Hacking Around New Typing Notifications?

[Trip]

Hello all:

I'm very much not a programmer, but am a Kubuntu Linux user who has 
chosen to use Pidgin IM over Kopete for some of Pidgin's excellent 
plugins and features.  For example, the scrolling of messages rather 
than just "appearing" is an excellent usability feature that I don't 
think I can do without anymore.  Psychic mode alerts me in advance when 
messages are coming.

But I cannot stand the new typing notification.  It completely breaks 
how I use IM and makes my life more difficult.  I tend to "stick" IM 
windows above whatever else I'm doing, and then watch for any new 
messages to scroll up.  (Please also note that I have tabs disabled; 
each conversation has its own window)  The scrolling behavior allows 
enough movement for my eye to catch when a new message comes in, and is 
probably the largest reason I chose Pidgin IM over any alternative.  
Since now messages scroll up when a message is being typed, it distracts 
me from my other tasks when no message has been sent.  Further, when 
someone does type a message, if it is short, no movement occurs and I 
often miss the message.

Now I know the developers do not want to deviate from this and have 
already had discussions on this, etc., so I am simply going to ask if 
it's possible for me to change some code around that will allow me to 
remove the current IM notification and implement the old one.  There are 
other features of the new version I'm really liking, and wouldn't want 
to lose those just to get back these notifications.

Ideally, it would be nice to be able to write a plugin to handle this 
issue, but as I said, I am not a programmer and have no knowledge of 
coding, and so I have no idea how to do so. 

Such a plugin could also "fix" the height of the input box--I like the 
behavior of consistently setting the height, since my boxes would all 
end up with odd input heights, but I wish it would stay static instead 
of "growing" as it does.  It, however, is not a dealbreaker for me.  Nor 
are the shrinking icons in the latest version, but a friend who has bad 
eyesight now has difficulty seeing the icons.

Thank you for your time and consideration. =)

- Trip