Книга: Fedora™ Unleashed, 2008 edition

Instant Messaging with Pidgin

Instant Messaging with Pidgin

Instant messaging is one of the biggest ways for people to interact on the web. AOL was the primary force behind this, especially in America, but other networks and systems soon came onto the market providing users with a wealth of choice.

No longer just a consumer tool, instant messaging is now a part of the corporate world, with many different companies deploying internal instant messaging software for collaboration.

One of the biggest hurdles that Fedora had to overcome was the fact that with the exception of Jabber, there was no client software to access networks such as AIM or MSN. Fortunately, where there is a will there is a way, and Pidgin was created as a multiprotocol instant messaging client enabling you to connect to several different networks that use differing protocols.

You can find Pidgin under Applications, Internet, listed as Internet Messenger, and it is shown in Figure 5.12.

FIGURE 5.12 Pidgin, the new name for GAIM, allows you to send instant messages to pretty much any IM network.

When you launch Pidgin for the first time, you are prompted to create an account. Just select an option from the protocol list, enter your screen name and password for that protocol/service (as shown in Figure 5.13), and click the Save button. Pidgin automatically tries to log in to that network using the credentials you have supplied. If successful, and if you have previously assigned contacts to your IM service, you should see them pop up in the Buddy List window.

FIGURE 5.13 Pidgin offers a neat solution to keeping in touch with people, regardless of the IM network they use.

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