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1 GAIM: The Pimpin' Penguin IM Clone Thats Good For The Soul
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2
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3 Here's the FAQ. PLEASE don't bother me about anything on this list. You
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4 will be ignored or pointed at the FAQ -- I have been extremely short of time
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5 lately! Feel free to contact any of us with praise or ideas. If you have
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6 ideas or bug problems, please use email, because I like to keep records of
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7 that kinda stuff and I don't log all my conversations. Enjoy gaim!
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8 - Jim Duchek <jimduchek@ou.edu>
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9
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10 I. The Protocol
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11 1. Is it the same protocol as the Windows client uses?
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12 2. Where can I find info on it?
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13 3. What other clients use this protocol?
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14 4. TCP or UDP?
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15 5. So the buddy list is stored on the server?
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16
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17 II. The Client
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18 1. What does 'gaim' stand for?
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19 2. How do I make multiple groups?
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20 3. How come there's no file transfer?
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21 4. Why no AOL logo?
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22 5. Where are my log files stored?
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23 6. Can I use my Windows 95 Buddylist with Gaim?
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24 7. I'm not a native English speaker and I would like a translated
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25 version of gaim.
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26 8. I've got a proxy, and I'd like to use GAIM.
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27
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28 III. Problems
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29 1. WAAAAAH! My sound doesn't work!
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30 2. My buddy list disappeared!
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31 3. I click on URLs, but Netscape doesn't popup!
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32 4. I don't use Netscape.
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33 5. I'm using the GNOME client. I have a bug.
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34 6. I have a bug not described here.
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35 7. I have Mandrake 6.0 and GAIM doesnt work!
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36
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37 IV. Programming
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38 1. I have a patch for gaim!
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141
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39 2. I have a plugin for gaim!
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40 3. Can you teach me how to program GTK?
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41
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42 V. Miscellaneous
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43 1. Can I talk to you on IM?
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44 2. I want to write an IM client. Will you help me?
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45 3. I have money. I need some software written. Can you help?
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46 4. I have hardware here that's not being used, or money. Can
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47 you use it?
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48 5. I would like to send you beer.
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49 6. Are you going to port this thing to Windows?
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50 7. Why the GPL?
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51 8. I use *BSD and I hate the penguin! I want daemon images!
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52 9. Can I design a logo for you?
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53 10. What is a wagii?
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54 11. Speaking of the penguin, I heard a rumour you have a tattoo of
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55 it. Is that true?
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56 12. What Window Manager do you use? What distribution do you use?
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57 What other stupid things can you ask me that don't really matter
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58 but ya'll ask me anyway?
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59 13. Is XX a good Harddrive, YY a good monitor and ZZ a good CPU?
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60 14. Who designed the new logo?
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61 15. I want to contribute to the effort. Where can I send beer to?
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62
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63 I. The Protocol
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64 1. Is it the same protocol as the Windows client uses?
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65 No. The Windows client uses Oscar, which is proprietary
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66 and undocumented. Some people have used network tools and such to figure
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67 it mostly out -- Look for 'faim'. We use TOC, which is completely open and
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68 documented.
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69
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70 2. Where can I find info on it?
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71 In the document called PROTOCOL. It's the version that was
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72 published with AOL's TiK client version 0.75, which appears to be the last
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73 one ever published.
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74
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75 3. What other clients use this protocol?
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76 There are a few other Unix programs that use it, I think. I
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77 really couldn't tell you though. AOL used to keep a list of them, but no more.
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78
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79 4. TCP or UDP?
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80 TCP.
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81
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82 5. So the buddy list is stored on the server?
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83 Yep.
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84
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85
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86 II. The Client
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87 1. What does 'gaim' stand for?
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88 It's basically the letter 'g' tacked on to the beginning of
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89 'AIM' (which is fairly obvious). G stands for all sorts of good things.
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90 Girls, Godzilla, GTK, graham crackers, whatever.
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91
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92 2. How do I make multiple groups?
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93 When adding a new buddy, you just type in a new group name.
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94 Future versions intend to handle this and renaming groups better.
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95
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96 3. How come there's no file transfer?
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97 The TOC server doesn't (yet) support file transfer. Be
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98 patient! It is coming.
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99
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100 4. Why no AOL logo?
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101 AOL's legal staff told us no-no.
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102
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103 5. Where are my log files stored?
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104 After you select `log all conversations' you may be wondering
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105 where your log files are stored. Well, they are currently, by default, stored
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106 under $HOME/.gaim/YourScreenName/. If your screen name is Zilding then you
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107 will find your logs under: $HOME/.gaim/Zilding/. This will eventually become
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108 configurable.
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109
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110 6. Can I use my Windows 95 buddylist with Gaim?
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111 Well, you are in luck. As of the 0.9.5 release there is a
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112 small perl script called 'buddytrans' that is included with the distribution.
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113 If you installed the RPM copy of GAIM then you can find the script in
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114 /usr/bin/buddytrans. The correct script syntax is:
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115 buddytrans buddy.lst gaim.list. You can then import `gaim.list' from inside
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116 gaim. This will eventually be fully incorporated into GAIM and the script
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117 will no longer be needed.
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118
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119 7. I'm not a native English speaker and I would like a translated
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120 version of gaim.
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121 By all means, IM me at 'Zilding' or email me at
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122 jimduchek@ou.edu. I'm working on standard GNU locale support for the next
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123 version of gaim, and I'm going to need translations. If you can do a
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124 translation for us, I'd greatly appreciate it! Just let me know and I'll
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125 give you detailed instructions on how to do it.
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126
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127 8. I'm behind a proxy, and I'd like to use GAIM.
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128 Well, I'm planning to add more 'real' proxy support in the
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129 future, but it's not all that high on my priority list. For now, try
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130 changing the two PORT defines in gaim.h to 21 -- The TOC server listens on
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131 ALL ports, and a lot of proxy servers allow port 21 to pass through.
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132
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133
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134 III. Problems
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135 1. WAAAAAH! My sound doesn't work!
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136 ./configure should autodetect whether or not you have ESD
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137 libraries. If you have them it _WILL_ compile with them, if not it won't.
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138 If it compiles with them, you don't need to be running the ESD daemon, it'll
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139 automatically fallback to using /dev/dsp. Make sure that gaim has proper
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141
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140 permissions to talk to /dev/dsp and /dev/audio though!
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141 The GNOME client now goes through GNOME for its sounds. If
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142 sounds aren't playing, make sure you've got them turned on in the GNOME
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143 control center. (The reason this was done was to make it more easily
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144 configurable.)
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145
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146 2. My buddy list disappeared!
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147 You didn't back up your buddy list, did you? You never back
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148 anything up! Oh well. The TOC server loses lists from time to time, it
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149 happens to me as well. (And no, I never have a backup ;). I intend to
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150 support saving lists on your own computer in the future.
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151
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152 3. I click on URLs, but Netscape doesn't popup!
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153 Netscape either needs to be running on the current display
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154 (gaim should handle remote netscape windows OK.), or 'netscape' needs to be
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155 in your path.
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156
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157 4. I don't use Netscape.
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158 I'm very interested in supporting other web browsers. Do
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159 send me information on how to send a URL to your browser remotely (or point
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160 me at the source to the browser, I might be able to figure it out.).
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161
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162 5. I'm using the GNOME client. I have a bug.
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163 GNOME bugs should be reported to Eric Warmenhoven (IM:
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164 EWarmenhoven (how original)), who is now maintaining that part of the code. If
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165 you ask the other guys about it, they'll just point you at him.
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166
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167 6. I have a bug not described here.
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168 Well, it could be a few things. Firstly, you MUST HAVE GTK+
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169 VERSION 1.2.3 installed! Please state in any bug report that you ARE using
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170 1.2.3, otherwise you have a chance of being ignored. With that said ;)
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171 email me at jimduchek@ou.edu, I would like to hear your bug reports (but
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172 please, not your problems installing GTK). Also, sourceforge.net has a bug
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173 tracking system for us at <http://sourceforge.net/bugs/?group_id=235>.
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174
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175 7. I have Mandrake 6.0 and GAIM doesnt work!
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176
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177 Bob Meyer <meyer_rm@yahoo.com> writes:
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178
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179 Here's the solution:
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180 * Get esound-0.2.12-4mdk.i586.rpm and
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181 esound-devel-0.2.12-4mdk.i586.rpm from any Mandrake mirror.
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182 * rpm --upgrade esound-0.2.12-4mdk.i586.rpm
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183 * rpm -- upgrade esound-devel-0.2.12-4mdk.i586.rpm
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184
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185 Don't use EVIL 'updates' tool. It's broke.. really bad.
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186
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187 Mandrake 6.1, with its newer libraries, appears to fix this problem.
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188
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189 IV. Programming
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190 1. I have a patch for gaim!
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191 Nice. Think about your patch though. First, does it have
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192 to do with AIM? I won't apply patches for stock tickers, search engines,
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193 etc. Rewrite it as a plug-in if you really want bloat like that.
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194 Second, is it useful? A lot of patches I get are horribly unuseful except
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195 in very specific situations (ie YOUR situation). Thirdly, your code
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196 will not retain your copyright. All code submitted must be protected by
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197 the GPL and the copyright will be given to Mark Spencer. If you don't
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198 like this, don't send me your patches. You will be given authorship credit,
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199 don't worry -- I just want a homogenous copyright on the program. Lastly,
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200 does your code match the coding style already present in gaim? I like my
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201 brackets where I like them. I do NOT like, in fact I positively HATE, I
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202 DESPISE, with a PASSION, the convention of variablesLikeThis. And
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203 functionsLikeThis. If you do that, fine. It's great. But guess what?
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204 This is C. C programmers don't write like that. I don't write like that.
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205 I don't want to READ code like that. I want a homogenous coding style
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206 on this program, and it's gonna be MY coding style. :)
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207 Now, if you've managed to get through all that and I haven't
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208 discouraged you entirely, send your patches to Rob Flynn (rob@linuxpimps.com).
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209
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210 2. I have a plugin for gaim!
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211 Cool. Before you release it to anyone though, make sure you
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212 understand that if it does anything useful, it is necessarily licenced under
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213 the GPL. It's that whole "code that uses GPL'ed code is thus GPL'ed" clause.
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214 Also, don't send it to us. It's not that we don't want it, but there are
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215 better places to put it. Head over to sourceforge.net and submit it there
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216 <http://sourceforge.net/patch/?group_id=235>. It'll be available more quickly
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217 that way.
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218
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219 3. Can you teach me how to program GTK?
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220 Yes, I can. But no, I'm not going to. There's a really
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221 nice tutorial at http://www.gtk.org. If you're a fairly experienced
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222 programmer, and you get stuck on something odd, IM me, I'm usually happy to
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223 help. If you had a little BASIC experience in high school and are having
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224 trouble making a button widget do anything when you click it, buy a book on
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225 C and read the damn GTK tutorial, I'm a busy person.
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226
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227
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228 V. Miscellaneous
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229 1. Can I talk to you on IM?
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230 Sure. My IM name is Zilding. The rest of the crew's IM names
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231 can be found in various places. Keep in mind though, I'm a very busy person.
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232 This IM name is used for friends as well as for gaim (I don't just log this
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233 guy in when I want to talk to gaim people). So please, don't IM me just to
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234 chat, or to answer various Linux questions. I'd like to be able to answer
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235 everyone's questions on whatever (I usually do know the answer, or at least
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236 where to find it!) but I just don't have time. Things like this will
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237 usually be ignored. Other things to keep in mind when talking to me: Don't
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238 start off with 'I have a gaim question', 'Can I ask a question?', 'Hello?',
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239 'Are you there?', 'Is this the gaim guy?', 'gaim doesn't work', 'I can't get
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240 gaim to compile' or anything else like that. Why? If you'll notice in all
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241 of the above statements, nothing useful has been said. I'm often away from
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242 my computer. I suggest if you are having a serious problem or you have a
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243 question, just ASK THE QUESTION, right off, I don't require any preliminary
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244 stuff. Simply sending me "gaim segfaults when I do 'blah blah click blah'"
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245 to start a conversation is fine -- I don't consider it rude, please just ask
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246 the question. If I don't answer within a few minutes, leave your email
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247 address, I will get back to you sooner or later. Lastly, do NOT abbreviate
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248 'you' as 'u', 'are' as 'r', 'to' as '2', 'for' as '4', or any of those other
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249 annoying AOLisms. They bother me greatly, and as I work long hours and am
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250 an insomniac (probably because I'm such a mean bastard ;), I'm likely to
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251 make fun of you, or more likely ignore you completely. I don't require
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252 perfect English but it'd be nice.
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253
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254
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255 2. I want to write an IM client. Will you help me?
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256 No, unless you're writing one commercially. Email me for
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257 rates -- I'm not all that expensive. :)
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258
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259 3. I have money. I need some software written. Can you help?
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260 Oh yes. My email address is jimduchek@ou.edu, my IM is Zilding.
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261
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262 4. I have hardware that's not being used, or money. Can you use it?
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263 Almost always. I'm a broke college student. We're all
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264 broke here. Flat busted. Money would always help. If you have some useful
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265 equipment (or even useless equipment! I like old mainframes and
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266 workstations ;), do send it to us! I might be able to scratch together
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267 shipping money even. :)
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268
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269 5. I would like to send you beer.
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270 OK.
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271
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272 6. Are you going to port this thing to Windows?
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273 I've been mulling it over and playing with cygwin on the
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274 tiny Windows partition I do have on my laptop (It's required for school),
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275 but I'm not sure yet. I actually do have a version of gaim running on it
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276 now, as of 7/20. However, the Win32 port of GTK has some issues that need
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277 to be resolved before I can even attempt to release this. Some of my WIN32
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278 patches are included in this release, usually under an #ifdef _WIN32 (which
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279 cygwin and I think other windows compilers set).
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280
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281 7. Why the GPL?
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282 I like the GPL.
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283
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284 8. I use *BSD and I hate the penguin! I want daemon images!
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285 I do have a nice pixmap of the daemon, and one of these days
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286 I will do a second set of buttons. You'll have to wait (or send me button
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287 pixmaps yourself). I still don't understand why ya'll hate the penguin
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288 though, maybe it's just jealousy cause our OS gets all the media attention?
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289 I kinda like the daemon :)
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290
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291 9. Can I design a logo for you?
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292 Sure! Do your best. Entries may be emailed to:
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293 gaimlogo@blueridge.net. After we get a nice supply of entries we'll sort
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294 through them and pick the winner.
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295
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296 10. What is a wagii?
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297 Interesting question that you ask, there. `Wagii' is the
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298 official celebratory cry of gaim. Anytime you are feeling happy or excited,
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299 just remember all of the hard work that we have done to provide you with
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300 this wonderful, free piece of software -- as the pure, raw, emotion flows
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301 through you, maybe you too will let out the cry of -- Wagii.
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302 Its also the sound a Penguin Samurai makes :)
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303
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304 11. Speaking of the penguin, I heard a rumour you have a tattoo of
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305 it. Is that true?
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306 Hehe. Yes, that is true. He's on my left upper arm. If
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307 you'd like to see a picture, visit <http://www.woodsoup.org/~sbaker/tux/doc/>.
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308 It's a 'history of Tux' and there's a pic of my tattoo at the bottom. A pic
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309 of my tattoo is also in the LIMP, and linux.remotepoint.com. There's also a
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310 picture of the two matching Tux tattoos that a husband and wife have in
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311 there. I've heard a rumour someone at Red Hat has one as well. BTW -- no,
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312 it really didn't hurt, and yes, I was sober ;)
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313
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314 12. What Window Manager do you use? What distribution do you use?
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315 What other stupid things can you ask me that don't really matter
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316 but ya'll ask me anyway?
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317 I use WindowMaker, without any GNOME or KDE bits. I don't
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318 really use a distro, per se, as it used to be a Red Hat distro a long time
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319 ago, but since then I've custom-installed by hand from one hard drive to
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320 another, so it really doesn't resemble Red Hat anymore, and I've written
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321 most of the rc. scripts from scratch. Please don't ask me Red Hat
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322 questions, also I hate it when people assume that Red Hat == Linux.
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323
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324 13. Is XX a good harddrive, YY a good monitor, and ZZ a good CPU?
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325 Hmm, we're kinda poor so we cant be positive... if you wanna
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326 send us some hardware we'll use it though and tell you how good it is *wink*
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327
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328 14. Who designed the new logo?
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329 A good guy named Naru Sundar.
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330
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331 15. I want to contribute to the effort. Where can I send beer to?
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332 IM Zilding or email him at jimduchek@ou.edu.
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