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1. title Pidgin Internet Messenger

Introduction

Pidgin is a well-known instant messaging (IM) client for a wide range of protocols, including MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Jabber, IRC, IRQ and Gadu-Gadu. It is available in the official Ubuntu repositories, but if you want you can install it from the official website instead.

Since Ubuntu is focused on stability, you will find that, apart from security updates and bugfixes, the Pidgin in the repositories will generally only be updated to a newer version with every new release of Ubuntu - which occurs approximately every 6 months.

Install Pidgin from repository

The recommended way to install Pidgin is through the official Ubuntu repositories. That way you'll get the supported version. Installing through the repositories is pretty straightforward:

1. Go to Applications -> Add/Remove...

2. Search for Pidgin and tick the box with Pidgin Internet Messenger. 3. Press Apply Changes and, if asked, enter your password. For more info about how to install software from the repositories, see InstallingSoftware.

Install current release from official website

You may sometimes want a newer version of Pidgin, and to get this, you will have to install it directly from the official website, but be aware that like any other application installed directly via a website such a version of Pidgin will not receive updates of any kind through Ubuntu's Update Manager! This section will explain the steps necessary to install Pidgin from the official website - in this example it's Pidgin 2.1.1, which, by the way, is already present in Ubuntu Gutsy's repositories.

Prepare for Installation

Removing Gaim

Before you start, you have to make sure Gaim, the predecessor of Pidgin, is not already installed. This can be done following these instructions:

1. Go to System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager

2. Enter the password for your user account and press OK 3. Press 'Search', and enter gaim into the search field 5. If the gaim package is selected, then deselect it 6. Press Apply.

Getting the necessary dependencies

Now, with a 'clean table', we can proceed. First, you need to install some libraries, which Pidgin will need in order to work:

1. Go to Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal

2. Type

sudo apt-get install libgtk2.0-dev libxml2-dev gettext libnss-dev libnspr-dev

to get the proper dependencies.

Optional libraries for extra features

• If you wish to include spell checking, add libgtkspell-dev to that list.
• If you wish to include ALSA or OSS for playing sounds, add libgstreamer0.10-dev to that list.
• If you wish to include idle times based on keyboard/mouse usage, add libxss-dev to that list.

Downloading and extracting Pidgin

Your system should now be prepared to handle Pidgin, so it's time to get the Pidgin source code. This is pretty straightforward:

1. Download pidgin-2.1.1.tar.bz2 from [1]

2. When downloaded, right-click on pidgin-2.1.1.tar.bz2, which should be in your default Downloads-directory, and select «Extract Here»

Installation

Okay, so now you have all that you need, now it's all about compiling and installing:

1. Go to Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal

2. Type

sudo apt-get install build-essential

to install a build environment (see CompilingSoftware for further information)

2. Change directory to the newly created pidgin-2.1.1 directory using the cd command. (If you don't know how to use cd, check "Commands" in the official Ubuntu documentation.)

3. When you've navigated the terminal to the pidgin-2.1.1 directory, you have to type in the following in the Terminal:

./configure --enable-gnutls=yes

(Note: The --enable-gnutls=yes flag means SSL support will be compiled in, which is required for the MSN and Google Talk protocols.)

4. Now Pidgin should be configured, and you should see a bunch of output on the screen. After it's finished configuring, it's time to create a makefile. In the same terminal, type:

make

5. Creating the makefile is also going to take a little while, so grab a cup of coffee while you wait :)

6. When the make command has finished, it's time to actually install Pidgin. This is done by typing:

make install

7. When it's finished, then you should have Pidgin installed. Congratulations!

Clean up

With Pidgin installed, you have the option of doing a little cleaning up of the files that were created and used doing installation, but aren't used anymore:

1. While remaining in the same terminal, type in

   make clean

2. When finished, type in:

make distclean

to also remove the files that `./configure` created.

Other info

This section deals with other aspects of Pidgin than installing.

Bugs

Like all software, Pidgin has its share of bugs. However, you can help to improve Pidgin by reporting any bugs you may find. You can find all the currently reported bugs in the Pidgin bugtracker, which is located here. To report a bug, you need to do the following:

1. Go to http://developer.pidgin.im

2. Click "register" and pick a username and password 3. Back at http://developer.pidgin.im click "New Ticket" 4. Describe the bug, and mark what type it is. There are several types:

• defect are problems/bugs in Pidgin
• enhancement is an idea for how to improve the functionality of Pidgin. This corresponds to the "Wishlist" priority on UbuntuHelp:Launchpad
• translation is for anything that has to do with a translation of Pidgin. E.g. typos in translations of Pidgin
• plugin request is pretty self-explationary: Requests for additional functionality in Pidgin that aren't of "general" interest are generally better off as plugins than parts of Pidgin itself
• task is for anything that doesn't belong in any of the other categories
• Skilled users can also report their own patches using the patches type, but the average user shouldn't need this

5. In Ticket Properties you should select which part of Pidgin your ticket is about. If you don't understand this, just leave it as unclassified 6. Now select the version of Pidgin you are using, and optionally write some keywords to make the ticket easier to find, and lastly click Submit ticket.

Useful links

• http://www.pidgin.im - Official webpage
• The Pidgin FAQ, which includes help with configuring Pidgin.
• Planet Pidgin, which contains news and updates on the status of the development of Pidgin.
• Pidgin on SourceForge
• Pidgin on English Wikipedia

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