Instant Messaging (IM)

Another way to carry out a conversation with someone over the Internet is to use Instant Messaging, or IM, for short. To use instant messaging, you need to have an instant messaging client program installed on your system. There are a number of instant messaging clients for one or more variants of UNIX, including Gaim (http://gaim.sourceforge.net/) (for Linux, BSD, Mac, and OS X), Kopete (the KDE Instant Messenger) (http://kopete.kde.org/), Ayttm (http://ayttm.sourceforge.net/) (for Linux and BSD), Eb-Lite (http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Communications/Chat/EE-lite-225.shtml) (for Linux), Sun Java System Instant Messaging (http://www.sun.com/software/products/instant_messaging/index.xml) (for Solaris, Mac OS X, Linux, and HP-UX). These programs are available for free downloading. Using a client program, you can set up a connection to one or more instant messaging services. IM clients generally support a large number of different IM services. We will briefly discuss one of these clients, Gaim, here.

Gaim

A versatile, multiplatform instant messaging client program called Gaim (named after a fictional alien race from Babylon 5) is available for free download. Gaim was originally written by Mark Spencer; it now runs on Linux, BSD, and Mac OS X, as well as on Windows. Gaim is compatible with many different instant messaging systems, including the AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and Jabber, as well as IRC. Using Gaim, you can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks at the same line. For example, using Gaim you can simultaneously chat with a friend on AOL Instant Messenger and talk with a different friend on Yahoo! Messenger, while you participate in an IRC channel.

Gaim provides tabbed message windows for switching among different conversations. It supports a wide array of features, including many features of different IM services. In particular, Gaim supports file transfer, buddy icons, away messages, typing notification, and MSN window closing notification. Using the Buddy Pounces feature of Gaim, when a particular buddy signs on, goes away, or returns from idle, you can have the program notify you, send you a message, play a sound, or run a program.

For more information about Gaim, go to the official Gaim home page at http://gaim.sourceforge.net/.