Gaim 1.5 Needed

[Dan Mahoney, System Admin]

>>> I am disabled,with cognitive and anxiety issues.  One thing I have
>>> discovered is that new isn't always a good thing, especially for something
>>> that is important.  Instant Messenger is perhaps my most important piece of
>>> software as it allows me to socialize safely where I normally can't
>>> otherwise.
>>>
>>> But I am unable to work comfortably with Pidgin.
>>>
>>> I recently transitioned my computer from Windows to Linux, but am
>>> transitioning myself by installing my same version of Windows in a Virtual
>>> Machine.  As I cannot use Pidgin because the interface is too different
>>> (just know that I am disabled, and there is significant difficulty
>>> attempting to adjust, so much so that I cannot), I am relegated to keeping
>>> my VM open and on the desktop at all times so that I can socialize.  But I
>>> don't want to operate soley in Windows.
>>>
>>> The only solution is for me to acquire a copy of GAIM 1.5, or even 1.3.1
>>> which I currently use, for Linux, preferably a .deb package.  If anyone has
>>> access to the source code and can build a package or provide a copy to me so
>>> I can try to build one, or perhaps has a .deb package of GAIM 1.3.1. or 1.5;
>>> please let me know.

So what you are saying is that the UI differences between pidgin and its 
predecessor gaim are so severe, as to be intolerable, moreso than the 
difference between windows, and some flavor of debian?  Ouch.

> We really can't recommend that you use an old version though - there
> are some known security vulnerabilities and several of the protocols
> will not work.

The security issues Daniel spoke of are quite real, as are the protocol 
issues.  And running your gaim client in your VM is no more secure or any 
more an answer.  For example, Yahoo IM changes their protocol about as 
often as the political regime in a third world country, and if you've been 
on the list for a while, we *still* get a number of people asking some 
question varying on "WHY MY YAHOO NO WORK".

It seems that AIM and ICQ (which use TOC and OSCAR) are more stable, and 
if those are your preferred protocols, then you have many options, even 
using AOL's own java client, or Meebo.

If I may soapbox only minorly, Michael, please let me state that despite 
whatever cognitive disability issues you may have (which I am not at all 
faulting), your question, as well as the information provided with it, and 
your logic for asking it, were more well phrased, and better worded and 
thought out, than most questions I've seen in the short time I've been on 
this mailing list.

I don't envy what you're going through.  Windows, in their ultimate 
wisdom, continues to drastically alter their UI, only as the people used 
to older versions and worse at adaptation continue to age.  Windows and 
Gaim suffer a similar problem: people altered UI that a nontechnical 
audience was comfortable with, and I'm not sure if the need to do so was 
there.  I would love it if every piece of software had a simple "emulate 
version" dropdown menu on their main screen, that just made it look like 
the old stuff.

Windows95 to 2000 was not a large problem for my father.  Going to Vista, 
and trying to figure out Microsoft Office with its new "ribbon bar" (which 
is a real pain when they're used to menus), took me several hours of UI 
changing so things were "where they used to be", stripping out HP 
"feature" software, and months of scouring ebay for older versions of 
things that had previously just worked.

Best of Luck.

-Dan Mahoney

-- 

"Ca. Tas. Tro. Phy."

-John Smedley, March 28th 1998, 3AM

--------Dan Mahoney--------
Techie,  Sysadmin,  WebGeek
Gushi on efnet/undernet IRC
ICQ: 13735144   AIM: LarpGM
Site:  http://www.gushi.org
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