Gaim

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For the fictional alien race in Babylon 5, see Gaim (Babylon 5).


Gaim
Chat window on gaim 1.5.0 on GNOME 2.10
Maintainer:	Sean Egan
Stable release:	1.5.0 (August 12, 2005) _[+/-]
Preview release:	2.0.0beta6 (January 18, 2007) _[+/-]
OS:	Cross-platform
Use:	Instant messaging client
License:	GPL
Website:	gaim.sourceforge.net

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

1 History and development
- 1.1 libgaim
- 1.2 Gaim 2
2 Features
- 2.1 Supported protocols
3 Shortcomings
- 3.1 Versions 1.5 and earlier
4 Derivatives
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History and development

Originally written by Mark Spencer for Unix-like operating systems, Gaim now runs on a variety of platforms, including Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, SkyOS and Trolltech's PDA system, Qtopia. Mac OS X users can run it using Apple's X11 interface but the Gaim website recommends those Mac users who want an IM client that uses the native Mac OS X GUI, Aqua, try Adium instead.

[edit] libgaim

Long ago, the Gaim developers 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. Now that the code split is complete, it is possible to write client programs using a developer's GUI library of choice. The core library produced by the split is called libgaim; this library is already in use in the Adium, WengoPhone and Proteus clients as well as the Meebo web-based application. Gaim 2.0.0beta4 was the first release to include a full separated libgaim, which is used by the included gaim-text [1], a console based version of Gaim.

[edit] Gaim 2

Gaim 2 beta 6 running under GNOME 2.16.0

Gaim 2.0 is in beta development, though several versions have been released. New features include a global buddy icon, extended preferences, a new status system, a console-based client, improved session management, and improved file transfer support.

On August 16, 2006, the MSN protocol began causing crashes for Gaim users, most notably on the Windows platform. Consequently, Gaim version 2 beta 3.1 was released four days later. No prior releases have stable support for MSN.

[edit] Features

Aliasing nicknames
Buddy Pounce feature automatically takes action when a given buddy changes his or her status [2]
Grouping multiple buddies into a single "contact" [3]
Logging [4]
Tabbed message windows for easy management of conversations
Support for many protocols
User can log on to many different accounts at once
Graphical toaster style popups available through the Guifications plugin
Encrypted messaging is available through the Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) or Gaim-encryption (NSS crypto library) plugins
Window transparency using a plugin (only under Microsoft Windows)

[edit] Supported protocols

Included in 1.5.0
- AOL Instant Messenger
- Bonjour iChat (Gaim refers to it by its previous name, Rendezvous)
- Gadu-Gadu
- Jabber and Google Talk (XMPP)
- Internet Relay Chat
- Live Messenger Service (a.k.a. MSN and .NET Messenger Service)
- Novell GroupWise
- OpenNAP
- OSCAR (AIM/ICQ)
- SILC
- Yahoo! Messenger
- Zephyr
Included in 2.0.0beta4 (all the above protocols, except OpenNAP, plus)
- Lotus Sametime (previously supported by the third party gaim-meanwhile plugin)
- QQ (previously supported by the third-party OpenQ plugin)
- Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) (at the moment only with chat function)
Third party plugins
- DirectNet, 3rdparty plugin for DirectNet - peer to peer instant messenger
- IMPS, 3rdparty plugin from Smart VAS
- Tlen.pl, 3rdparty plugin from SourceForge
- Xfire (gfire)

[edit] Shortcomings

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This article has been tagged since March 2007.

Gaim relies on GTK+, which does not integrate perfectly with Windows. For example, the Windows version opens and saves files via the GTK+ file browser rather than the standard open/save dialogs used by most Windows applications. This, however, is not a problem on Gaim's primary platform, GNU/Linux.
The Gaim 1.5 series has been abandoned by the developers (there have been major crash bugs since its latest release), while the 2.0 series has been in beta for over a year and is still not API or ABI stable.^{[citation needed]}
Passwords saved by the program are stored in a plain text file and are accessible by anyone with direct access to the computer.[5]
Transfer of files through MSN network can be slow, due to lack of implementation of the peer-to-peer file transfer method used in the official client.
Gaim currently only supports text messaging, while competing instant messaging clients also include audio and video conferencing.
Support for various profiles related to the same Yahoo ID is barely usable - it can use just one profile at a time.

[edit] Versions 1.5 and earlier

Gaim has never supported AIM DirectIM or file transfer very well,[6] though a Google Summer of Code project introduced UPnP NAT traversal, which improves the situation somewhat.[7]
Lack common features like 'log in invisible' for example

[edit] Derivatives

PhoneGaim is a software based on Gaim (and thus also available under the GPL) that uses the SIP protocol to gain voice communication over the Internet via VoIP.

ScatterChat is an encrypted instant messaging client based on Gaim.

Adium and Proteus are instant messaging clients for Mac OS X that support multiple protocols through the libgaim library.

OpenWengo is a hybrid SIP based VoIP and Instant messaging client which uses libgaim for messaging support.

UOL Messenger is a derived version of Gaim created by UOL, a big Brazilian internet service provider (ISP). It integrates with some of the ISP´s services such as web radio and has a completely reimplemented look&feel, but it only runs on Microsoft Windows because it depends on components such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player.^{[citation needed]}

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

Instructions for putting gaim on a USB flashdrive: http://gaim.sourceforge.net/win32/index.php#portable
Portable Gaim (site) (Unofficial)
XGaim (site) (Unofficial)