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Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

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Re: Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

#271

Post by octorian »

CodeGlitch wrote: post #189
finiteseries wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mate, the general population increasingly don’t even use desktops or laptops for personal usage anymore let alone a desktop OS specific IM client from the early 2000s.

I would suggest they never knew how to use computers. Computers are general purpose devices, which is lost on the general population who only ever need to check emails and post on social media. Smart phones fit this perfectly. Let's leave the general computing devices for people who actually need that power, just like the early days.

> Let's leave the general computing devices for people who actually need that power, just like the early days.

With that attitude, eventually the impact of economies of scale will end up denying us the ability to afford those devices or to use them how we see fit.

Re: Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

#272

Post by dylan-m »

Rooster61 wrote: post #17

Considering this is open source (which I'm assuming includes the plugins), wouldn't this be a much better alternative to the native apps on mobile? Curious as to why this hasn't been ported to Android/iOS. I'd much prefer this over apps that need permission to my blood type to function. Pidgin was great back in the day for convenience, but there is a legitimate argument to be made for privacy here too. EDIT: It just…

Pidgin's libpurple library was a core part of Palm's WebOS. They were really focused on integrating different chat services like that. For Librem 5, they're using Telepathy quite heavily, which is similar but designed more as an OS component (and full of XML).

Re: Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

#273

Post by hootbootscoot »

CodeGlitch wrote: post #189
finiteseries wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mate, the general population increasingly don’t even use desktops or laptops for personal usage anymore let alone a desktop OS specific IM client from the early 2000s.

I would suggest they never knew how to use computers. Computers are general purpose devices, which is lost on the general population who only ever need to check emails and post on social media. Smart phones fit this perfectly. Let's leave the general computing devices for people who actually need that power, just like the early days.

the ironic thing is that I program computers for a living yet I cannot achieve the basic functional level of a 5 year old with an Android device...that's not even counting the deliberate dark patterns. I see young ones automatically pinch-zooming stuff right out of the womb, however, so I suspect that it's "just me" having the issues...

Re: Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

#274

Post by isaac21259 »

Blikkentrekker wrote: post #77
jdlyga wrote: post #49

Does nobody remember Pidgin? It was one of the first things a lot of people installed on their machines 15 years ago along with Firefox. We used it as an alternative client to AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. It used to be called GAIM.

Does not everyone still use it? I and most of my friends do. They are also responsible for my favorite bug report ever: https://bugs.gentoo.org/35890

Speaking of great bug reports here's my favourite: Cat sitting on keyboard crashes lightdm https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity/+bug/1463112

Re: Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

#275

Post by emilsedgh »

jdlyga wrote: post #49

Does nobody remember Pidgin? It was one of the first things a lot of people installed on their machines 15 years ago along with Firefox. We used it as an alternative client to AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. It used to be called GAIM.

Gaim was one of the best apps out there. I'd absolutely love to use it.

But what do I use it for? Nowadays I talk to people on Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Slack and Telegram and none of them can be used on Pidgin.

Not Pidgin's fault I know. Just companies trying to lock people in.

Re: Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

#276

Post by spijdar »

emilsedgh wrote: post #275
jdlyga wrote: post #49

Does nobody remember Pidgin? It was one of the first things a lot of people installed on their machines 15 years ago along with Firefox. We used it as an alternative client to AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. It used to be called GAIM.

Gaim was one of the best apps out there. I'd absolutely love to use it. But what do I use it for? Nowadays I talk to people on Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Slack and Telegram and none of them can be used on Pidgin. Not Pidgin's fault I know. Just companies trying to lock people in.

Just a heads up, at least several of those are supported to varying degrees. Looks like WhatsApp is supported through its web API, and slack and telegram's protocols are supported. Facebook messenger is no go, though.

Re: Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

#277

Post by outworlder »

octorian wrote: post #271
CodeGlitch wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would suggest they never knew how to use computers. Computers are general purpose devices, which is lost on the general population who only ever need to check emails and post on social media. Smart phones fit this perfectly. Let's leave the general computing devices for people who actually need that power, just like the early days.

> Let's leave the general computing devices for people who actually need that power, just like the early days. With that attitude, eventually the impact of economies of scale will end up denying us the ability to afford those devices or to use them how we see fit.

Correct. Current computers would become like Lisp Machines. Amazing, but unaffordable for most.

Re: Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

#278

Post by underlines »

superkuh wrote: post #141
raarts wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My daughter (who teaches math at HS) asked me to create educational videos for her kids who don't know how to work a computer. They only know phones.

Kids can't use computers. http://www.coding2learn.org/blog/2013/07/29/kids-cant-use-co...

a completely different story:

when steam engines were replaced with the otto motor and cars became available to the general population, people were able to repair and understand the engines themselves. they had an understanding of mechanical principles. a few generations later, and only car nerds understand cars.

everyone else has to go to a mechanic to understand why their car's engine won't start or why it sounds so strange. and those weird mechanics will fix the car for them.

nowadays people are mechanically illiterate.

/s

my point is, when a technology becomes convenient enough so we don't have to think about it while it fulfills it's purpose, then you don't have to understand it to use it.

this creates the need for specialists. is that a bad thing? i say no. who defines what should be basic knowledge and what not? we don't all need to be a mechanic, a chemist, a doctor and an ITC pro.

Re: Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

#279

Post by tj0 »

Blikkentrekker wrote: post #77
jdlyga wrote: post #49

Does nobody remember Pidgin? It was one of the first things a lot of people installed on their machines 15 years ago along with Firefox. We used it as an alternative client to AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. It used to be called GAIM.

Does not everyone still use it? I and most of my friends do. They are also responsible for my favorite bug report ever: https://bugs.gentoo.org/35890

My teenage/early 20s self is triggered by this bug report. Luckily I evolved and switched to Debian haha

Re: Pidgin – A Universal Chat Client

#280

Post by hootbootscoot »

rewtraw wrote: post #225
Blikkentrekker wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does not everyone still use it? I and most of my friends do. They are also responsible for my favorite bug report ever: https://bugs.gentoo.org/35890

I come to HN for the incredibly out-of-touch takes like this.

like which "take"?

you could literally be critiquing any of 10 onion-layers of dialog allegedly about an extinct PM client, but it turned into a "no one uses computers anymore, just phones" tale.

I cannot tell if you are pro-AIM or a paid Slack user

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