Pidgin (software)

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For other uses, see Pidgin (disambiguation).
Pidgin
Pidgin Logo

Tabbed chat in Pidgin
Developer Sean Egan
Stable release 2.3.1  (December 7, 2007) [+/-]
Preview release N/A  (N/A) [+/-]
OS Cross-platform
Genre Instant messaging client
License GNU General Public License
Website pidgin.im

Pidgin (formerly named Gaim) is a multi-platform instant messaging client that supports many commonly used instant messaging protocols. Pidgin is free software available under the GNU General Public License.

Contents

  • Multiple OS support including Windows and many Unix-like systems such as GNU/Linux, BSD, and AmigaOS (through X11 engine)
  • Multiple protocol support
  • Multiple account access support
  • 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
  • Built-in NSS support, offering client-to-server message encryption for protocols that support it.
  • Plugins "Off-the-Record Messaging" and Pidgin encryption, offering end-to-end message encryption.
  • Contact aliasing
  • Spell checking
  • Notification area integration[1]

Messages can be encrypted using an Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) plug-in.[2]

There is also a Pidgin-Encryption plugin, which uses RSA Encryption.[3]

Gaim 2.0.0 beta 6 running under GNOME 2.16.0
Gaim 2.0.0 beta 6 running under GNOME 2.16.0

Pidgin was originally known as GTK+ AOL Instant Messenger. In response to pressure from AOL, the program was renamed to the acronymous-but-lowercase Gaim. As AOL's IM program 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.[4] The name Pidgin was chosen in reference to the term "pidgin", which describes communication between people who do not share a common language.[5] 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.[6] 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".[7]

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.[8]

See The Pidgin developer site for the current list of outstanding issues.

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.[9] A Google Summer of Code project aims to add peer-to-peer functionality in 2007.[10]

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 only require 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.[11])

Pidgin does not currently support video and audio conferencing, nor any form of audio/video communication.[12] The developers plan on implementing multimedia messaging in the future,[13][14] but there has been parallel development with the uncompleted gaim-vv library.

The GTK+ build packaged with Pidgin has been known to cause errors with GIMP in Windows.[15] This was, however, determined to be a bug in GIMP, which made improper assumptions about configuration files.[16]

  • 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.[17]
  • 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.
  • Trillian is an instant messaging client that came before Pidgin, and its developers had assisted Pidgin developers in solving Yahoo! connection issues.[18]

Pidgin is also available in a portable form in the following packages:

 Free software Portal
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

  1. ^ About Pidgin. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
  2. ^ Off-the-Record Messaging – Download of the OTR-Plug-in for Pidgin
  3. ^ Pidgin Encryption
  4. ^ SourceForge.net: gaim-i18n. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. “"Pidgin" for gaim itself, "libpurple" for libgaim, …and "finch" for gaim-text.”
  5. ^ Important and Long Delayed News. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  6. ^ 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.”
  7. ^ Working towards 2.0.0. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
  8. ^ Identity vs. Account Orientation. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  9. ^ Protocol Specific Questions — FAQ — Pidgin. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
  10. ^ UpdateMsnSupport — Pidgin — Trac. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
  11. ^ Plain Text Passwords — Pidgin. Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
  12. ^ Pidgin 2.0.1 Review. Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
  13. ^ FAQ — Pidgin (broken). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  14. ^ Sean Egan tells here that vv support won't necessarily come with 3.0.0. Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
  15. ^ Bug 314529 (on BugZilla). Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
  16. ^ Bug 458457 (on BugZilla). Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
  17. ^ Blog posting about the beginnings of Meebo
  18. ^ Newsforge article on cooperation between Cerulean and Gaim

v • d • e
Instant messaging clients
Multi-protocol: Adium · Kopete · Miranda IM  · Pidgin · Trillian
Jabber/XMPP: Exodus · Google Talk · JAJC · Psi
ICQ: ICQ · QIP
v • d • e
IRC 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 · HydraIRC · Klient · mIRC · Microsoft Comic Chat · Miranda IM · pIRCh · Trillian · Visual IRC · XiRCON
Unix-like: ircII · Kopete · Konversation
Multi-platform: BitchX · ChatZilla · ircII-EPIC · Pidgin · Irssi · jIRC · KVIrc · naim · ScrollZ · X-Chat
*Emacs: ERC · zenirc · riece · liece · irchat · circe · rcirc
Related pages: Internet Relay Chat · Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin_%28software%29"
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