gaim(1)

NAME
Gaim v0.73 - Instant Messaging client

SYNOPSIS

gaim [options]

DESCRIPTION

gaim is a GTK2-based Instant Messaging (IM) client designed primarily for use with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). However, it supports most other popular IM protocols including Gadu-Gadu, ICQ, IRC, Jabber, MSN Messenger, Napster, Yahoo!, and Zephyr.

OPTIONS
The following options are provided by gaim using the standard GNU command line syntax:

-a, --acct
    Launch the Account Editor rather than the Login window on start.

-d, --debug
    Print debugging messages to stdout. These are the same debugging messages that are displayed in the Debug window.

-f, --file=FILE
    Use FILE as the configuration file instead of ~/.gaimrc.

-h, --help
    Print this help and exit.

-l, --login[=NAME]
    Automatically login on start using the default account or the account specified by the NAME parameter.

-n, --loginwin
    Don't automatically login when gaim starts. Show the Login window instead.

-u, --user=NAME
    Use account NAME as default.

-v, --version
    Display the version information window.

-w, --away[=MESG]
    Automatically go away on signon. You may optionally use the MESG parameter to set the away message.

BUDDY LIST
The Buddy List window is gaim's main interface window. The focus of this window is the Buddy List itself, shown in the Online pane. Buddy list organization and editing is handled in the Edit Buddies pane. Buddy Lists can be imported by using the Import Buddy List command in the File menu.

Online Pane
The Online pane contains a list of your buddies who are online and have allowed you to be notified of their presence. The icon to the left of each buddy (if enabled in gaim's Preferences) indicates the buddy's current state. Double clicking a buddy will open a new Conversation window. Right clicking will pop up a menu:

IM  Opens a new Conversation window to the selected buddy.

Alias
    Create an alias for this buddy. This will open up a new dialog in which one can give this buddy an alternate name to appear on the buddy list and in conversataions. For example, if a buddy's name screen name was jsmith1281xx and his real name was 'John Q. Smith,' one could create an alias as to identify the buddy by his common name.

Add Buddy Pounce
    A Buddy Pounce is a configurable automated action to be performed when the buddy's state changes. This will open the Buddy Pounce dialog to be discussed later.

View Log
    gaim is capable of automatically log its activities. These logs are html files (with a .log extenstion) located in the ~/.gaim/logs directory. This menu command will attempt to view this file with gaim's internal log viewer.

The remainder of the menu will consist of protocol specific commands. These commands vary depending on the protocol; below are the commands available when using OSCAR, the more popular and developer-recommended AIM protocol:

Get Info
    Retrieves and displays information about the buddy. This information is also known as a Profile.

Get Away Msg
    If this buddy is in an Away state, this will retrieve and display the buddy's Away Message.

Get Capabilities
    Retrieves and displays the client capabilities of your buddy.

At the bottom of the pane are several buttons (if enabled in Preferences):

IM  Opens a new Conversation window to to the selected buddy, or brings up the New Message dialog box if no buddy is selected.

Info
    Retrieves and display information about the selected buddy, or brings up the Get User Info dialog box if no buddy is selected.

Chat
    Brings up the Join Chat dialog box, prompting the user to select which username to use and what chat group to join.

Away
    Brings up a menu of all available Away Messages. If an item is selected, all online accounts will use this item as their away message.

Edit Buddies Pane
Clicking the Edit Buddies tab on the Buddy List Window will invoke the main interface to edit and organize buddy lists. Buddies already in your buddy list can be moved to different groups or reordered in the same group by clicking and dragging with the mouse. One can also add, rename, alias, or delete buddies here, as well as access some of the functions available in the Buddy List Dialog. At the bottom of the pane are several buttons:

Add This brings up the Add Buddy Dialog, where you can add a buddy to your buddy list.

Group
    This brings up the Add Group Dialog, where you can add a group to the current connection (the connection with an item selected, otherwise the top-most connection).

Remove
    This removes the currently selected buddy or group. If no buddy or group is selected, no action is taken.

ACCOUNT EDITOR
The account editor consists of a list of accounts and information about them. Clicking Delete will delete the currently selected account. Clicking Add or Modify will invoke a Modify Account window. Here, you can add or alter account information. When creating a new account, you will submit your screen name and password. You will also choose your protocol. The AIM protocol, OSCAR, is always loaded, but other protocols can be dynamically loaded and unloaded using Protocols Plugins (PRPLS). If Remember Password is chosen, the password will be saved in gaim's configuration file. If Auto-Login is chosen, this account will automatically login upon starting gaim. Each protocol has it's own specific options that can be found in the protocol-specific tab on the modify screen.

PREFERENCES
All options take effect immediately.

Interface
Show debug window: Makes visable gaim's debugging window, which displays more verbose operating information. A must for bug-tracking. Display remote nicknames if no alias is set: Toggles whether server nickname data should be used if no local alias exists.

Themes
    Allows the user to choose between different emoticon themes.

Fonts
    Lets the user pick a default font style/face/color for all accounts (only available in protocols that accept HTML messages).

Message Text
    Show graphical smileys: Enables the replacement of text emoticons with their graphical equivalents. Show timestamp on messages: Toggles the timestamp behavior for conversations. Per-conversation behavior can be changed by pressing F2 in the Conversation window. Show URLs as links: Enables the translation of URLs (such as http://gaim.sourceforge.net) into clickable links. Ignore colors/font faces/font sizes: Tells gaim to disregard buddies' color/font/size information in displaying IMs or Chats.

Shortcuts
    Allows the user to determine which keyboard shortcuts are available.

Buddy List
    Hide IM/Info/Chat buttons: Disables the display of these buttons on the Buddy List's Online pane. Show pictures on buttons: Toggles between picture-only and text-only views of the buttons on the Buddy List. Save window size/position: If enabled, gaim will place the Buddy List at its last screen position at start-up. Raise window on events: Tells gaim to bring the Buddy List window to the top when buddies sign in or out. Hide groups with no online buddies: Groups in which no buddies are currently logged in will not be shown in the Online pane. Show numbers in groups: The number of buddies from each group currently logged in will be shown along with the total number of buddies in the group. Show buddy type icons: The icons showing which protocol each buddy uses and whether or not the buddy is away will not be shown. Show warning levels: Each buddy's warning level will be displayed next to the screen name. As a buddy's warning level increases, outgoing messages are more and more severely rate-limited. Show idle times: The amount of time each buddy has been idle will be displayed next to the screen name (if the buddy has opted to have their client report this information). Grey idle buddies: If enabled, idle buddies will be displayed in grey text instead of black text.

IM Window
    Show buttons as...: The selected item will determine whether picture-only, text-only, or combined picture/text buttons will be used for Conversation windows. New window width/height...: The values here determine how large Conversation windows are by default. However, each window can be independently resized. Entry widget height...: This value controls the size of the entry widget (the part of the Conversation window where you type). It should not be made greater than the New window height. Raise windows on events: If enabled, Conversation windows will be brought to the top when new messages are received. Hide window on send: If enabled, Conversation windows will be iconified after each message is sent. Hide buddy icons: For protocols that support it, buddy icons allow buddies to send small pictures to be displayed during the course of a conversation. This option hides those pictures. Disable buddy icon animation: If these pictures happen to be animated, this option will disable the animation, displaying only the first frame. Show logins in window: If currently conversing with a buddy who signs off or on, this information will be shown in the Conversation window. Notify buddies that you are typing to them: Some protocols allow clients to tell their buddies when they are typing. This option enables this feature for protocols that supports it.

Chat Window
    Window: The options in this section behave identically to the options of the same name in the IM Window preferences. Tab Completion: In a chat room with many participants, it can be tedious to keep typing the screen name of the user to whom you wish to direct a comment. These options allow Tab to expand the current text into a valid nickname. Show people joining/leaving in window: When chat room participants enter or exit the room, the information will be displayed in the Buddy Chat window. Colorize screennames: Color code the screen names of users in chat rooms.

Tabs
    Tabbed chatting allows one to have multiple conversations without multiple windows. Tabs show which conversations have unanswered messages, and can identify a user either by screen name or by alias.

Proxy
The configuration section to enable gaim to operate through a proxy server. gaim currently supports SOCKS 4/5 and HTTP proxies.

Browser
Allows the user to select gaim's default web browser. Galeon, Konqueror, Mozilla, Netscape, and Opera are supported natively. The user can also manually enter a command to be executed when a link is clicked (%s expands to the URL). For example, xterm -e lynx %s will open the link with lynx. Open new window by default makes the browser use a new window instead of using the current window (or spawning a new tab).

Logging
Message Logs lets the user choose whether Conversations and/or Buddy Chats will be logged as well as whether logs will be in HTML or plain text format. System Logs describes the types of events to be logged.

Sounds
No sounds when you log in: Makes the log-in process silent. Sounds while away: Determines whether sounds are played when an away message is up. Sound Method lets the user choose between different playback methods. The user can also manually enter a command to be executed when a sound is to be played (%s expands to the full path to the file name).

Sound Events
    Lets the user choose when and what sounds are to be played.

Away / Idle
Sending messages removes away status: If enabled, sending a message will change the sending account's status to Available. If disabled, any account may send messages without affecting their away status. Queue new messages when away: Messages received since going Away will not be shown until away status is removed. Ignore new conversations when away: Messages from current conversations will be accepted, but new conversations will not be shown until away status is removed. Seconds before resending: Auto-response information is resent to all buddies in current conversations every once in a while. This option decides just how often. Don't send auto-response: If someone messages you while away, your auto-response will not be sent. Only send auto-response when idle: If someone messages you while away, your auto-response will only be sent if gaim decides that the connection is idle. Don't send auto-response in active conversations: If you continue a conversation while away, this option will disable the sending of the auto-response for the duration of the conversation. Idle time reporting: If None is selected, account idle time will not be reported. Gaim usage infers your idle time from your usage of gaim. X usage infers your idle time from X (this option may not be universally available). Auto-away: Determines if and under what conditions gaim will automatically turn on the Away status.

Away Messages
    Lets the user add/edit/remove available Away Messages.

Plugins
Allows the user to enable add-on plugins for gaim. Several of these come with gaim, while others must be downloaded separately. The Description field gives the plugin author's description of the plugin, while the Details field gives the plugin's authorship, URL, and file name/location information. Some plugins can be configured. If you load such a plugin, its configuration preferences will appear as a submenu to Plugins, with the submenu title determined by the plugin's name.

CONVERSATIONS
When starting a new conversation, the user is presented with the Conversation window. The conversation appears in the upper text box and the user types his/her message in the lower text box. Between the two is a row of settings, represented by icons. From left to right:

Bold
    adds <b></b> to your message

Italics
    adds <i></i> to your message

Underline
    adds <u></u> to your message

Decrease font size
    adds <font size="1"></font> to your message

Default font size
    adds <font size="3"></font> to your message

Increase font size
    adds <font size="5"></font> to your message

Select a foreground color
    adds an appropriate font tag to your message.

Select a background color
    adds an appropriate body tag to your message.

Add image
    inserts an appropriate img tag (not available in all protocols).

Add hyperlink
    adds an appropriate a href tag to your message.

Add smiley
    adds an ASCII smiley to your message. This will become a graphic smiley in the upper text box if the option for graphical smileys is set. Beneath the lower text box is a row of buttons that execute commands:

Warn
    This issues a warning to the other person in the conversation (not available in all protocols).

Block
    This adds the other person to your deny list (not available in all protocols).

Add This adds this user to your buddy list. This option is not available if the user is already on your list.

Remove
    This removes this user from your buddy list. This option is not available if the user is not on your list.

Info
    This gets information (a profile) about the other person in the conversation (not available in all protocols).

Send
    This sends what's currently in the lower text box

BUDDY CHATS
For protocols that allow it, Buddy Chats can be entered through the File menu or the Chat button at the bottom of the Buddy List's Online tab. Additional commands available in chat, depending on the protocol are:

Whisper
    The text will appear in the chat conversation, but it will only be visible to the sender and the receiver.

Invite
    Invite other people to join the chat room.

Ignore
    Ignore anything said by the chosen person

Set Topic
    Set the topic of the chat room. This is usually a brief sentence describing the nature of the chat--an explanation of the chat room's name.

AWAY MESSAGES
Most protocols allow for away messages. When a user is Away, he can leave an informative message for others to see. The Away submenu of the Tools menu is used to add and remove away messages. New Away Message provides space for one to enter an away message and a title for that message. If Save or Save & Use are chosen, this message will be saved. It can later be referred to by the title given to it. Remove Away Message is a submenu containing the titles of saved away messages. Clicking on one of these titles will remove the away message associated with it. The rest of the away menu provides the user with a way to assign different away messages to different connections. Choosing Set All Away will set away all the connections capable of the away state.

BUDDY POUNCE
A Buddy Pounce is an automated trigger that occurs when a buddy returns to a normal state from an away state. The New Buddy Pounce dialog box can be activated by selecting the Buddy Pounce submenu from the Tools menu. A pounce can be set to occur on any combination of the events listed, and any combination of actions can result. If Save this pounce after activation is checked, the trigger will remain until it is removed from the Remove Buddy Pounce menu.

PLUGINS
Gaim allows for dynamic loading of plugins to add extra functionality to gaim. Plugins can be enabled and configured from the Preferences window. See plugins/HOWTO for more information on writing plugins.

PERL
Gaim allows for perl scripting. See Perl Scripting HOWTO in the Gaim documentation for more information about perl scripting.

FILES
/usr/X11R6/bin/gaim: gaim's location.
/usr/X11R6/lib/gaim/: gaim's plugins directory.
~/.gaim/prefs.xml: gaim's configuration file.
~/.gaim/accounts.xml: information about your accounts.
~/.gaim/status.xml: stores your away messages.
~/.gaim/pounces.xml: stores your buddy pounces.
~/.gaim/logs/SCREENNAME.log: a log of all conversation with SCREENNAME.
~/.gaim/blist.xml: the buddy list.

BUGS
Known bugs are listed at http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=235&atid=100235.

PATCHES
If you fix a bug in gaim (or otherwise enhance it), please submit a patch (using cvs diff -u > my.diff against the latest CVS version) at http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=235&atid=300235. Before sending a bug report, please verify that you have the latest version of gaim. Many bugs (major and minor) are fixed at each release, and if yours is out of date, the problem may already have been solved.

SEE ALSO
http://gaim.sourceforge.net/
http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/gaim/

LICENSE
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple PLace, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

AUTHORS
Gaim's active developers are:
 Rob Flynn (maintainer) <rob@marko.net>
 Sean Egan (coder) <bj91704@binghamton.edu> The retired developers of gaim are:
 Jim Duchek
 Eric Warmenhoven <warmenhoven@yahoo.com>
 Mark Spencer (original author) <markster@marko.net> This manpage was originally written by Dennis Ristuccia <dennis@dennisr.net>. It has been updated and largely rewritten by Sean Egan <bj91704@binghamton.edu> and Ben Tegarden <tegarden@uclink.berkeley.edu>.