As the Internet email system has become more and more clogged with spam and other kinds of junk mail, and as more and more employees and home computer users routinely have Internet access all day long, instant messaging has grown from a niche Internet application into one of the most popular means of online communication. Although there are a number of very popular instant messaging services, including AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger, they all share a very basic core functionality: They allow two users on the Internet to chat in real time simply by typing messages back and forth to one another. Fedora Core 4, too, provides instant messenger functionality that is compatible with most of the popular instant messaging services, including AIM, MSN, Yahoo! Messenger, GroupWise, and Napster messaging. To start the Fedora Core 4 instant messenger application, choose Applications, Internet, IM. Within a few seconds, the Fedora Core 4 instant messenger application, GAIM, appears, as shown in Figure 13.1. Figure 13.1. The GAIM application provides Fedora Core 4's broadly compat ible instant messaging functionality.Adding an IM AccountBefore you can use GAIM, you must enter the details of your instant messenger account so that GAIM can log on to the AIM network for you. To do so, click the Accounts button near the lower left of the GAIM window. The Accounts dialog box is displayed, as shown in Figure 13.2. Figure 13.2. In the Accounts dialog box, you can enter the details of your instant messenger accounts.To add an account, follow these steps:
After you click the Save button in the Add Account dialog box, the account you've just added to GAIM is shown in the Accounts dialog box. Click Close when you are done adding your instant messaging accounts to GAIM. Logging In to AIM in Fedora Core 4To log in to AIM using Fedora Core 4, choose the screen name you'd like to use from the Accounts drop-down list. If you have chosen not to have GAIM remember your password, be sure to enter your password in the Password box. Then click the Sign On button. You are logged on to the messaging network by GAIM and should soon see the Buddy List window, as shown in Figure 13.4. Figure 13.4. After you are logged in, you see the Buddy List window.Once you are logged on, you will also see a small icon on the far right side of the menubar indicating that you are ready to receive messages. Adding Users to Your Buddy ListIf you haven't yet used instant messaging extensively, your Buddy List window is probably empty because you don't have any online buddies. Instant messaging buddies are somewhat similar to web browsing bookmarks: You can easily reach a certain other party using the instant messaging application, without having to type in the name of the addressee each time you want to communicate.
If you know the account names of co-workers or friends you're likely to want to communicate with using instant messaging, you can add them to your buddy list by choosing Buddies, Add Buddy from the GAIM application menubar. When you do this, the Add Buddy dialog box is displayed, as shown in Figure 13.5. Figure 13.5. The Add Buddy dialog box helps you to add buddies to your instant messaging buddy list.Type the name of the other person's account into the Screen Name box and select either Co-Workers or Buddies from the Group drop-down list, depending on whether the other user is a co-worker or just a friend (this distinction is just to help categorize your buddies for you in the buddy list and doesn't affect instant messaging functionality at all). After you add a buddy, if that person happens to be online, he or she appears in the Buddy List window, as shown in Figure 13.6. Figure 13.6. After you add a buddy, that person's account appears in your buddy list if he or she is online.Showing Offline BuddiesIf you have entered a number of buddies but still don't see any of them in your Buddy List window, it is likely that none of them are online at the moment. You still might want to be able to see which buddies are on your list at all timeseven those who aren't currently online. To show all buddies whether they are online or offline at the moment, choose Buddies, Show Offline Buddies from the GAIM application menubar. All your buddies now appear in the Buddy List window, as shown in Figure 13.7. When all buddies are visible, the names of those who are online are shown in color, whereas the names of those who aren't online are shown in grayscale (black and white). Figure 13.7. Choosing Buddies, Show Offline Buddies causes all buddies to be displayed, whether they are online or not. Online buddies are in color; offline buddies are in grayscale.Sending a Message and Having a ConversationTo start a conversation with an online buddy, send him or her a message. To do so, simply double-click the icon of an online buddy in your buddy list. A dialog box appears with the name of the other user as its title; this is the box (shown in Figure 13.8) that you use to carry on a conversation with the user. Figure 13.8. After double-clicking the name of an online buddy, you can carry on a conversation with him in the window that appears.To begin your conversation, simply type a message into the lower box and press your Enter key. Because this buddy is online, whatever you type pops up on his or her computer screen, wherever he or she is. Your buddy is then given a chance to respond. Carrying on a ConversationAs you carry on a conversation in the instant messenger application, look for these visual cues that help you to communicate:
Each time you get a new message, you hear a tone through your speakers letting you know that a communication has arrived. Two buttons, the Warn and Block buttons near the bottom of the conversation window, also deserve attention. Click Warn to warn a user who is communicating inappropriately that you don't want to receive ongoing communication that you find bothersome or offensive; click Block to block a remote user from sending any further messages. Saving a ConversationIf you decide that a conversation you've been having is important enough to be saved for later review, you can save it to a file on your disk by choosing Conver sation, Save As from the menubar near the top of the conversation window. When you do this, a file dialog box appears, allowing you to save your conversation for later retrieval. Removing Buddies from the Buddy ListFrom time to time, you will want to remove buddies from your buddy list. To do this, right-click the buddy in question in the Buddy List window and choose Remove from the context menu, as shown in Figure 13.10. The buddy is removed from your list until or unless you add him or her back again. Figure 13.10. To remove a buddy from the buddy list, right-click the buddy in question and choose Remove from the context menu.Signing Off and ExitingTo sign off instant messenger (so that you're unavailable for further communi cation), choose File, Signoff. If you want to sign on again later, you can do so by choosing File, Signon. To exit the instant messenger, simply click the Close button at the upper right of the application window. Note that if you haven't first signed off, you'll remain online and the instant messenger will appear again if someone sends you an instant message. To sign off once you have closed the main GAIM application window, right-click on the GAIM icon at the upper right of the menubar and choose Signoff, as shown in Figure 13.11. The icon will now show a red circle with a line through it to indicate that you are no longer online. Figure 13.11. Right-click on the GAIM icon in the menubar and choose Signoff if you want to sign off after you've closed the main GAIM window. |