[Techtalk] Simple replacement for AIM with Pidgin

[David Sumbler]

You don't need to apologise for straying from my original question - it
was I who did that when I mentioned the difficulties that I (and
others) have with some Google products.  Clearly you find them more
user-friendly than I do.
I have now created a Google account for my friend Margaret, and all is
working smoothly.  Just as I hoped, she is hardly aware that there has
been any change.  We are still using Pidgin, which is the interface she
is used to.
David
On Fri, 2017-03-03 at 16:19 -0500, Christine Puk wrote:
> I just realized my reply maybe straying from the original question
> --apologies for that. The advantage of Hangouts from your original
> question would be: easy to use (UI-wise), can have it default on top
> and notification sounds (message box comes up when someone sends you
> a message), can call or use webcam for remote support (even screen
> sharing but i have not done that personally), can be used in pidgin
> client for hangouts only (not SMS). Con would be: integrates with
> chrome via gmail (alternatively you can create an additional
> gmail account for this purpose), moderate set-up, more features than
> AIM (however if you use hangouts via pidgin, I believe many of the
> unfamiliar features to her would be disabled and it would more
> closely resemble AIM) 
> 
> I hope this helps. 
> 
> CMP
> 
> On Fri, Mar 3, 2017 at 4:09 PM, Christine Puk 
> om> wrote:
> > 
> > I use google hangouts (google talk is a bit different but
> > intergrated with hangouts) for most things since I do not like
> > using a phone and find it a suitable replacement to when everyone
> > used to be on AIM.  I have a google talk number (which is usually
> > the one I share publicly) and it allows me to text my friends back
> > via the hangouts client (which is just a browser extension, so you
> > can use it easily on Linux if you are using chrome/chromium). I
> > also use hangouts itself which is similar to facebook messenger or
> > AIM in which you can have an away message, display your status,
> > etc.  I have linux 14.04 and use chromium, and for work I have
> > windows 10 and chrome, and when I sign into both browsers with my
> > gmail account it installs the extensions I have linked to my google
> > account, thus giving me the same hangouts client. Additionally, you
> > can integrate this with Pidgin if that is the desktop messenger
> > client they are used to, however if you use pidgin and not the
> > chrome/chromium extension you can not utilize the SMS feature of
> > hangouts, which may not be relevant to your intial question anyway
> > (but I can provide you ref/instructions on how to get started with
> > that for your own interest). :) It may be a bit tricky getting set
> > up and I can provide more instructions but I will wait for your
> > reply because this is the first time I am posting to this email and
> > I don't to seem like I am endorsing a certain tool :O lol  
> > 
> > CMP
> > 
> > On Fri, Mar 3, 2017 at 1:41 PM, David Sumbler <david at aeolia.co.uk>
> > wrote:
> > > On Fri, 2017-03-03 at 17:43 +0000, Poppy Lochridge wrote:
> > > > My experience has been...
> > > 
> > > And on Fri, 2017-03-03 at 13:00 -0500, Little Girl wrote:
> > > > I agree with Poppy...
> > > 
> > > Thanks, both of you, for your reassurance!  I'll stick with
> > > Google
> > > Talk, then, since it seems to meet my requirements.
> > > 
> > > As far as Google is concerned, although I use some of their
> > > services
> > > and apps (notably Keep and, of course, Maps) I find that most of
> > > their
> > > software is extraordinarily user-unfriendly.  My brother finds
> > > exactly
> > > the same.
> > > 
> > > On 2 or 3 occasions I have tried to figure out how to send an SMS
> > > message using Hangouts, which is the "default messaging app" on
> > > at
> > > least some versions of Android.  I every case I have failed to
> > > work out
> > > how it is done, and end up downloading something less
> > > impenetrable!
> > > 
> > > But I'll be happy to use their IM service via Pidgin.
> > > 
> > > David
> > > 
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> > > 
> >