[Techtalk] Simple replacement for AIM with Pidgin

[David Sumbler]

On Fri, 2017-03-03 at 08:41 -0500, Elwing wrote:
> > 
> > On Mar 3, 2017, at 3:01 AM, David Sumbler <david at aeolia.co.uk>
> > wrote:
> > 
> > I have an elderly friend, Margaret, who lives at a distance, and
> > whose
> > computer I attempt to maintain remotely.  She really depends on me
> > to
> > help her out when things go wrong - usually things like "not being
> > able
> > to get any email", which often turns out to be simply that she has
> > accidentally closed up all the folders in Evolution.
> > 
> > I use Ubuntu 16.04, but Margaret is using Ubuntu 12.04.  Despite
> > the
> > fact that support for this ends in April, I am reluctant to update
> > it,
> > because any such change will confuse and upset her.  At the age of
> > nearly 90 she finds any change hard to cope with.
> > 
> > For years we have communicated via AIM using Pidgin.  Now it
> > appears
> > that AOL are stopping this facility from the end of March.  So I
> > need
> > something which can replace it.  It needs to be as simple to use as
> > what we are used to.
> > 
> > Can anyone suggest a service which we can use instead of AIM and
> > which
> > will mean the minimum of change from Margaret's point of view?
> > 
> > David
> > 
> Google Talk/Jabber?  Both are supported by Pidgin and while you might
> have to do an initial setup of Pidgin for her to use it, she won’t
> really notice a difference.

I have now tried both of these.  The Jabber registration page has an
out-of-date security certificate, so I tried Google Talk.  I already
have a googlemail account so I logged in on Pidgin with this.  But
Google then requires that I allow "access for less secure apps".  I
have done this with some unease, because although I don't use gmail, I
do use my Google account for various other purposes.

Presumably this is actually a problem with Pidgin, recognised by
Google.  (Or perhaps Google are simply wrong.)  Still, I would rather
use an account which is unconnected to anything else I do, just as my
AIM account is.

So - any further suggestions of possible suitable IM providers?

David