Pidgin_(software)

Pidgin
Screenshot Tabbed chat in Pidgin
Developed by	Sean Egan et al.
Initial release	1999
Written in	C, C#, Perl, Python, Tcl
Platform	Cross-platform
Available in	Multiple
Genre	Instant messaging client
License	GNU General Public License
Website	www.pidgin.im

Pidgin (formerly named Gaim) is a multi-platform instant messaging client. The software supports many commonly used instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to log into various different services from one application.

The number of Pidgin users was estimated to be over 3 million in 2007.Luke Schierer discusses Pidgin, Open source and life. Interview by PC World Australia, 10 October 2007 Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Pidgin is free software.

Contents 1 Features 1.1 Supported protocols 1.2 Encryption 2 History 2.1 Naming dispute 3 Criticisms and current deficiencies 4 Related software 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Features

Pidgin has support for multiple operating systems, including Windows as well as many Unix-like systems such as Linux, BSD, and AmigaOS (through the X11 engine). It is notable for its support for multiple instant messaging protocols. It has built-in support for NSS, offering client-to-server message encryption for protocols that support it. The program is extendable through plugins, including "Off-the-Record Messaging" and Pidgin encryption, providing end-to-end message encryption.

To meet Wikipedia\'s quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (January 2008)

• On-action automated scripts for contact status changes (called Buddy Pounces)
• Tabbed message windows for conversation management
• Grouping multiple buddies into a single "contact"
• Conversation and chat logging
• Notification pop-ups available through the Guifications plug-in and libnotify plug-in
• Contact aliasing
• Spell checking
• Notification area integrationAbout Pidgin. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.

Supported protocols

• .NET Messenger Service (commonly known as MSN)
• OSCAR (AIM/ICQ/.Mac)
• XMPP (Jabber, Google Talk)
• Gadu-Gadu
• Internet Relay Chat
• MySpaceIM
• Novell GroupWise
• SILC
• Yahoo!
• Zephyr
• Lotus Sametime (previously supported by the third party gaim-meanwhile plugin)
• QQ (previously supported by the third-party OpenQ plugin)
• Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) (only chat at present)
• Bonjour (Apple\'s implementation of Zeroconf)
• Tlen (with a third-party plugin)Pidgin Tlen – Download of the Tlen.pl plugin for Pidgin
• Xfire (with a third-party plugin)Gfire – Download of the Gfire plugin for Pidgin
• Skype (with a third-party plugin)Skype API Plugin – Download of the Skype API plugin for Pidgin

Encryption

Messages can be encrypted using an Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) plug-in.Off-the-Record Messaging – Download of the OTR-Plug-in for Pidgin

There is also a Pidgin-Encryption plugin, which uses RSA Encryption.Pidgin Encryption

History

The program was originally written in or before 1999 by Mark Spencer, an Auburn University sophomore, as an emulation of AOL\'s IM program AOL Instant Messenger on Linux using the GTK+ toolkit. Matthew Herper: Better Instant Messaging Through Linux Forbes.com, , 16 July 2002 It was named GAIM (GTK+ AOL Instant Messenger) accordingly. The emulation was not based on reverse engineering, but instead relied on information about the protocol that AOL had published on the web; development was also assisted by some of AOL\'s technical staff.GAIM: GTK+ America OnLine Instant Messenger Original project home page as February 10, 1999 (copy at the Internet Archive) Support for other IM protocols was added soon.

Naming dispute

Gaim 2.0.0 beta 6 running under GNOME 2.16.0

In response to pressure from AOL, the program was renamed to the acronymous-but-lowercase Gaim. As AOL Instant Messenger gained popularity, AOL trademarked its acronym, "AIM", leading to a lengthy legal struggle with the program\'s creators, who kept the matter largely secret.

On April 6 2007, the project development team announced the results of their settlement with AOL, which included a series of name changes: Gaim became Pidgin, libgaim became libpurple, and gaim-text became finch.SourceForge.net: gaim-i18n. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. “"Pidgin" for gaim itself, "libpurple" for libgaim, …and "finch" for gaim-text.” The name Pidgin was chosen in reference to the term "pidgin", which describes communication between people who do not share a common language.Important and Long Delayed News. Retrieved on 2007-05-01. It also harks back to its original name, as the pigeon bird is a popular game bird and messenger. The name "purple" refers to "prpl", the internal libgaim name for an IM protocol plugin.

Due to the legal issues, version 2.0 of the software was frozen in beta stages. Following the settlement, it was announced that the first official release of Pidgin 2.0.0 was hoped to occur during the two weeks from April 8, 2007.News — Pidgin. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. “Now that the settlement is signed, we hope to have the final Pidgin 2.0.0 release late this week or early next.” However, Pidgin 2.0 did not release as scheduled, and on April 22, 2007, Pidgin developers announced the reason for the delay having to do with the preferences folder ".gaim".Working towards 2.0.0. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.

Pidgin 2.0.0 was released on May 3, 2007. This was the first release version to be called Pidgin, and contained a completely new graphics design.Identity vs. Account Orientation. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.

Criticisms and current deficiencies

It has been suggested that some of the information in this article\'s "Criticism" or "Controversy" section(s) be merged into other sections to achieve a more neutral presentation. (Discuss)

• Due to the Pidgin project\'s use of reverse-engineering to interact with some proprietary protocols, there are disparities in functionality between official clients and the Pidgin client.

• File transfers through the .NET protocol are slow, as data is routed through MSN servers to the receiver, instead of utilizing a faster peer-to-peer functionality.Protocol Specific Questions — FAQ — Pidgin. Retrieved on 2007-05-12. A Google Summer of Code project aimed to add peer-to-peer functionality in 2007.UpdateMsnSupport — Pidgin — Trac. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.

• Like similar programs, saved passwords are stored in a cleartext file. This password file is readable by anyone who uses the same user account on that computer, or to anyone who has access to the administrative account. (The developers\' stated reason for this is that saved passwords must be stored in a way that is readily accessible to the program. If they were encrypted by the application, decryption by third parties would require only access to the application\'s source code, including any encryption key. The developers believe that saving the passwords in a cleartext format avoids a false illusion of security.Plain Text Passwords — Pidgin. Retrieved on 2007-05-18.)

• Pidgin does not currently support video and audio conferencing, nor any form of audio/video communication.Pidgin 2.0.1 Review. Retrieved on 2007-06-14. The developers plan on implementing multimedia messaging in the future.FAQ — Pidgin. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.Sean Egan tells here that vv support won\'t necessarily come with 3.0.0. Retrieved on 2007-05-18. Parallel development was planned with the uncompleted gaim-vv library but the project has been declared dead by the developers.Peter Lawler declares that gaim-vv is "completely dead now.". Retrieved on 2008-01-25.

• The GTK+ build packaged with Pidgin has been known to cause errors with GIMP in Windows.Bug 314529 (on BugZilla). Retrieved on 2007-04-11. This was, however, determined to be a bug in GIMP, which made improper assumptions about configuration files.Bug 458457 (on BugZilla). Retrieved on 2007-08-15.

• Pidgin does not currently support "skins", though its "sister project" Adium does.

• Recent controversy has centered on the fact that version 2.4 lacks the ability to manually resize the text input box of conversations. It automatically resizes to either 2,3, or 4 lines depending on how much is typed. Developers are working on a better solution but are reluctant to bring back manual resizing at this time.Text box resizing issue. Retrieved on 2008-03-08.

Related software

• Adium and Proteus are instant messaging clients for Mac OS X that support multiple protocols through libpurple.
• ScatterChat is an encrypted instant messaging client based on Pidgin.
• Meebo is a multi-protocol web-based instant messaging client that uses libpurple.Blog posting about the beginnings of Meebo
• OpenWengo is a hybrid SIP-based VoIP and Instant messaging client which uses libpurple for messaging support.
• PhoneGaim is a SIP-based Voice over IP communications client; it is based on Pidgin and thus is also available under the GPL.

See also

Free software Portal

• Multiprotocol instant messaging application
• Comparison of instant messaging protocols
• Comparison of instant messaging clients
• Comparison of IRC clients
• List of Jabber client software

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Pidgin (instant messaging client)

• Pidgin website, with "Planet Pidgin" (developer blog)
• Pidgin project on SourceForge

v • d • e Instant messaging clients (and comparison of clients and protocols)
Proprietary and/or single protocol	AIM · Gadu-Gadu · Microsoft Messenger for Mac · MySpaceIM  · Skype  · Tencent QQ · WLM (formerly MSN Messenger) · Yahoo! Messenger
Multi-protocol:	Adium · Instantbird  · Kopete · Miranda IM  · Pidgin  · QIP Infium  · SIM · Trillian
Jabber/XMPP:	Exodus · Google Talk · JAJC · Psi · Tkabber · Gajim · Spark · Coccinella
ICQ:	ICQ  · QIP 2005  · &RQ  · R&Q  · Gim-ICQ

v • d • e IRC clients (and comparison of clients)
AmigaOS	AmIRC · Amiga Grapevine · WookieChat · MomosIRC · BenderIRC · Chatbox · IrChat
Mac OS	Colloquy · Conversation · Fire · LimeChat · Linkinus · IRCle · MacIrssi · Snak · X-Chat Aqua
Microsoft Windows	Bersirc · ClicksAndWhistles · HydraIRC · Klient · mIRC · Microsoft Comic Chat · Miranda IM · Nettalk · pIRCh · Trillian · TurboIRC · Visual IRC · XiRCON
Unix-like	ircII · Kopete · Konversation
Multi-platform	BitchX · ChatZilla · Instantbird  · ircII-EPIC · Irssi · jIRC · KVIrc · naim  · Pidgin · ScrollZ · X-Chat
*Emacs	ERC · zenirc · riece · liece · irchat · circe · rcirc
Related pages	Internet Relay Chat · Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia