: "Hello. Effective 3/28, we will no longer support connections to the AIM network via this method. If you wish to use the free consumer AIM product, we invite you to visit http://www.aim.com/ for more information." What this likely means is that AOL is shutting down the OSCAR chat protocol that is used to handle AIM messages. The service will, however, continue to be available via AOL's own chat app that is supported on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android.
I can't remember the last time I saw anyone use AOL much less AIM. Got to be over a decade ago...
AOL began notifying users of at least one third-party app, Adium, that it would become obsolete starting on March 28th.
It might've been more efficient to personally notify the last 6 users.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
I still have a handful of friends who haven't transitioned to xmpp or another system in pidgin.
Just so you know, "ad" is an abbreviation of "advertisement", not an acronym. There's no need to capitalise it, unless you feel the need to shout it for some reason.
This is going to kill AIM. Yes, it takes expense to support third party items, but being open gets more people using the service.
There have been a shitload of closed chat systems, Anyone remember "Ding!" in the 1990s? There were many "Internet phone" companies also offering chat mechanisms as well. The reason why they are not around is because never were open enough to attract third party developers.
Plus, who uses AIM these days? If I need to message someone, it will either be SMS/MMS, FB Messenger, Signal, iMessage, or even Skype. AIM isn't worth the time in keeping a client open for it.
It could be a further step to see if, after cutting off the API, how much usage it really has left. If it turns out that if usage drops 90% then they'll probably just pull the plug entirely.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Telegram and Discord both still doesn't have a basic usable contact list, so I have no fucking clue what the shit you mean by features.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then, that is is the year 1997. The known universe is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Bill Gates, my father. In this time, the most precious substance in the universe is code. The code extends life. The code expands consciousness. The code is vital to the internet. The Microsoft Corporation and its engineers, who the code has mutated over 22 years, use the code, which gives them the ability to dominate the market place. That is, rule the mindshare without moving. Because the Microsoft Corporation controls the default operating system, they are the highest power in the Universe. The Code also plays a very secret role in the Open Source community, of which I am a part. The open source community has been interfering with the proprietary code, and the corporations producing it thereof, of the great Internet of the Universe, cleverly replacing proprietary code with open source to form the FOSS, a super being. They plan to control this super being and use its powers for their own purposes. The coding plan has been carried out in a strict manner since the GNU project in 1984. The goal of the super being is in sight. But now, so close to the prize, a crazy student, Linus, the bound debtor of the University of Helsinki, who has been ordered to bear only proprietary code, has given birth to a kernal. Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you. The code exists all over the entire Internet. Hidden away within the rocks of this vast network are a people known as the Free Software Foundation, who have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah, who would lead them to true freedom. The URL is https://www.fsf.org/, also known as FSF.
Telegram requires a phone number. Discord has by far the worst UI I've ever seen in a software product.
And I've used dBASE II, so that's saying something.
This is going to kill AIM. Yes, it takes expense to support third party items, but being open gets more people using the service.
I wish I could agree. However, what I've seen in the last couple of years has been nearly the entire userbase of instant messengers moving from 'open' networks like AIM, Jabber, IRC, or so forth, and instead to semi-closed (skype) or entirely-closed (Discord, Facebook) protocols instead. Very disappointing and depressing for those of us who use (and like) applications like Pidgin FAR more than any proprietary protocol application I've ever tried.
AOL is doing no such thing. The whole thing is false.
Here are the facts that I know:
On Sept. 21st, the Tech Director of Product Management and Support of the AIM Platform reached out via the Pidgin mailing list, advising that there will be a breaking change in the way AIM handles client logins. This was done specifically to ensure a smooth transition to the new login method. He then worked with Pidgin developers to provide an alternative.
Pidgin 2.12, due to be released in a week or so, will support the new authentication method. Since Adium uses the same communication library, I believe it will also support it. I do not know if Trillian, Miranda and other other 3rd-party clients will make the change.
What is happening is that AOL is alerting its users that the "old" login method will be obsoleted in a month and that they should either upgrade their client or switch to another one in order to keep using the service.
<rant> I remember the times when /. was more about facts and informed discussion than clickbait and knee-jerk tirades. Damn, I feel old. </rant>
The notification have also been coming in on Pidgin. I heard someone say that AOL is changing he authenitication mechanism (not at all improbable), and that Pidgin will update the ode to handle the new mechanism . I am guessing they are upgrading to stronger encryption mechanisms. So if this is true Pidgin will keep on working with the new Pidgin release.
AIM and Pidgin is still useful, still very reliable way to communicate and still is nice to be able to use a native client on the desktop rather than have to use a web client.
Hopefully pidgin will include OTR by defualt soon which would provide end to end encyrption on by default, because things have been a little stagnant lately