Pop Up Notifications?

[Michael Wolf]

For clarification:

I liked Gaim because of how it worked.  Too many changes were made in 
Pidgin.  I don't like it.  I can't use it because I am disabled.  I will 
not explain my disability other than to say that I suffered mild brain 
damage.  But my situation represents many other people who cannot operate 
software that constantly changes interfaces and functionality.  I switched 
to Linux from Windows.  I'm running Windows in a virtual machine.  I would 
like to remove my chat program from Windows and put it in Linux so I am not 
relying on Windows.  So, either I find a way to make Pidgin work like Gaim, 
or I find a version of Gaim for Linux.  Period.  The ONLY remaining 
functionality issue I cannot tolerate in Pidgin is that it does not 
generate pop up windows that the user must close to notify of mail.  I 
cannot tolerate the way Pidgin notifies of mail in the buddy list because I 
use multiple programs while I am chatting and need pop up windows to appear 
that I must close (in case I am away from the keyboard.)  There are no such 
plugins or functionality in Pidgin.

If anyone has a copy of Gaim 1.5 for Linux, I would be very grateful for a 
copy.  I don't care if Pidgin is considered by the community to be "more 
secure."  I have a good firewall and have NEVER had an issue with security 
in Gaim and have been using Gaim 1.3.1 in Windows for 4 years now.


I must also say that I am deeply disappointed with my experience with this 
community so far.  I have been taunted for my disability by people who do 
not know me and thus could not possibly understand what I have been 
through.  People have assumed I am some expert in Linux even when I have 
stated that I am brand-new to it or have otherwise assumed that all Linux 
users are supposed to have some magic level of experience that includes 
command-line knowledge.  I don't think Linux users realize that this merely 
makes people want to go back to Windows, where at least Microsoft treats 
everyone like idiots and thus doesn't assume any user-knowledge 
whatsoever.  I would much rather deal with a community that assumes I know 
nothing than one that insults me by treating me like an idiot because I 
don't know what they expect me to know.  And finally, I am terribly upset 
that Gaim was phased out and replaced by Pidgin with the level of changes 
made.  There are a great many people who like things the way they 
are.  That Pidgin made so many changes and didn't allow for users to select 
restoration of the old ways suggests that the community is engrossed in the 
same nonsensical development strategy of Microsoft software writers, and 
major corporate product makers who think that they have to rebrand and 
repackage everything to make it more "sexy."  I use Windows 2000 because it 
works.  I don't care if it isn't all fancy.  That's not why I have a 
computer - so it can be flashy and pretty.  I have a computer so it can 
FUNCTION in predictable ways and be user-friendly.  And believe me, I am 
not alone.  Only the ignorant majority swallows rebranding enough to create 
what you would consider demand for it.  If the Pidgin/Gaim development 
community wants to appease those who want sexier software, then implement 
it with skins, not with basic functionality.  I think the community would 
benefit significantly from reading the World Wide Web Consortium's 
accessibility documentation.


So, my request then is for a copy of Gaim 1.5 for Linux.  If it isn't a 
.DEB package, I will figure out how to make it so myself.



At 05:16 PM 9/14/2009 +0200, Ben Bridts wrote:
>On 14-09-09 14:50, Michael Wolf wrote:
> > I tried Guifications to notify me of new email, but it doesn't function
> > as I expected, as I need it to.
> >
> > Is anyone aware of a plugin that creates a mail notification in a
> > separate popup window in Linux that acts exactly as the old GAIM popups
> > where you have to close the window, and it has a title (either
> > "gaim.exe" or configurable.)
>
>Why don't you try a separate program designed for this task
>(specto, a plugin for your mail-reader, cgmail, gnubiff, kbiff,
>mail notification, ...). Since you're using Debian 'apt-cache
>search mail notification' should give you possibilities enough.
>
>I looked at the Mumbles plugin but cannot
> > make any sense of their website to determine the behavior of the plugin,
> > much less determine just what their plugin does.
>I think it gives IM-notifications using the mumbles daemon. It's
>something growl-like [1]. I don't think it's what you're looking for.
>
>
>[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growl_%28software%29)
>
>--Ben
>