5 Instant Messaging With Pidgin; Configuring Accounts - Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 11 - APPLICATION GUIDE 17-03-2009 Application Manual

Instant Messaging with Pidgin
Pidgin (formerly called Gaim) is an instant messaging (IM) client that allows you to
connect to multiple accounts simultaneously. Chat live with your contacts in one tabbed
interface, regardless of which IM system they use. Pidgin supports the following instant
messaging protocols: AOL* Instant Messenger (AIM), Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google
Talk, GroupWise Messenger, ICQ, IRC, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Microsoft
Live Communication Server (LCS/OCS), MySpaceIM, QQ, SILC, SIMPLE, Yahoo!*,
and Zephyr*. Pidgin also supports many features of the various networks, such as file
transfer, away messages, and typing notification.
In the following, learn how to set up Pidgin and how to communicate with your contacts.

15.1 Configuring Accounts

To use Pidgin, you must already have accounts on the systems you want to use. For
example, to use Pidgin for your AIM account, you must first have an AIM account.
Once you have those accounts, set them up in the Pidgin Add Account dialog.
Procedure 15.1 Adding and Editing Accounts
1 Start Pidgin from the main menu or press Alt + F2 and enter pidgin. If Pidgin
does not start, check if the package pidgin is installed.
If you start Pidgin for the first time, a message appears, prompting you to config-
ure an account. Otherwise, Pidgin opens the Buddy List window, showing your
contacts.
Instant Messaging with Pidgin
15
155