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View Full Version : Am I the only one who, at least at the moment, really prefers Pidgin to Empathy?



hoppipolla
October 7th, 2009, 04:02 AM
Just wondered about this one...

I just find Empathy a bit basic aesthetically... not too inspiring...

Pidgin presents a very honed and fully-featured messenger, bar of course convo themes and audio/video chat.

I'm sure Empathy will improve, and I do like the potential it might have, but just for now I go for Pidgin still without even a second thought!

How about you? :)

Hoppi!

RiceMonster
October 7th, 2009, 04:06 AM
I haven't tried empathy. There doesn't appear to be any advantages over pidgin for me. Doesn't Empathy lack support for avatars? Whatever, I'll try it when Fedora 12 comes out (it will be default in Fedora then as well).

renkinjutsu
October 7th, 2009, 04:23 AM
Why would you think you're alone?

Frak
October 7th, 2009, 04:30 AM
Empathy is preferred over Pidgin because it can be integrated more easily into a Gnome environment. Empathy is more of a barebones plugin than a full-fledged IM.

madjr
October 7th, 2009, 04:30 AM
well i tested both on newbies and pidgin was quite confusing to them to get started

empathy ranked much better (at least login in)

anyway i havent used either more than 10 mins, what messenger do you recommend for google chat?

SunnyRabbiera
October 7th, 2009, 04:31 AM
Yeh no avatars and too many dependencies to make it compatible with all major IM clients makes Empathy fall short

hoppipolla
October 7th, 2009, 04:35 AM
Yeh no avatars and too many dependencies to make it compatible with all major IM clients makes Empathy fall short

Well, to be honest I DO like how modular and powerful the raw structure of Empathy seems to be (I dunno it just looks like it may grow to become something more than Pidgin) but for the time being... it's so dull and uninspired! I hope they have a good plan for it!

Oh and I think it does in fact have avatars. The options are VERY limited though and it's SO over-simplistic right now!

@madjr Yeah true, maybe it is better for new users... I just love the interface of Pidgin though I think it's fantastic!

It will be interesting to see where they take Empathy...

And for Google Chat... don't Pidgin, Empathy and Kopete all do it fine?

-grubby
October 7th, 2009, 04:36 AM
too many dependencies to make it compatible with all major IM clients makes Empathy fall short

...

orlox
October 7th, 2009, 04:45 AM
I see this turning very fast into another "empathy is the worst thing since bin laden" vs "pidgin developers are the spawn of the devil" topic...Don't think there's a need for another one of those :P...

By the way, I used pidgin for many years and find it very nice, however, I'm perfectly fine with empathy now. Most people can live with empathy, and both pidgin and empathy have features missing from the other, but overall, I think empathy suffers mostly from many usability issues that bring it down when facing pidgin.

I know some of the features empathy misses are absolute showstoppers for some people, but I believe that for the most part, the general public can be happy with empathy. Those that need a bit more probably won't have the slightest problem in running "sudo apt-get install pidgin".

hoppipolla
October 7th, 2009, 04:52 AM
I see this turning very fast into another "empathy is the worst thing since bin laden" vs "pidgin developers are the spawn of the devil" topic...Don't think there's a need for another one of those :P...

By the way, I used pidgin for many years and find it very nice, however, I'm perfectly fine with empathy now. Most people can live with empathy, and both pidgin and empathy have features missing from the other, but overall, I think empathy suffers mostly from many usability issues that bring it down when facing pidgin.

I know some of the features empathy misses are absolute showstoppers for some people, but I believe that for the most part, the general public can be happy with empathy. Those that need a bit more probably won't have the slightest problem in running "sudo apt-get install pidgin".

So, sorry but excuse my ignorance and I'm just really curious now... what is wrong with the Pidgin developers? o.O

Frak
October 7th, 2009, 05:17 AM
So, sorry but excuse my ignorance and I'm just really curious now... what is wrong with the Pidgin developers? o.O

I'm totally with them on the reason why they are, but, they are incredibly stuck-up, demeaning, <expletive>-bags. They blatantly ignore user requests, possibly put in their own input, which is negative, and then re-tell why they hate users.

orlox
October 7th, 2009, 05:30 AM
So, sorry but excuse my ignorance and I'm just really curious now... what is wrong with the Pidgin developers? o.O

I'm really very grateful for the work of pidgin developers. However, they have a reputation of responding very bad to some user suggestions. I think this is mostly due to the discussion here:

http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/34

Mostly the commotion is about audio/video support being a feature that has been requested since ages, but the answer from the developers is mostly like this extract from the above link:



A billion users wanting a feature means absolutely nothing if no one able to develop the feature for Pidgin and libpurple wants to do it.


I don't think this is incredibly wrong, it goes mostly on the line that they have a project that they want to drive in the way they want and need it to be. However, given that pidgin was the default IM client for gnome, a better reception for user-requested features would be expected, and not just a we-develop-the-features-we-need approach...

In any case, there are other controversies related to the project, like the rejection of the facebook chat plugin, and the input field default size issues (link on that last one: http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/4986), though I'm not very well informed on those so I can't give a decent opinion...

hoppipolla
October 7th, 2009, 06:22 AM
I'm really very grateful for the work of pidgin developers. However, they have a reputation of responding very bad to some user suggestions. I think this is mostly due to the discussion here:

http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/34

Mostly the commotion is about audio/video support being a feature that has been requested since ages, but the answer from the developers is mostly like this extract from the above link:



I don't think this is incredibly wrong, it goes mostly on the line that they have a project that they want to drive in the way they want and need it to be. However, given that pidgin was the default IM client for gnome, a better reception for user-requested features would be expected, and not just a we-develop-the-features-we-need approach...

In any case, there are other controversies related to the project, like the rejection of the facebook chat plugin, and the input field default size issues (link on that last one: http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/4986), though I'm not very well informed on those so I can't give a decent opinion...

To be honest the way they phrase things almost makes me laugh, I mean at the end of the day it IS their project, and I'm sure a lot of work does go into it :)

Let's face it, it's the best messenger on Linux, webcam/audio chat aside. Recently, it has even flew ahead of Kopete IMO, something which I would have never predicted back when it was called Gaim!

It does make me realize why the switch to Empathy is needed though, as we can't rely on a group of developers that listen so little to the user base. I just really hope they work on Empathy to get it at least close to the standards that Pidgin and Kopete set :)


EDIT -- Oh, and what was the issue with the Facebook plugin? It works absolutely fine on Pidgin on my machine :)

toupeiro
October 7th, 2009, 06:56 AM
Right now, the biggest win empathy has is that it keeps good filter/block lists. Pidgin doesn't spare me from the IM spammers, and I've had my MSN IM account for many .. many years. I don't get unsolicited IM's from spammers using Empathy.

LookTJ
October 7th, 2009, 07:29 AM
Pidgin, Empathy was too buggy the last time I tried it.:guitar:

Giant Speck
October 7th, 2009, 07:39 AM
Empathy doesn't have IRC; however, Pidgin does. That's why I continue to use Pidgin.

rudihawk
October 7th, 2009, 08:21 AM
I installed empathy last night. I have been a pidgin fan since back in the days when it was still called GAIM.

So far empathy is quite nice actually :)

Aearenda
October 7th, 2009, 08:28 AM
Empathy will be fine. It's just not ready yet - for example, no way to change the sounds in preferences (in Karmic, at least).

Berk
October 7th, 2009, 08:41 AM
I'm using finch which afaik is the terminal version of pidgin, it works, it's simple and even I can get online with it and start chatting.
Though I do seem to be leaning away from GUI's if the programme is easy enough to get to grips with for a newbie like myself.

SupaSonic
October 7th, 2009, 08:56 AM
I use pidgin. I don't see any advantage in using empathy at this point.

ibutho
October 7th, 2009, 09:02 AM
I like empathy, but because it lacks the email notification feature, I reverted to Pidgin.

khelben1979
October 7th, 2009, 09:47 AM
No. I prefer Pidgin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin_%28software%29) as well, although I'm not all too content about it's compatability towards MS clients. I'm using version 2.4.3.

Sand & Mercury
October 7th, 2009, 09:55 AM
No. I prefer Pidgin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin_%28software%29) as well, although I'm not all too content about it's compatability towards MS clients. I'm using version 2.4.3.
A lot has improved since 2.4.3...

ynnhoj
October 7th, 2009, 10:12 AM
Empathy doesn't have IRC; however, Pidgin does. That's why I continue to use Pidgin.
really? i didn't realize that anybody actually used pidgin for IRC! :o do you actually prefer it to a proper IRC client, or do you just like to cut down on the number of apps you have running?

Giant Speck
October 7th, 2009, 10:15 AM
really? i didn't realize that anybody actually used pidgin for IRC! :o do you actually prefer it to a proper IRC client, or do you just like to cut down on the number of apps you have running?

A little bit of both. The IRC client is nice and simple, and I don't have to open a separate application just to talk to someone on AIM, Yahoo, or MSN. :)

zeroseven0183
October 7th, 2009, 10:23 AM
I would still go for Pidgin although I'm already preparing myself for Empathy.

And yes, I have the option to install it instead of E once KK arrives.

Nevon
October 7th, 2009, 10:26 AM
I'm currently trying to ween myself off Pidgin, by only using Empathy, because I do think that Empathy has more potential, and I like the project in general. However, I do find Empathy to look boring and bland, the functionality and ease-of-use is questionable, and the MSN support is buggy as hell. For example, I still haven't been able to add new MSN contacts using Empathy, because every time I do - MSN disconnects with an "unknown error". Also, there are few or none explanatory tooltips. For example, when I'm adding a contact, what the hell is an "identifier"? What is an "alias"? Why do I even have to set an alias? Can't the contact just be called whatever they choose to call themselves?

To be fair, jabber support is better. But overall, Empathy just feels like it needs way more work before it's ready for mainstream adoption. In time, however, I'm sure Empathy and Telepathy will shine.

Nevon
October 7th, 2009, 10:28 AM
Empathy doesn't have IRC; however, Pidgin does. That's why I continue to use Pidgin.

Empathy does have IRC. But you have to install some package that I can't remember the name of. To get help, you (ironically) should join the developers on freenode.

edit: Sorry for the double post, feel free to merge the two.

khelben1979
October 7th, 2009, 10:30 AM
A lot has improved since 2.4.3...

Yes, I can imagine that. Downloading the source for 2.6.2 right now to see if I'm able to compile it with present system libraries.

hoppipolla
October 7th, 2009, 07:53 PM
I'm currently trying to ween myself off Pidgin, by only using Empathy, because I do think that Empathy has more potential, and I like the project in general. However, I do find Empathy to look boring and bland, the functionality and ease-of-use is questionable, and the MSN support is buggy as hell. For example, I still haven't been able to add new MSN contacts using Empathy, because every time I do - MSN disconnects with an "unknown error". Also, there are few or none explanatory tooltips. For example, when I'm adding a contact, what the hell is an "identifier"? What is an "alias"? Why do I even have to set an alias? Can't the contact just be called whatever they choose to call themselves?

To be fair, jabber support is better. But overall, Empathy just feels like it needs way more work before it's ready for mainstream adoption. In time, however, I'm sure Empathy and Telepathy will shine.

seconded :)

SomeGuyDude
October 7th, 2009, 08:00 PM
Empathy may, at some point, be the better app, but I literally have not been able to make it work.

This may be partly because I don't use GNOME, so it needs a lot of dependencies and apps I don't have and am unaware of.

cantab
October 7th, 2009, 08:37 PM
I don't see any reason to switch. I've been with Pidgin since...intrepid I think. When I switched to Gnome to get away from the mess of KDE4. (I might actually give KDE another chance when the release of Karmic comes)

hoppipolla
October 7th, 2009, 08:48 PM
I don't see any reason to switch. I've been with Pidgin since...intrepid I think. When I switched to Gnome to get away from the mess of KDE4. (I might actually give KDE another chance when the release of Karmic comes)

Yeah I recommend it :) The new releases really are very good, and 4.3 is very impressive :)

kevin2849
October 7th, 2009, 09:38 PM
I probably should not have voted since I have not actually tried Empathy. Being an old guy, I tend to stick with what I know. If it works for me, I tend to maintain my 'loyalty.' I will definitly give Empathy a try at some point.

Tibuda
October 7th, 2009, 09:45 PM
I too prefer Pidgin.

There was a time when I liked the idea behind very integrated stuff like Gnome provides, but today I prefer modular and independent stuff.

ElSlunko
October 7th, 2009, 09:52 PM
@ Hoppi

This might satiate your visual needs for a bit. It'll at least give you something to do!

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2009/09/5-excellent-empathy-themes.html

hoppipolla
October 7th, 2009, 09:59 PM
@ Hoppi

This might satiate your visual needs for a bit. It'll at least give you something to do!

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2009/09/5-excellent-empathy-themes.html

haha yeah they're good aren't they? I didn't actually realize they looked THAT good O.O

It may be the rest of the visual interface and design that needs the work though, Pidgin is just so refined! :)

SomeGuyDude
October 7th, 2009, 11:31 PM
Update: tried it again, and still no go. I get "authentication failed" on every protocol in Empathy.

Yep, messaging client of the future, this is.

NoaHall
October 7th, 2009, 11:33 PM
I'd rather aMSN. I just don't use any other chat client that MSN anyway, and I hate the way pidgin combines with gnome.

hoppipolla
October 7th, 2009, 11:48 PM
Update: tried it again, and still no go. I get "authentication failed" on every protocol in Empathy.

Yep, messaging client of the future, this is.

Yes exactly! This is how messengers of the future are SUPPOSED to act! ^_^

Grimhound
October 8th, 2009, 12:31 AM
With no offense meant toward Empathy, Pidgin just has more of what I'm looking for in an IM client. Mainly IRC support, which saves me from having to even invest in having another program running when I occasionally use said protocol to access chats.

Also, I have to make a note before I set it as my signature: The future of Linux will require more programs or shells to support program notification. It's one of the main consumer boons of Windows, and something I cannot live without. It's why I use Pidgin and KildClient instead of Empathy and Trebuchet. Visible notification is a key element in a competent and user friendly GUI.

Jackelope King
October 9th, 2009, 10:50 PM
Empathy looks like it has more potential long-term. I'm hopeful. But right now, I use Pidgin, because, well, it works.

In order for me to use Empathy, it needs IRC support (even just chat like Pidgin has), it needs Adium themes to work out of the box (I just wasted about twenty minutes trying to get the to work on Jaunty), and it needs sounds to work. If it can do these things on install, I'm in. Until then, I'll wait.

hoppipolla
October 9th, 2009, 11:00 PM
Empathy looks like it has more potential long-term. I'm hopeful. But right now, I use Pidgin, because, well, it works.

In order for me to use Empathy, it needs IRC support (even just chat like Pidgin has), it needs Adium themes to work out of the box (I just wasted about twenty minutes trying to get the to work on Jaunty), and it needs sounds to work. If it can do these things on install, I'm in. Until then, I'll wait.

Yeah I agree :)

For now, I'm on Pidgin without a second thought, but in the long run I do support the Empathy and Telepathy projects :)

subdivision
October 9th, 2009, 11:41 PM
I've tried Empathy (among other IM clients) but I always come back to Pidgin.

kevdog
October 10th, 2009, 12:15 AM
Despite the harsh words for the Pidgin developers, I've really found them to be quite useful on freenode/#pidgin. Its true they don't respond to noobie or dumb questions, but if you actually put some thought and effort into your questions, they do respond rather quickly. With their help I've been able to compile pidgin developers version (2.6.3) on intrepid with voice and video support. I didn't have to use any ppa for this.

sgosnell
October 10th, 2009, 12:46 AM
If you're not running Karmic, it's not a barebones plugin. Apt-get tells me that 57.8MB of new files will be installed just to install empathy, on Jaunty. I'm not installing that just for another IM client.

Madvil
October 25th, 2009, 03:38 PM
Empathy falls short to my expectations when I need a client for MSN for text-level communication. I prefer emesene or amsn.

Now as an IM for gtalk, I wouldn't know...

andymorton
October 25th, 2009, 03:43 PM
Empathy falls short to my expectations when I need a client for MSN for text-level communication. I prefer emesene or amsn.

Now as an IM for gtalk, I wouldn't know...

One of the first things I did when I upgraded to karmic was to get rid of Empathy and install Pidgin. :)

TheNessus
October 25th, 2009, 03:45 PM
I prefer pidgin - but pidgin and the MSN protocol are not good friends for some months now; most of my sent and recieved messages (on either windows or linux, using pidgin) are returned with an error.

I just use "emesen" instead of both of them.

Penguin Guy
October 25th, 2009, 03:46 PM
Never tried empathy, the screen-shots don't look much different anyway.

gordintoronto
October 25th, 2009, 04:14 PM
Empathy might be OK some time in the future, but it's not even close now.

Nevon
October 25th, 2009, 04:26 PM
Actually, Empathy in Karmic is rather nice. It even has audio and video support for MSN (if you install the latest version of telepathy-butterfly).

kdilks
October 25th, 2009, 10:51 PM
One of the first things I did when I upgraded to karmic was to get rid of Empathy and install Pidgin. :)

I didn't uninstall Empathy until after I had tried it for a while. It's going to take at least 6 months before they fix all the bugs and add all the features to make it a viable alternative to Pidgin.

misfitpierce
October 25th, 2009, 11:12 PM
I prefer Empathy atm which is default in 9.10 which I like but i'm waiting on more features for it which will start coming out soon since its now default and more will be working on it. Give it time... Its actually a better app and in little time it will start to shine...

Crunchy the Headcrab
October 25th, 2009, 11:35 PM
I prefer the pidgin interface but I like some of the features in empathy better. Overall I'd take pidgin.

hoppipolla
October 26th, 2009, 12:05 AM
I prefer Empathy atm which is default in 9.10 which I like but i'm waiting on more features for it which will start coming out soon since its now default and more will be working on it. Give it time... Its actually a better app and in little time it will start to shine...

yeah I agree :)

Funnily enough my favourite messenger out of all of them is Kopete, but it's not stable. In some ways I even prefer it to Digsby which was my previous favourite. Man I hope they improve Kopete soon because at the moment I choose Pidgin over it even though I don't like it as much atm ._.

gnuisancev3
October 26th, 2009, 12:55 AM
at work i prefer pidgin because I route my IM traffic through my ssh sockv5 proxy, i also like having access to OTR.

At home, Empathy works great as I don't need these things.

I prefer the interface to Pidgin's buddy list, i prefer Empathy's interface for the chat window.

bobpaul
November 2nd, 2009, 01:15 AM
In order for me to use Empathy, it needs IRC support (even just chat like Pidgin has),

Empathy-haze/telepathy allows empathy to use libpurple protocols. This is how facebook chat works. You should be able to use this to get irc support.

hoppipolla
November 2nd, 2009, 01:51 AM
oo 100 Pidgin fans!

I wonder how many people like Kopete :)

FuturePilot
November 2nd, 2009, 01:52 AM
Gajim for me.

toupeiro
November 2nd, 2009, 02:08 AM
Can pidgin block the MSN random spammers yet? Since switching to empathy, I've gotten 0% unsolicited IM's.

kevdog
November 2nd, 2009, 02:16 AM
toupeiro - I think there is a plugin for that known as BotSentry and another one (I can't think of at the moment)

hoppipolla
November 2nd, 2009, 03:12 AM
Can pidgin block the MSN random spammers yet? Since switching to empathy, I've gotten 0% unsolicited IM's.

oo you know, it's actually quite nice to hear more pluses for Empathy over Pidgin, as I do want Empathy to take the lead :)

Fingers crossed the project will move quite fast! :)

Exodist
November 2nd, 2009, 03:30 AM
Seems its pretty much 75% prefer Pidgin.

Now if this is the case, why was Pidgin replaced in 9.10??

toupeiro
November 2nd, 2009, 03:30 AM
oo you know, it's actually quite nice to hear more pluses for Empathy over Pidgin, as I do want Empathy to take the lead :)

Fingers crossed the project will move quite fast! :)

I really don't have any complaints about empathy. It runs well, its unobtrusive, and all my IM services work with it. It does exactly what I need it to do.

hoppipolla
November 2nd, 2009, 03:32 AM
Seems its pretty much 75% prefer Pidgin.

Now if this is the case, why was Pidgin replaced in 9.10??

Empathy has more potential, and is a more accessible and flexible project. The Pidgin devs are apparently pretty stubborn about what they want to put in etc, and basically Ubuntu needed to switch if we were to get things like webcam and voice support with any reasonable speed.

In the long run, I believe it's for the best :)

toupeiro
November 2nd, 2009, 03:33 AM
Seems its pretty much 75% prefer Pidgin.

Now if this is the case, why was Pidgin replaced in 9.10??

my guess would be it integrates better with ubuntu's much touted indicator-applet. It was a huge upgrade point of a previous release of ubuntu (I think it was 8.10, but it might have been 9.04), and I think it fits the benefactors vision of what the linux desktop should look and feel like. The guy has given millions to this OS project, who am I to hold a grudge about aesthetics? I can install pidgin if I want to..

MorphingDragon
November 2nd, 2009, 11:18 AM
Empathy lacks basic features.

I use Audim which is a Cocoa port for Pidgin.

Exodist
November 2nd, 2009, 11:22 AM
Empathy has more potential, and is a more accessible and flexible project. The Pidgin devs are apparently pretty stubborn about what they want to put in etc, and basically Ubuntu needed to switch if we were to get things like webcam and voice support with any reasonable speed.

In the long run, I believe it's for the best :)

That would be good. But unless Emp starts offering Video very soon I would have slated the switch to after the release of Lucid.

mmix
November 2nd, 2009, 12:19 PM
I haven't tried empathy but it seems runs on linux only.

That's why i chose pidgin.

bobpaul
November 2nd, 2009, 06:10 PM
That would be good. But unless Emp starts offering Video very soon.

Empathy has had video for quite some time. I do video chat with Win/Mac Gmail users all the time. From the Empathy website (http://live.gnome.org/Empathy) "Voice and video call using SIP, XMPP, Google Talk and MSN."

And since you can access libpurple in Empathy (http://blogs.gnome.org/xclaesse/2008/08/11/adding-more-protocols-to-empathy/), any protocol that Pidgin supports voice and video for, Empathy does as well, you just need to tell it to use libpurple for that protocol instead of its own library.

bobpaul
November 2nd, 2009, 06:18 PM
I wonder how many people like Kopete :)

I do! But I didn't like having kwallet on Gnome. It was kludgy. Also, Kopete's default theme/skin wastes too much space. Why does the username need it's own line? Instead of


Bob/Paul: Hey
Friend: How's it going?

I got
Bob/Paul:
Hey
Friend:
How's it going?

Oh, there was also a problem where my friends got an extra carriage return or something like that everytime I sent a message. That's probably been fixed and was a known bug at the time, but it was a reason to stop using it. Kopete is definitely attractive and supports most protocol features, though. Worth a look for anyone dissatisfied with what they currently use.

slumbergod
November 2nd, 2009, 06:26 PM
When I saw that Gnome had really decided to go with Empathy I thought "woah, bad move!" Luckily, Xubuntu stuck with pidgin.

In Jaunty I ran Empathy and Pidgin and I always went back to Pidgin. Empathy just isn't mature enough yet. It feels too minimalistic and just doesn't have enough configuration options.

Pidgin for me.

[h2o]
November 2nd, 2009, 07:15 PM
Empathy since at least a year back. Currently it does everything I used in Pidgin.

hoppipolla
November 2nd, 2009, 07:53 PM
I do! But I didn't like having kwallet on Gnome. It was kludgy. Also, Kopete's default theme/skin wastes too much space. Why does the username need it's own line? Instead of


Bob/Paul: Hey
Friend: How's it going?

I got
Bob/Paul:
Hey
Friend:
How's it going?

Oh, there was also a problem where my friends got an extra carriage return or something like that everytime I sent a message. That's probably been fixed and was a known bug at the time, but it was a reason to stop using it. Kopete is definitely attractive and supports most protocol features, though. Worth a look for anyone dissatisfied with what they currently use.

yeah Kopete has lots of little niggles. It does look gorgeous though, and little bugs aside is a joy to use :)

I hope they iron out the little problems soon!

As for that conversation layout, it is VERY easy to change o.O

Spike-X
November 3rd, 2009, 01:16 AM
No, you're not the only one. Empathy seems somewhat under-cooked at this time, and I don't understand why the good folks at Canonical chose to package it instead of the perfectly good Pidgin.

Spike-X
November 3rd, 2009, 01:39 AM
Can pidgin block the MSN random spammers yet? Since switching to empathy, I've gotten 0% unsolicited IM's.
There's the pidgin-privacy-please plugin which "is a pidgin plugin to stop spammers from annoying you. You can block messages from certain users, block messages from people who are not on your contact list and suppress repeated authorization requests."

I've just enabled it, because I'm sick to death of the constant spam I'm getting through my MSN acount. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

Luggy
November 3rd, 2009, 01:55 AM
Pidgin is a lot more polished then Empathy and feels a lot smoother to use.

I wont be using a chat client that makes me cringe every time I open my buddy list.

edin9
November 3rd, 2009, 01:57 AM
Kopete = win

hoppipolla
November 3rd, 2009, 01:58 AM
Kopete = win

omg for the first time me and you actually AGREE on something! heh

Kopete really is quite special, but yeah I find it a little bumpy on this particular machine :)

Luggy
November 3rd, 2009, 01:59 AM
There's the pidgin-privacy-please plugin which "is a pidgin plugin to stop spammers from annoying you. You can block messages from certain users, block messages from people who are not on your contact list and suppress repeated authorization requests."

You don't even need the plugin. Under Tools > Privacy you have options to white/black list people.

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/5769/screenshot001a.th.png (http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/5769/screenshot001a.png)

edin9
November 3rd, 2009, 02:04 AM
omg for the first time me and you actually AGREE on something! heh

Kopete really is quite special, but yeah I find it a little bumpy on this particular machine :)

Reality just broke.

plurworldinc
November 3rd, 2009, 04:54 AM
When i installed Ubuntu 9.10, one of the first things I did was download Pidgin back into my line up of must have software. Now to be fare, I really didn't give Emparthy a fare shack from the get go, but Pidgin is cross platform and I can rave about it to all of my Linux and Windows friends.

My main reason for sticking with Pidgin was the Facebook, plug in, which I didn't even look to see if it was in Empathy. I guess sometimes it is just hard to teach an old dog a new trick.....

lightningfox
November 3rd, 2009, 05:00 AM
I don't know.
I haven't tried Empathy yet.

ForestTraveler
November 3rd, 2009, 05:52 AM
I've been using Empathy the past couple days and so far I haven't liked it. I'll be going back to Pidgin, it's my favorite IM program out of all the ones I've tried.

-jay-
November 3rd, 2009, 07:05 AM
i tried the default emparthy when i had 9.10 installed but i perfer pidgin its something that i like & enjoy using :)

t.rei
August 25th, 2010, 02:19 PM
Still no OTR, still no metacontacts.

Pidgin might be getting bloated, but at least these very basic features work flawlessly and so smooth, my grandma installed it on her ubuntu without even needing to ask me whats going on. My grandma is 92.

matthew.ball
August 25th, 2010, 02:24 PM
I couldn't work out how to use Empathy on Karmic :(
When I installed Lucid, I still couldn't work out how to use it, so just installed Pidgin.

The other day I set up Pidgin to use Google Chat too, which is damn useful. Maybe when Maverick is released I'll give Empathy a try, but I don't think I will be able to work out how to use it.

Calash
August 25th, 2010, 02:28 PM
Pidgin was a lot easier to get working with our Office Communciator setup. Empathy took me a couple of hours of tweaking and hammering at it for it to work.

I like Pidgin better but Empathy has some nice hooks into the Ubuntu -me menu for notifications. So I use it.

SynonM
June 2nd, 2011, 04:20 AM
Pretty soon I will be too, Empathy is freezing on me. I don't know how to test for bugs but it is really annoying.

asv
June 6th, 2011, 03:56 PM
I switched back to Pidgin after months of frusteration with Empathy. The axe dropped when I wasn't getting invites to chat rooms. The biggest issue I had was notifications of IM's. I missed so many im's with Empathy.

Elfy
June 6th, 2011, 03:58 PM
Closed. Old thread.