Gaim
Encyclopedia : G : GA : GAI : Gaim
- For the fictional alien race in Babylon 5, see Gaim (Babylon 5).
Gaim is a multi-platform instant messenger that supports many commonly used instant messaging systems including:
- AOL Instant Messenger (via OSCAR protocol)
- Bonjour iChat (Gaim refers to it by its previous name, Rendezvous)
- DirectNet, 3rdparty plugin for DirectNet - peer to peer instant messenger
- Gadu-Gadu
- Google Talk
- ICQ (via OSCAR)
- Internet Relay Chat
- Jabber (XMPP)
- Lotus Sametime
- Windows Live Messenger
- Novell GroupWise
- OpenNAP
- QQ, 3rdparty plugin from [OpenQ]
- IMPS, 3rdparty plugin from [Smart VAS]
- SILC
- Yahoo! Messenger
- Zephyr
- Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) (at the moment only with chat function)
Originally written by Mark Spencer for Unix-like operating systems, it now runs on a variety of platforms, including Microsoft Windows, 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 Mac users try Adium instead as it runs under the native Mac OS X GUI, Aqua.
Recently, the Gaim developers have 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. After the code split is complete, it will be possible to write client programs using a developer's GUI library of choice. The core library produced by the split will be called libgaim; an in-development but stable version of this library is already in use in the Adium, Fire, WengoPhone and Proteus clients as well as the Meebo web-based application.
Features
- Tabbed message windows for easy switching of conversations
- Accounts option allows user to log on as many different accounts at once as desired
- Transparency support via a plugin for conversation and buddy list windows (only under Microsoft Windows)
- Aliasing nicknames by real name of user
- Grouping different buddies that are really the same person into a "contact" [link]
- Logging conversations and messages supported [link]
- Buddy Pounce feature pops up notifications or plays a sound when a user changes status [link]
- A video/VoIP system is currently under production and will be included in a future release. Gaim is compatible with Google Talk.
- Encrypted messaging using a plugin [link]
- The Windows version opens and saves files via its own file browser rather than the Windows Explorer shell used by most Windows applications.
Plugins
Gaim supports plugins for RSA and GPG encryption, as well as off-the-record messaging.Derivatives
PhoneGaim is a software based on Gaim (and thus also available under the GPL) that uses the SIP protocol to be able to have voice communication over the Internet via VoIP.Proteus and Adium are instant messaging clients for Mac OS X that support multiple protocols through the libgaim library.
See also
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- List of Jabber client software
- List of instant messengers
- List of IRC clients
- Comparison of instant messengers
- Comparison of IRC clients
External links
- [Gaim Home Page]
- [What is Gaim?]
- [Gaim Project Info on Sourceforge.net]
- [Gaim for Qtopia]
- [Gaim-vv, a fork of gaim with experimental video/voice support]
- [Introduction to Gaim (Part 1 is specific to Windows)]
- [WebGaim]
- [Gaim Plugins]
- [Portable Gaim] (Gaim for USB drives)
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