Popularizing open source instant messaging

[Bragador]

Around here everyone is using msn messenger and in my own opinion, this piece of software has too much publicity in it and is too bloated.

Anyway I've jsut recently heard of jabber which is supposed to be the "gnu/linux" of instant messaging. One interesting point to mention is that while the code is open and the whole network is decentralized, Google Talk is also using the jabber network.

So like some people are trying to do some marketing for firefox, perhaps we should all do some marketing for google talk ?

What do you think ?

At least amongst linux users, we should all start using jabber if that's not what you are all already doing.

[rowanparker]

I would, but all my friends use MSN and (Windows XP) so I have to use it.

[Bragador]

yeah... I converted one of my friend to linux so he uses Gaim. With game jabber is available so I'll convince him to chat with me on the jabber network instead.

I'll try to convince one of my windows friend to use trillian Pro. With trillian Proyou can use jabber so... it's a start... He'd have to find a hacked version though since he wouldn't want to pay. (understandable)

[cstudent]

At home I use Gaim and have Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo & AOL accounts all online. At work, where I'm on a Windows XP Pro machine, I only have Google Talk's Windows client. I've been trying to get friends to use it, but it's been difficult. Most whine about how all their friends are using Yahoo or MSN and they don't want another IM client loading up at boot-up. The only person who actually talks to me on Google Talk is my wife. It's the only way she can get my attention! :)


Edit: Well not the only way. >:)

[hizaguchi]

Yeah, the lack of interoperability between IM protocols is the ultimate form of user lock-in. It's easier to get people to switch to Linux than to Jabber. At least with Linux they're gaining tangible benefits like $0 price tag, $0 software, no viruses, no spyware, etc. With Jabber they're losing the ability to talk to all the other people who refuse to switch, and they're gaining... ummm... well the system is a little more confusing because your username is @someserver, is that a feature?

Really the only logical argument to convert people away from proprietary IM protocols (without playing the freedom card, which most people really don't care about) is this:

- AOL keeps a log of your internet searches.
- They just released it to the entire internet, destroying any expectation of privacy.
- AOL keeps a log of your AIM conversations.
- ...


But sadly enough, that really won't make a difference to most people. "Nothing to hide" and all that, remember?

"Give me liberty, or give me death" has been swapped for "Give me liberty, or not, just don't make me think about it or work for it."

[panickedthumb]

yeah... I converted one of my friend to linux so he uses Gaim. With game jabber is available so I'll convince him to chat with me on the jabber network instead.

I'll try to convince one of my windows friend to use trillian Pro. With trillian Proyou can use jabber so... it's a start... He'd have to find a hacked version though since he wouldn't want to pay. (understandable)
Just have him use Gaim in Windows?

[hizaguchi]

Just have him use Gaim in Windows?
Miranda and Exodus are both nice options too, and much less memory hungry in Windows. Oh yeah, and Pandion, but its closed source.

[Bragador]

Yeah I'll look into that. My friend tried Gaim for windows but didn't like it that much. His main complain was that you can't see your own avatar while chatting...

[GuitarHero]

It's impossible for most people to switch. Everyone in my area uses aim, which pisses me off because I despise AOL, but im forced to use the aim network because of it. I cant get all of my friends and all of their friends to just switch to jabber.

[panickedthumb]

the only people I have on my jabber list are linux geeks like myself, and one or two people using googletalk. That's kinda sad.

[GuitarHero]

If something remotely works, most people will use it. Case in point: AOL and Microsoft users.

[prizrak]

It's too difficult to switch messaging networks. Jabber (and Google Talk) came out quite a bit after AIM/ICQ/MSN/Y! were already used by a large number of people. So you have a large population of people already on those networks with friends who use the same service and new people will be signing up for w/e the people they know have.

[Cyfr]

Im pretty sure I could convince my friends to move if Jabber offered the same features but it dosn't. One of the main things is webcam and I still don't think the jabber protocol allows it? I dont care for installing gtalk then adding a plugin to allow some external video app to work, its messy and not what the majority of Windows Msn users want as they are coming from a clean msn window that just seems to work and do everything well.

[Erunno]

He'd have to find a hacked version though since he wouldn't want to pay. (understandable)

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you are trying to say but since when is it understandable to steal from other people ?

[M7S]

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you are trying to say but since when is it understandable to steal from other people ?

What if you would keep arguments about unautoriced copying (IMHO dont call it stealing) to a thread where it belongs (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=230929) and keep this thread on topic?

Edit: added a IMHO. As Erunno correctly pointed out its not my place to tell people what to call things.

[Erunno]

What if you would keep arguments about unautoriced copying (dont call it stealing) to a thread where it belongs (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=230929) and keep this thread on topic?

I wasn't aware of that topic and it was not my intention to derail the discussion, I posted my comment out of curiosity. I'd still would like to ask you to refrauin from telling people what they should think about certain behaviours ("dont call it stealing"). After a quick glance at the linked topic it looks like it's highly debateable and your opinion is not universally accepted.

Cheers,
Erunno

[graabein]

I use Gaim at home on Dapper but at work I have only gotten MSN to function properly (Windows XP). I've tried Gaim and Trillian. Someone suggested Miranda IM and I've just installed it but I'm uncertain of the proxy settings. Dang.

I've got a jabber account but it's pointless when all my friends and colleagues use MSN, so I use my MSN account as well. I've tried to tell people about jabber but they won't listen.

"Freedom? Security? I just want it to work man! I don't want to spend five minutes on it! Bugger off!!"

:-&



EDIT: I got online with my MSN account through Miranda IM now. Had to select IE proxy settings under the connection tab.

[prizrak]

The only person other than me that I talk to who uses Jabber is my g/f when she's at work. The only reason for it is the fact that her bosses don't allow IM clients to be installed and she doesn't know about AIM Express (and it sux anyway). She just goes to her gmail account and chats with me on that. She could care less about freedom or privacy (the rule of thumb on internet privacy: "If you wanna keep it private, keep it off the internet") she uses AIM when she gets home and is perfectly happy with it. Note that she doesn't have a webcam or cares about anything but the text chat and very infrequently file transfers (that don't work too well Linux to Windows on AIM anyway).

[skirkpatrick]

My work laptop is dual-boot because I never know from project to project whether that project can be done in Linux or Windows. I've got Gaim installed on both and they both use the same files on a FAT32 partition so that changing a contact in one automatically changes it in the other. I have contacts for Jabber, AIM, MSN, and YIM because the different people I have had to IM.

At home, I use Linux exclusively and use Gaim. I have contacts for Jabber, AIM, MSN, YIM, ICQ, and I even compiled the XFire plugin for Gaim because of the guys in my gaming clan. You use the networks you have to, you can't force everybody your way because of what you want.

Before I left Windows, I was running Trillian and in their new version, there's not much difference between the free and Pro versions.

If somebody is unhappy with an IM client because they can't see their own avatar while they are chatting, then they don't have very much in the way of complaints :)

[Obor]

I started using OpenWengo (http://openwengo.com/index.php/mp_download_wp_lin) on both Windows and Ubuntu. It connects to all my IM accounts (ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber) and it even supports video on Linux.

[Bragador]

I was thinking that we could make our friends change to google talk. They can use their own gmail account to connect to the jabber network through google talk so it's less difficult in my point of view than creating a jabber account on another server of the federation.

Or we could just convince them to use gaim of course and make them use their gmail account for chatting over jabber.

I'm not sure if I'm clear but in my head it makes sense.

Oh and "yay" I just convinced one of my friend to use google talk. Bravo for me @_@

[Kimm]

I started using OpenWengo (http://openwengo.com/index.php/mp_download_wp_lin) on both Windows and Ubuntu. It connects to all my IM accounts (ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber) and it even supports video on Linux.

I tried OpenWengo, but I dont know how to get MSN working with it. How does file transfers work? Pointers?