--- a/faq.txt Wed May 09 02:57:11 2007 +0000
+++ b/faq.txt Wed May 23 19:13:49 2007 +0000
@@ -76,17 +76,6 @@
remove all Pidgin files from <code>/usr/local</code>.
-Q: Are the packages signed? If so, by who, and how can I get the key?-A: 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 Stu-Tomlinson. Usually the Mandrake RPMs are signed by, Mark Doliner, the-Fedora Core RPMs are signed by Stu Tomlinson, and the Red Hat 8 and 9 RPMs-are signed by Ethan Blanton.-The keys can be obtained from any key server.-<a href="http://pgp.mit.edu/">http://pgp.mit.edu/</a> is popular. Q: Can I run Pidgin on IRIX?
A: Sure you can - the amount of effort involved depends on which compiler you use;
@@ -123,21 +112,6 @@
the X screensaver extension and disable the gtk- and glibtests; no source hacks are needed.
-Q: Can I run Pidgin on MacOSX?-A: Yes you can, but we do not provide a package for it. The reason-being that in order to use Pidgin on MacOSX, you need to install an X server and-GTK+, which we are not prepared to support. You can either compile Pidgin -(and its dependencies) yourself, or you can use the fink installer-available from <a href="http://fink.sf.net">http://fink.sf.net</a>. If you-would like a native aqua interface or a user-friendly installer, we-suggest trying <a href="http://www.adiumx.com/">Adium</a>.-Q: How do I apply the patch "something.diff"?-A: Type <code>patch -p0 < something.diff</code> from inside the-Pidgin directory. If that doesn't work, try <code>patch -p1 < something.diff</code>. Q: Why is Pidgin crashing when I start it?
@@ -168,78 +142,9 @@
introduced during the development process and are hopefully fixed
before a release is made.
-Q: Why do you always say not to use MTN?-A: That's a long story. For starters, see the previous question.-It is often the case that Pidgin MTN exhibits bad behavior due to-features and bugfixes which are in a transitory state or which are not-yet well understood. These bad behaviors range from the harmless-(maybe a graphical glitch in a dialog box) to the irritating (a-particular protocol may not work), to the downright damaging (recently-a bug in SVN destroyed the user's buddy lists). While behaviors like-this are acceptable to some users (particularly developers, who are-used to such things), they tend to cause many Pidgin MTN users to-contact Pidgin developers and report the same (usually egregious) bug-over and over - using time which could be better spent fixing the-A second major point involves public resources - an MTN checkout is not-a cheap operation. As many Sourceforge users are aware, at various-points in the recent past Sourceforge CVS has been less than pleasant-to work with. This is, of course, because Sourceforge hosts dozens-and dozens of useful and active projects which use[ed] CVS as a primary-method of source code collaboration. Unfortunately, when too many-users are poking around in that CVS just for the sake of poking-around, it prevents other users who are trying to do work to improve-those very same projects from accomplishing their tasks. Naturally,-this could easily become true of our MTN offering as well.-It is better for the community if an enterprising individual wishing-to fix a particular bug [s]he has seen can get to the code and create-a patch, even if this means that some users have to wait a few weeks-for the next release to see what new features it might hold.-The third point is not a problem which has yet come up, but it is in-the back of the mind of the developers who bring you Pidgin. As a-third-party IM client, Pidgin is not a priority (and indeed may be an-irritant) for the IM service providers. We do our best to keep Pidgin-playing nice and being friendly on the IM networks it uses; however,-at times there are bugs in the protocol support. If a few dozen-people are using this buggy client, the IM providers are not likely to-go out of their way to do anything about it. However, if hundreds of-people are pointing an ill-behaved client at an IM server, the server-administrators may be forced to take action. (This is particularly-likely if the buggy behavior is damaging in some way.) Pidgin releases-represent code which the Pidgin developers feel is relatively-well-behaved and stable. This includes not only the interface seen by-Pidgin users, but the traffic seen by IM service providers. Pidgin MTN-bears no such guarantees.-In short, there are a lot of good reasons to <i>not</i> use-Pidgin MTN if one does not wish to develop Pidgin, Pidgin plugins, or a-codebase which interacts with Pidgin in some intimate way. There are,-however, only a few reasons <i>to</i> use Pidgin MTN outside of the-above. Please weigh these things carefully and decide whether you-wish to use Pidgin MTN for a good reason which furthers the community, or-for selfish reasons which are not entirely important.-Q: How do I register for a new account?-A: This depends on the protocol.-<p><b>AIM:</b> Go to <a href="http://my.screenname.aol.com/_cqr/login/login.psp?siteId=snshomepage&authLev=1&mcState=initialized&createSn=1">this website</a>.</p>-<p><b>MSN</b> (including Hotmail email)<b>:</b> Go to <a href="http://registernet.passport.com/">http://registernet.passport.com/</a>.</p>-<p><b>MSN</b> (using your own email address)<b>:</b> Go to-<a href="http://register.passport.net/">http://register.passport.net/</a>.</p>-<p><b>Yahoo:</b> Go to <a href="http://edit.yahoo.com/config/eval_register">http://edit.yahoo.com/config/eval_register</a>.</p>-<p><b>Jabber:</b> See the question <a href="#jabber-register">How do I register a new Jabber account?</a> below.</p>-<p><b>ICQ:</b> Go to <a href="http://web.icq.com/register">http://web.icq.com/register</a>.</p>-<p><b>Gadu-Gadu:</b> Use the official client to create an account.</p>-<p><b>Novell:</b> See your Novell server administrator.</p> Q: How do I use AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, Jabber, ICQ, or any other protocol?
A: Use the Account Editor (Accounts->Add/Edit) to add the account of
@@ -276,35 +181,6 @@
Additionally, some settings to specific parts of Pidgin can be set by a Gtk+
-Q: Where did my ability to use Ctrl-Enter to send a message go?-A: Pidgin used to have an option in the preferences window which let you-choose whether to use Enter or Ctrl-Enter to send a message. This was less than -optimal for many reasons, not least of which was because it only let you -choose between those two options. It also caused large problems for people-who required an alternate input method (people who were typing in Chinese or -Japanese for example). On top of all this gtk provides an incredibly nice -mechanisms which allows keybindings to be set for things via the gtk theme-files. Pidgin decided to use this gtk interface as a method of allowing-people to use Ctrl-Enter to send but to also allow people to use anything else-they felt like and to reduce the clutter in the User Interface. The gtk-interface is, unfortunately, not as immediately obvious as a simple checkbox,-however it is still simple. The example gtkrc file seen-<a href="./gtkrc-2.0">here</a> shows you how to do it (among other things).-Q: When I click the status selector, I see blank space and have to-scroll. What can I do about this?-A: Edit your <code>~/.gtkrc-2.0</code> to contain the appropriate lines-from <a href="./gtkrc-2.0">this example file</a>. Search for "appears-as-list".-Q: The status selector has extra padding in it. How can I make it smaller?-A: Edit your <code>~/.gtkrc-2.0</code> to contain the appropriate-lines from <a href="./gtkrc-2.0">this example file</a>. Search for-"xthickness". There are two examples. Start by trying the first one. If that-makes the status selector look worse, then try the second one. Q: How do I make Pidgin use emacs-like keybindings, or assign a custom
@@ -313,18 +189,6 @@
<code>gtk-can-change-accels = 1</code>, then you hover over the menu item then
press your desired key stroke.
-Q: How do I make Escape close the conversation window?-A: Sadly, you can't use the hover-and-press technique just described-for this, because Escape closes the menu. You have to hand-edit-<code>~/.purple/accels</code>. Close Pidgin, and open-<code>~/.purple/accels</code> in your favorite text editor. Find-<code>(gtk_accel_path "<main>/Conversation/Close"-"[something]")</code>, remove the semi-colon (which is the comment-character) from the start of the line if it is there and replace whatever-is between the second pair of quote marks with <code>Escape</code>. Save-and close, and restart Pidgin. Q: How do I use smiley themes?
A: To select a theme, open Pidgin's preferences to the "Smiley Themes"
