--- a/doc/FAQ Sun Mar 20 21:55:37 2005 -0500
+++ b/doc/FAQ Tue Mar 22 11:31:41 2005 -0500
@@ -194,13 +194,13 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 What does "Gaim" stand for?
For freedom! No, seriously, it doesn't stand for anything. It's our name and
we're sticking to it. The two acceptable forms of capitalization are "Gaim"
and "gaim" (and not "GAIM").
1.2 Why can't I compile Gaim?
Make sure you have relatively recent versions of automake, autoconf, and
gettext. HOWEVER, generally speaking, having the absolute newest of them is
not as good as having one version short of newest since we might not have
@@ -221,14 +221,14 @@
1.3 I'm trying to install Gaim, but it complains that I don't have
libgtkspell.so.0, from where can I get this?
libtgtkspell.so.0 is provided by gtkspell. This library is used by Gaim to
provide the "Highlight misspelled words" feature. You can find an RPM of
gtkspell at freshrpms.net. You can find the source and a non-Red Hat specific
RPM at gtkspell.sourceforge.net.
1.4 What do I need to use the SILC protocol?
You need to install the SILC toolkit (http://silcnet.org/software/download/
toolkit/) and the Gaim SILC plugin. This plugin is generally provided as a
separate package (such as a gaim-silc RPM). If you're compiling yourself, see
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@
1.5 Is there some way I can compile just Gaim, without all of these protocols?
Yeah. There are actually three ways to do it.
1. Use the --with-static-prpls option to ./configure along with
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@
1.6 I installed a new version of Gaim, but the about window says I'm still
If you compiled yourself, and you previously had an RPM or a Debian package
installed, you need to remove that first. rpm -e gaim or dpkg -p gaim should
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@
1.7 Are the packages signed? If so, by who, and how can I get the key?
Yes, all packages are signed. The signature for the tarball and bzip2 archive
are provided by separate downloads. The RPMs we provide are signed by either
Ethan Blanton, Mark Doliner, or Christian Hammond. Usually the Mandrake and
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@
http://pgp.mit.edu/ is popular.
1.8 Can I use Gaim for GTK+1.2?
As of version 0.60, Gaim has been completely converted to using GTK+2.0. We
really really really recommend using the most current version of Gaim and not
a GTK+1.2 version of Gaim. However, if you are living in the '90s, or you're
@@ -290,12 +290,12 @@
breathtakingly beautiful.
1.9 Can I run Gaim on IRIX?
It has been done before. Please see http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?
thread_id=725839&forum_id=665 at our SourceForge Forum.
1.10 Can I run gaim on MacOSX?
Yes you can, but we do not provide a package for it. The reason being is that
to use gaim on MacOSX, you need to install an X server and gtk, which we are
not prepared to support. You can either compile gaim (and its dependencies)
@@ -304,39 +304,39 @@
suggest trying Adium (http://www.adiumx.com/).
1.11 How do I apply the patch "something.diff"?
Type patch -p0 < something.diff from inside the gaim directory. If that
doesn't work, try patch -p1 < something.diff.
1.12 Why is gaim crashing when I start it?
First of all make sure you are using the most recent version of Gaim. If you
still have problems, try the following:
- * Make sure only one version of Gaim is installed. "whereis gaim" can+ • Make sure only one version of Gaim is installed. "whereis gaim" can sometimes be useful for determining this.
- * "export GDK_USE_XFT=0" in a terminal and then run Gaim from the same+ • "export GDK_USE_XFT=0" in a terminal and then run Gaim from the same - * If gaim is not crashing, but is just sitting there not displaying+ • If gaim is not crashing, but is just sitting there not displaying anything, try turning off anything else that might be using the sound
device (ie xmms) and then starting gaim. If this fixes the problem, it is
a libao issue, not a gaim issue, and can be worked around by the use of
- * Try disabling or deleting any 3rd party plugins, especially anything+ • Try disabling or deleting any 3rd party plugins, especially anything - * If you use 0.75 or higher on win32, try deleting tcl.dll.- * If you have ever installed 0.65, edit your ~/.gaimrc, changing your auto+ • If you use 0.75 or higher on win32, try deleting tcl.dll. + • If you have ever installed 0.65, edit your ~/.gaimrc, changing your auto away preference from -1 to 0.
1.13 Gaim <non-current version> is buggy. Gaim CVS is buggy. Why?
Non-current versions have old bugs which may be fixed in the current
version--that's why we make new releases. CVS is frequently unusable because
of changes in the code. Bugs are introduced during the development process
and are hopefully fixed before a release is made.
1.14 Why do you always say not to use CVS?
That's a long story. For starters, see the previous question. It is often the
case that Gaim CVS exhibits bad behavior due to features and bugfixes which
are in a transitory state or which are not yet well understood. These bad
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1 How do I register for a new account?
This depends on the protocol.
AIM: Go to http://my.screenname.aol.com/_cqr/login/login.psp?siteId=
@@ -408,13 +408,13 @@
Novell: See your Novell server administrator.
2.2 How do I use AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, Jabber, ICQ, or any other protocol?
Use the Account Editor (Tools->Accounts, or the Accounts button on the start
screen) to add the account of the appropriate messaging service. Use the
checkbox in the account editor to sign online.
2.3 How do I change the font Gaim uses?
The font preference in Gaim is used only for the formatting of outgoing
messages. The display fonts used by the rest of Gaim are those specified by
GTK. To change this font you need to edit your ~/.gtkrc-2.0 file. If you need
@@ -431,12 +431,12 @@
2.4 How do I make gaim use emacs-like keybindings?
You need to edit your ~/.gtkrc-2.0 to contain the keybindings line from http:
2.5 How do I use smiley themes?
To select a theme, open Gaim's preferences to the "Smiley Themes" page and
click on whichever theme you want to use. To install a theme, simply drag it
into the theme selector. You can find themes on the Gaim Smiley Themes (http:
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@
directory in ~/.gaim/smileys/
2.6 Why are the status icons so big?
We believe that, by adding a second line of text to each buddy list entry,
we're able to show more information about each buddy on the buddy list. The
'Big List,' as we call it, shows status text, idle time, and warning level
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@
disabled by un-checking "Show buddy icons" in the Buddy List preferences.
2.7 Why do the emblems move around the status icon?
The four corners of the icon have different precedence. The lower-right is
the highest, lower-left is second-highest, etc. The most important emblem is
in the lower-right, always. When an AOL buddy is not away, the fact that [s]
@@ -473,15 +473,15 @@
2.8 How do I get sound to work correctly?
Gaim uses libao to play sounds. Playing sounds directly through esound or
arts is no longer supported.
- Libao is a cross-platform library that allows programs to output PCM audio+ `Libao is a cross-platform library that allows programs to output PCM audio data to the native audio devices on a wide variety of platforms. It currently
supports OSS (Open Sound System), ESD (ESounD), ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound
Architecture), Sun audio system (used in Solaris, OpenBSD, and NetBSD), aRts
- (Analog Realtime Synthesizer).+ (Analog Realtime Synthesizer). ' To compile Gaim with support for libao you need libao-devel and
audiofile-devel. To use libao you need libao and audiofile. If you do not
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@
2.9 How do I make Gaim use ALSA or OSS for playing sounds? What does the
If you choose "Automatic", "ESD", or "Arts", Gaim uses libao to play sounds.
Choosing "ESD" or "Arts" forces libao to play sounds using that method, while
choosing "Automatic" lets it decide for itself.
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@
2.10 Why does Gaim use the same WM_CLASS for every window? It makes it
impossible to control window size and placement for the buddy list
separately from the conversations.
Both strings in the WM_CLASS property are supposed to be the same for all
windows in the same instance of an application. ICCCM states that one is
meant to be the same for all instances of the application, the other is meant
@@ -525,11 +525,11 @@
WM_WINDOW_ROLE hint per the ICCCM.
2.11 I blocked someone accidentally, how can I unblock them?
See the "Privacy" option under the "Tools" menu of the Buddy List.
2.12 What is a "Buddy Pounce"?
Gaim introduced buddy pounces a few releases before AOL came out with "Buddy
Alerts." Despite this though, you could think of a buddy pounce as an Alert
and get an idea of the most minimal uses of a buddy pounce. In reality, a
@@ -542,21 +542,21 @@
your buddy list who you have pounced signs on.
2.13 Where does gaim store its logs?
On unix, they are in ~/.gaim/logs, on win32 they are in the $drive\Documents
and Settings\user\Application Data\.gaim\logs directory. In either case, new
logs (new as of 0.73) are in subdirectories that correspond to protocol/
yourscreenname/theirscreenname.
2.14 How can I see my own status with Gaim?
Currently the only supported method to see your own status is to add yourself
to your buddy list. This works with Aim, ICQ, Y!M, IRC, and some of the
others, and is mimiced by gaim for MSN and Jabber.
2.15 Can I use Gaim for e-mail, blogging, an RSS feed, or something else that
No, you can't. We get requests for this often, but Gaim is indeed a messaging
client. Aside from the capabilities each protocol may support, the Gaim
developers have no intention to turn Gaim into a multi-feature Internet
@@ -570,15 +570,15 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1 Does Gaim support file transfer?
Somewhat, yeah. As of 0.79 the following is supported:
- * Sending and receiving files on AIM (although it might be a bit buggy)- * Sending and receiving files on IRC- * Sending and receiving files on Jabber- * Sending and receiving files on MSN- * Sending and receiving files on SILC- * Sending and receiving files on Yahoo (sending is limited to 1Mb)+ • Sending and receiving files on AIM (although it might be a bit buggy) + • Sending and receiving files on IRC + • Sending and receiving files on Jabber + • Sending and receiving files on MSN + • Sending and receiving files on SILC + • Sending and receiving files on Yahoo (sending is limited to 1Mb) Most of the protocols themselves support file transfer, but Gaim has not been
written to support it yet. If you would like file transfer to work better or
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@
3.2 Is there a Gaim tray icon, or docklet, or gnome applet, or panel icon, or
Yeah, Gaim supports what is called a system tray icon that conforms to the
standards at www.freedesktop.org. This tray icon is supported by Windows, KDE
3.1, Gnome 2.2, and Red Hat Gnome 2.0. All you have to do is load the "System
@@ -604,21 +604,21 @@
3.3 What do those colors in the conversation tab mean?
- * Red - A message is waiting for you- * Blue - Someone sent a message containing your name- * Green - The buddy is typing- * Yellow - The buddy began typing, and then stopped- * Gray - There has been a join or a part in that chat, or the buddy has+ • Red - A message is waiting for you + • Blue - Someone sent a message containing your name + • Green - The buddy is typing + • Yellow - The buddy began typing, and then stopped + • Gray - There has been a join or a part in that chat, or the buddy has 3.4 Will Gaim save my buddy list to the server?
Yes, Gaim saves your buddy list to the server for AIM, ICQ, Jabber, MSN,
3.5 Can I import or export my buddy list?
Sorry, no. Old versions of Gaim supported this, but new versions do not. All
the code for saving and loading buddy lists was rewritten, and support for
importing and exporting buddy lists was never re-added. However, with all
@@ -626,12 +626,12 @@
useful today than in the past.
3.6 Does Gaim support animated smileys?
Yes, as of version 0.70 Gaim supports animated smileys.
3.7 Can I make Gaim group screen names by the person that owns them? You know,
like Trillian's Meta Contacts?
Sure! Right click a buddy on your list and at the bottom of the menu click
"Expand". Then just drag other screen names to the same person below it. When
you're done, click on the arrow to collapse them. When the contact is
@@ -642,13 +642,13 @@
Contacts in order to be able to edit an existing Contact.
3.8 How do I get the old logging back?
The old logging was removed because it was deficient in many ways. There is
no way in Gaim itself to revert to the old logging, but the new logging is so
good you could implement something similar to the old logging as a plugin.
3.9 How can I convert my old logs to the new format?
It's not possible to perfectly convert from the old format to the new format
because the old format is missing some information necessary to do that (eg.
which account the messages were sent from).
@@ -664,14 +664,14 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ICQ support is part of the OSCAR protocol, labeled AIM/ICQ in Gaim. To use
it, simply put your account number in the "Screen Name" box and your password
in the "Password" box. Leave the server settings set to the default
(login.oscar.aol.com and port 5190).
4.2 Can I send SMS messages?
Kind of. See our answer to this for the AIM/ICQ Protocol.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -679,7 +679,7 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1 What is the TOC protocol?
It's an AIM protocol used by Quick Buddy and AIM Express. It's recommended
that you don't use it. You should use Gaim's OSCAR (AIM/ICQ) protocol
instead. We keep TOC around in case OSCAR ever stops working. However, we are
@@ -690,11 +690,11 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.1 Can I set my profile?
Yes you can. Go to Tools->Account Actions
6.2 Can I set a buddy icon?
Yes. Go to the Account Editor (Tools->Accounts from the buddy list), and
click to "Modify" the AIM/ICQ account you wish to have an icon. Enter the
full path to the image you wish to use in the box labeled "Buddy Icon File."
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@
Windows understands, such as .bmp, .gif, and .jpg.
6.3 Some of my buddies are not showing up as online, why is that?
AOL has set a limit for the maximum number of people you can have in your
buddy list. This number is currently 200. If you don't think you are anywhere
near that limit, it is possible that your server-stored buddy list is
@@ -713,7 +713,7 @@
AIM program from AOL. This will usually correct any problems with the list.
6.4 Can I use AIM URI's such as "aim:goim?screenname=robflynn"?
Yes, with Gaim 0.60 and higher, but it can be difficult to set up. You need
to pass the entire URI to the gaim-remote program (included with gaim). To do
this with Gnome 2, run gnome-file-types-properties or "File Types and
@@ -728,7 +728,7 @@
6.5 I just changed my buddy icon, and I can't see the new one.
First, try IMing yourself a few times. Buddy icons are checked when you IM
people, so depending on the protocol, that may work. If it still doesn't
update, check the file size (buddy icons must be smaller than 4kb) and the
@@ -738,12 +738,12 @@
the protocol supports it, try restarting Gaim.
6.6 Does Gaim support DirectIM and IM Image?
Yeah, kind of. This tends to be one of the buggier areas of Gaim. If it's not
working for you, make sure that at least one person is not behind a firewall.
6.7 Can I send SMS messages?
Yep, just send an IM to the person's phone number. For example, if the phone
number is (919) 555-1234, you would IM the screen name +19195551234 We think
this should work for countries with a country code of 1 (the United States
@@ -752,13 +752,13 @@
Sending SMS messages using "the ICQ method" is not yet supported.
6.8 Can I add SMS numbers to my buddy list?
Not currently. This functionality has been broken since around September
2003. There is no ETA for when it will be fixed.
6.9 I heard AOL is combining ICQ and AIM, does that mean I can send a message
from an AIM account to an ICQ account and vice-versa?
Yes, AOL is slowly letting the two messaging networks interoperate with each
other. Messaging between the two protocols works as long as the receiver of
the message supports it. Gaim 0.60 supports sending and receiving messages
@@ -778,19 +778,23 @@
using Windows AIM version 5.2.3139 will show up in an ICQ buddy list.
6.10 Why can't I connect via either Oscar or TOC?
If you are using Linux, your kernel may be using a network option called
"ECN". It seems that the AOL servers are currently dropping packets marked as
"ECN-capable". In order to turn this off, run the command
echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_ecn
as root, or (if your distribution supports it) put the line
in the file /etc/sysctl.conf.
6.11 English is not my native language, and some of my friends have trouble
seeing my IMs/I have trouble seeing my friends' IMs. How do I use a
native language character set with ICQ?
Gaim 0.82 and higher allow you to specify a character encoding to use when
conversing with ICQ users. Use the account editor to set this encoding.
@@ -799,7 +803,7 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.1 How do I join a channel with the IRC plugin?
First create the account, then sign on. After you have signed on, you can use
File->Join A Chat on the buddy list to join a channel. In any window, either
a conversation or a chat, in which your IRC user is the sender, you can also
@@ -807,7 +811,7 @@
7.2 Is there a way to make Gaim automatically identify me and/or join IRC
Yes. Add NickServ to your buddy list and place buddy pounces on him/her/it.
Do not include "/msg nickserv" as part of the message to send.
@@ -819,19 +823,19 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.1 How do I choose which Jabber server to use?
The Jabber server name is part of your Jabber I.D., such as
somebody@server.name. So when entering your Jabber "screen name", the server
is specified as part of your JID.
8.2 How do I change my Jabber resource to be other than the default of "/
When you create your account in Gaim, simply append the desired resource
identifier to your Jabber I.D. For example: somebody@server.name/resource
8.3 How do I register a new Jabber account?
As of version 0.52 and up:
1. Click "Tools->Accounts->Add"
@@ -846,7 +850,7 @@
type in what you thought you did, you're hosed.
8.4 How do I use invisibility?
Jabber invisibility support is available in Gaim version 0.60 and later.
There are two ways to use Jabber invisibility: on a per-buddy and on a
@@ -876,19 +880,19 @@
8.5 I've a buddy that I keep removing from my buddy list but the entry keeps
coming back every time I log in again! How can I stop this?
With Gaim 0.60 or later, it might be continuing to import the old buddy
lists. Remove ~/.gaim/*.blist - these are no longer used, the buddy list is
now stored in ~/.gaim/blist.xml
8.6 Can I remove a buddy from my Jabber roster entirely?
With Gaim 0.60 or later, the deletion code will do this. Gaim currently does
not retain invisibility settings between logins, just as it doesn't currently
8.7 What does "Cancel Presence Notification" do?
This selection, available in Gaim version 0.60 and later, and found by
right-clicking on a buddy entry in the buddy list, prevents that Jabber I.D.
from receiving future presence notifications when you log on to the server.
@@ -902,12 +906,12 @@
9.1 I cannot connect to Yahoo! and get "Invalid Password" errors, or I'm using
a version of Gaim older than 0.79!
Make sure you have at least 0.79.
9.2 I cannot connect to Yahoo! and I'm behind a firewall or NAT. Why doesn't
Gaim have Yahoo's "Firewall with no proxy" option?
Yahoo!'s firewall with no proxy option connects to Yahoo! by wrapping the
YMSG protocol inside HTTP. Gaim currently doesn't support doing this.
@@ -918,7 +922,7 @@
9.3 I blocked someone, but it doesn't seem to have worked.
As of 0.81, this is a known bug in our Yahoo code. We're not sure what
exactly is wrong, but it seems to fail most often when automatically removing
the buddy from your buddy list at the same time it blocks them. It also
@@ -931,7 +935,7 @@
9.4 Can I get a list of Yahoo! Chat rooms? What about non-US lists?
Tools->Room List will let you list available Yahoo! Chat rooms. Yahoo! does
support hidden and invite-only rooms. If you know the name of the room you
wish to join, and it's not invite only, you can join it via Buddies->Join a
@@ -946,30 +950,30 @@
The list of known country codes for this url is:
- * cf => Central African Republic- * kr => Korea, Republic of+ • cf => Central African Republic + • kr => Korea, Republic of 9.5 What protocol does Gaim use to connect to Yahoo!?
Normally Gaim uses the YMSG protocol, which is the same protocol that the
official Yahoo! clients use. If an attempt to login returns the "Invalid
Password" error code, Gaim automatically tries to log in using the "Web
@@ -988,14 +992,14 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.1 Why are my file transfers so slow?
Gaim only supports tranferring files over MSN via the MSN servers. This means
all your data is sent to an MSN server and then forwarded to the person at
the other end of the transfer. It is unknown whether we will support true
peer to peer file transfer over MSN.
10.2 I'm getting lots of "Already in Opposite list" errors on MSN, why?
The reason this happens is because you have a screen name in both your permit
list and your deny list. There are two ways to fix this: the correct way and
the quick way. The correct way is to go to Tools->Privacy, and manually scan
@@ -1005,25 +1009,25 @@
10.3 Is there a way to invite more than one person to an MSN chat?
Yes. Right click a buddy on your list and choose "Initiate Chat". In the
conversation window that appears, choose "Invite" from the "Conversation"
menu to invite another user. When the conversation framework gets another
rewrite, it is possible that this will be simplified.
10.4 Is MSNP9 (MSN6) going to be supported?
MSNP9 support has existed in Gaim since 0.69. However, at this point,
features such as custom smileys aren't yet implemented.
10.5 Will I be able to use Gaim for MSN after October 15th 2003? (The day
they're preventing third party clients from connecting)
Yes. We use MSNP9, which is available in 0.69 and up, and MSNP9 is supported
10.6 I just upgraded Gaim and the MSN plugin will not load. Why?
You did not compile with SSL support, or the SSL plugin failed to load. As of
protocol version 9, the MSN protocol requires the use of SSL, which Gaim
provides by either GnuTLS or the combination of NSS and NSPR from the Mozilla
@@ -1031,7 +1035,7 @@
10.7 The MSN plugin won't load, but I have Mozilla NSS!
Some distributions, including Slackware, install Mozilla NSS to a
non-standard directory. The fix is simple. Edit /etc/ld.so.conf and add /usr/
lib/mozilla-1.4 (or whatever version you're using, but it's usually 1.4) to
@@ -1046,27 +1050,27 @@
10.8 What does "MSN: S: 911 3" in the debug window mean when I cannot connect
See http://gaim.sf.net/911.txt.
10.9 How do I set an MSN avatar?
Gaim calls these Buddy Icons. Go to Tools->Accounts and click to Modify your
MSN account. You can drag and drop a file to the resulting dialog, or use the
10.10 What does "Has you" in the buddy tooltip mean?
It shows you if that MSN user has added you to his/her buddy list. "Has you:
No" does not mean you can't talk to that person.
10.11 How do I set my MSN Friendly Name (the name other users see)?
In the Buddy List window, go to Tools->Account Actions->account->Set Friendly
10.12 What does "Error reading from switchboard server" mean?
We haven't fully figured that out yet, but even Microsoft's client seems to
get similar errors, although with less frequency than we do. See Bug 1060205
@@ -1076,12 +1080,12 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gadu-Gadu is an IM protocol popular in Poland. You can find more about it at
www.gadu-gadu.pl (website in Polish).
11.2 Why doesn't it work right?
We have not had a Gadu-Gadu maintainer in some time and are currently
struggling to keep this protocol functional. If you have any problems, you
will need to submit a patch for them, as we are unlikely to have much luck
@@ -1093,7 +1097,7 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zephyr is an IM protocol developed at MIT for use with Project Athena. Its
features include Kerberos IV authentication, multi-level chats (aka
"subscriptions"). You're probably using this because your college/employer/
@@ -1102,7 +1106,7 @@
12.2 Other Zephyr clients (zwgc,owl,tzc) work, but Gaim dies with "Couldn't
Your site might require the use of Kerberos 4 for authentication, though few
prepackaged Gaim binaries use Kerberos. One solution is to compile Gaim with
the --with-krb4 flag to point to the location of your Kerberos 4 devel files,
@@ -1111,9 +1115,10 @@
12.3 Gaim isn't working, but I never got any other Zephyr client working on
You need to have zhm (which comes with the standard Zephyr distribution)
installed, and running, and pointed at your Zephyr servers. e.g.
zhm z1.example.com z2.example.com z3.example.com
Alternatively, there might be a firewall or a NAT between you and the Zephyr
@@ -1122,7 +1127,7 @@
12.4 How do I use Zephyr from behind my firewall, or without recompiling with
kerberos support if needed?
You can use tzc, "Trivial Zephyr Client" and ssh to run Zephyr from a machine
that is behind a firewall or NAT. First, make sure that tzc is installed and
working on the remote machine. The best version of tzc to use can be found
@@ -1130,17 +1135,21 @@
tzc-cclub_001-3.tar.gz. Second, make sure that you can make a passwordless
ssh connection to the remote machine and get kerberos 4 tickets. Then, click
on "Show more options", enable "Use tzc", and set the tzc command to
/path/to/ssh username@hostname /path/to/tzc -e "%s"
Alternately, if you have tzc working on your machine, you can enable "Use
tzc", and set the tzc command to
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SILC is an open protocol designed from the ground up with security in mind.
It is, or should be, the protocol of choice for the paranoid. See http://
www.silcnet.org for more details.
@@ -1150,12 +1159,12 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14.1 Are there any public servers for Novell?
Not really. This protocol is designed to connect to a Novell GroupWise server
running on a corporate LAN.
14.2 I can't seem to get it to work.
Novell tells us that this protocol plugin will only work with either the
GroupWise Messenger for Linux server or the GroupWise Messenger SP2 (or
higher) server for NetWare and Windows. In addition, the server must be
@@ -1169,13 +1178,13 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15.1 How do I use perl scripts with Gaim?
Save the perl script to ~/.gaim/plugins/ or $prefix/lib/gaim/, restart Gaim,
and load the perl script by checking the check box next to its name on the
Plugins page in preferences.
15.2 How do I compile a plugin for Gaim?
To compile a plugin for Gaim, you must have Gaim's source code. To download
Gaim's source code, get the most recent tarball from http://
gaim.sourceforge.net/downloads.php (http://gaim.sf.net/downloads.php) and
@@ -1211,7 +1220,7 @@
15.3 I have a plugin or perl script for Gaim that used to work, but does not
with the current version.
The plugin and perl script API has changed several times, which means plugins
and perl scripts must be modified in order to work. The plugin or perl script
must be located in $prefix/lib/gaim/ or in ~/.gaim/plugins/, and must
@@ -1221,7 +1230,7 @@
controlled from preferences.
15.4 Where can I find documentation on writing plugins and Perl scripts?
If you look in the plugins/ directory in the Gaim source, you should see a
HOWTO file with some details for C plugins. Also be sure to check out our
online documentation (http://gaim.sf.net/api/index.html). Be especially sure
@@ -1236,7 +1245,7 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But of course. Just find something that's bugging you and fix it. There are a
slew of a bug reports in Gaim's bug report tracker - you could pick one and
try to tackle it and submit a patch. You could also help with general bug
@@ -1246,7 +1255,7 @@
16.2 Gaim never leaves a core file.
On most installs core files are limited in size to 0 bytes, and are therefore
not created. To rectify this situation, add ulimit -c unlimited to your
startup scripts (~/.bash_profile is a good place) or run it manually in a
@@ -1254,15 +1263,15 @@
directly in gdb with gdb gaim.
16.3 Where should I report bugs?
http://gaim.sf.net/bug.php.
16.4 Where should I submit patches?
http://gaim.sf.net/patches.php.
16.5 Did you guys reverse engineer it?
TOC, Jabber, MSN, Napster, and IRC are published protocols, so we didn't have
to reverse engineer those. Oscar, ICQ, and Yahoo are not published, and were
reverse engineered by other people. Novell was provided by Novell, and SILC
@@ -1273,31 +1282,31 @@
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sure! Look at the Contact Information (http://gaim.sf.net/contactinfo.php)
We don't know how to answer this question. Stop asking it.
17.3 Can I give you money/hardware/other expensive things that can be hocked
for cash what with you all being students/full-time-workers and helping
to produce this wonderful software instead of studying/sleeping?
No. We're completely fool-hardy and won't accept any gratuities with no
strings attached for just being good guys. That and we'd have to share with
everyone who has submitted patches. ;-)
17.4 Does Gaim support secure instant messaging (encrypted IMs)?
- Short answer: Yes, use the SILC protocol. Long Answer(for other protocols):- Not natively. Doing secure instant messaging right is a big deal and- requires, among other things, an authentication scheme. Simply encrypting- your data stream without verifying the party with whom you are chatting is- not secure in any way; some other clients offer options like this, but we- feel that such measures instill a false sense of security that is more+ Short answer: Yes, use the SILC protocol. + Long Answer(for other protocols): Not natively. Doing secure instant + messaging right is a big deal and requires, among other things, an + authentication scheme. Simply encrypting your data stream without verifying + the party with whom you are chatting is not secure in any way; some other + clients offer options like this, but we feel that such measures instill a + false sense of security that is more harmful than helpful. There are a number of 3rd party plugin developers working on developing a
secure IM framework, the better ones using the GnuPG and the OpenPGP trust
@@ -1306,19 +1315,19 @@
and try out one of these.
17.5 Why are the passwords in accounts.xml not encrypted?
This is a case of a really long answer to a short question. Read our
explanation at http://gaim.sf.net/plaintextpasswords.php.
17.6 What is gaim-remote?
gaim-remote is a second executable included with Gaim starting with 0.60. It
allows you to perform some actions to control/manipulate an existing Gaim
process from the command line. Run gaim-remote --help to get an idea of what
we currently envision it doing.
17.7 When will the next version of Gaim be released?
The schedule for releases is every third Thursday. However, a new version
will only be released if it meets a certain standard of quality (i.e., it
will not be released if it still has a large number of serious bugs).
@@ -1327,7 +1336,7 @@
17.8 What will the next version be?
Starting with version 1.0.0, Gaim version numbers have 3 parts to them. The
format is major.minor.micro. If we change something internally in Gaim such
that some plugins won't work with the newer version, we will increment the
@@ -1339,7 +1348,7 @@
17.9 So, can I look forward to mega-sexy super functionality with Gaim?
Yes, that is the intended idea. In fact, there have been quite a number of
unpopular geeks who have made the switch to gaim. In a matter of days, the
number of dates and awesomeness points received by the geek increased ten
