Pidgin (software)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pidgin | |
|---|---|
 |
|
|
Screenshot
|
|
| Developed by | Sean Egan et al. |
| Initial release | 1999 |
| Stable release | 2.4.2 (May 17, 2008) [+/−] |
| Preview release | None (n/a) [+/−] |
| Written in | C, C#, Perl, Python, Tcl |
| Platform | Cross-platform |
| Available in | Multiple languages |
| 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.[1] Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Pidgin is free software.
Contents |
[edit] Features
Pidgin supports 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[2], providing end-to-end message encryption.
Pidgin features most of the standard tools for an instant messaging client, such as tabbed conversations, a Contact list, file transfer on supported protocols, and conversation and chat logging.
Tabbed conversations is an optional feature on Pidgin. The IM window consists of the message window, formatting tools, and an edit box. Recent controversy has centered on the fact that versions 2.4 and later lack the ability to manually resize the text input box of conversations. It automatically resizes between a user determined number of lines and 50% of the window depending on how much is typed. This was done in response to a text input box that could only resize between 2 and 4 lines but many users still consider the compromise unacceptable.[3]
Contacts (usually known as "Buddies") are added by the "Buddy List" window or by the IM window. As a client that supports IRC and other chat programs, it can also add different IRC channels and IM Chats. Contacts with multiple protocols can be grouped into one single contact instead of managing multiple protocols and contacts can be given aliases as well or placed into groups.
To reach users as they log on or a status change occurs (such as moving from "Away" to "Available"), Pidgin supports on-action automated scripts called Buddy Pounces to automatically reach the user in customizable ways.
Pidgin well supports file transfers, with the ability to pause, resume, and cancel transfers and observe multiple transfers in a separate window. However, when used through the MSN protocol, file transfers are slow, as data is routed through MSN servers to the receiver, instead of utilizing a faster peer-to-peer functionality.[4] A Google Summer of Code project aimed to add peer-to-peer functionality in 2007.[5]
Notification pop-ups are available through the Guifications [6] and libnotify plug-ins.
Further features include Smiley Themes (which means that you can choose what smileys (emoticons) to use), spell checking and notification area integration[7].
[edit] 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)[8]
- Xfire (with a third-party plugin)[9]
- Skype (with a third-party plugin)[10]
- NateOn (with a third-party plugin)[11]
- SNPP (with a third-party plugin)[12]
- Napster (with a third-party plugin)[13]
- WinMX Peer Network (WPN) (with a third-party plugin)[14]
- Facebook Chat (with a third-party plugin)[15]
[edit] Encryption
Messages can be encrypted using an Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) plug-in.[16]
There is also a plugin called Pidgin-Encryption, which uses RSA Encryption.[17]
[edit] 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.[18] 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.[19][18] Support for other IM protocols was added soon.[18]
[edit] Naming dispute
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.[20] The name Pidgin was chosen in reference to the term "pidgin", which describes communication between people who do not share a common language.[21] 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.[22] However, Pidgin 2.0 did not release as scheduled, but on April 22, 2007, Pidgin developers announced that the reason for the delay was due to the preferences folder ".gaim".[23]
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.[24]
[edit] Current deficiencies
- 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.
- 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.[25]) A Google Summer of Code 2008 project has been approved for the Pidgin project to help address this issue by allowing libpurple to read passwords from external password safes (e.g. GNOME Keyring, Kwallet, or Apple keychain) [26]
- Pidgin does not currently support video and audio conferencing, nor any form of audio/video communication.[27] The developers plan on implementing multimedia messaging in the future.[28][29] Parallel development was planned with the uncompleted gaim-vv library but the project has been declared dead by the developers.[30]
- The GTK+ build packaged with Pidgin has been known to cause errors sometimes with GIMP in Windows on theme change.[31] This was, however, determined to be a bug in GIMP, which made improper assumptions about configuration files.[32]
- Pidgin does not currently support its own "skins", though its "sister project" Adium does. Despite that, the underlying GTK+ runtime has a theme selector. The theme selector may or may not be available when installing Pidgin with GTK+ for Windows, although separate GTK+ installs usually provide it in its Programs menu.
- The MSN protocol does not support reading or setting the "personal message" field introduced in later versions of MSN Messenger. This is one of the features of the MSN protocol fork, msn-pecan.[33]
- As of version 2.4 and later, the ability to manually resize the text input box of conversations has been altered - it now automatically resizes between a number of lines set in 'Preferences' and 50% of the window depending on how much is typed. Some users find this an annoyance rather than a feature and find this solution unacceptable.[34]
[edit] 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.[35]
- 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.
- Carrier is a fork of Pidgin which aims to provide features that have not been addressed by the Pidgin development team.
[edit] See also
- Multiprotocol instant messaging application
- Comparison of instant messaging protocols
- Comparison of instant messaging clients
- Comparison of IRC clients
- List of Jabber client software
[edit] References
- ^ Luke Schierer discusses Pidgin, Open source and life. Interview by PC World Australia, 10 October 2007
- ^ http://pidgin-encrypt.sourceforge.net/
- ^ Text box resizing issue. Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
- ^ Protocol Specific Questions — FAQ — Pidgin. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
- ^ UpdateMsnSupport — Pidgin — Trac. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ http://gaim.guifications.org/
- ^ About Pidgin. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
- ^ Pidgin Tlen – Download of the Tlen.pl plugin for Pidgin
- ^ Gfire – Gfire Homepage
- ^ Skype API Plugin – Download of the Skype API plugin for Pidgin
- ^ [1] – Download of the NateOn plugin for Pidgin
- ^ [http://plugins.guifications.org/trac/wiki/PluginPack – Download of the SNPP plugin for Pidgin
- ^ [http://plugins.guifications.org/trac/wiki/PluginPack – Download of the Napster plugin for Pidgin
- ^ [2] – Download of the WPN plugin for Pidgin
- ^ Facebook Chat Plugin – Project of the Facebook Chat plugin for Pidgin
- ^ Off-the-Record Messaging – Download of the OTR-Plug-in for Pidgin
- ^ Pidgin Encryption
- ^ a b c Matthew Herper: Better Instant Messaging Through Linux Forbes.com, , 16 July 2002
- ^ GAIM: GTK+ America OnLine Instant Messenger Original project home page as February 10, 1999 (copy at the Internet Archive)
- ^ SourceForge.net: gaim-i18n. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. “"Pidgin" for gaim itself, "libpurple" for libgaim, …and "finch" for gaim-text.”
- ^ Important and Long Delayed News. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ 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.”
- ^ Working towards 2.0.0. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
- ^ Identity vs. Account Orientation. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Plain Text Passwords — Pidgin. Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
- ^ Master password support for pidgin. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- ^ Pidgin 2.0.1 Review. Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Peter Lawler declares that gaim-vv is "completely dead now.". Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
- ^ Bug 314529 (on BugZilla). Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ Bug 458457 (on BugZilla). Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ Felipe Contreras. FAQ - msn-pecan. Retrieved on 2008-06-13.
- ^ Text box resizing issue. Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
- ^ Blog posting about the beginnings of Meebo
[edit] External links
- Pidgin website, with "Planet Pidgin" (developer blog)
- Pidgin project on SourceForge
- #pidgin on freenode
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
