This file describes how to compile and run gaim with dbus support. Hopefully, most of the steps from point 3 will soon be automated. 1. Make sure you have the latest version (0.34) of the dbus library installed, including glib bindings. http://www.freedesktop.org/Software/dbus ./configure --enable-dbus 3. Configure your dbus instalation for gaim A. Find your dbus session configuration file, usually B. In that file, find the <servicedir> section. This section contains the directory that stores files describing services, /usr/share/dbus-1/services C. Copy src/dbus-gaim.service to that directory D. Edit the dbus-gaim.service file you've just copied, and replace the path in the "Exec=" line with the path to your gaim 4. Start Session DBUS if you haven't done it already eval `dbus-launch --session` export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS DBUS_SESSION_BUS_PID These commands will set the two above shell variables. These variables must be set before running any dbus-aware programs. Start gaim as usual. To communicate with it, use "gaim-send". When you execute gaim-send, the dbus system will automatically start a gaim process if one is not running already.