Ubuntu Tutorials

Here is day two of Automatix Alternatives. Today I’ll cover the second section outlined in the Automatix package list, Chat Clients. There are numerous chat clients and, as was the case yesterday, most of the same exact applications are available in the official supported Ubuntu repositories. Here is a breakdown:

• aMSN (An MSN messenger written in Tcl): requires universe

sudo aptitude install amsn (or System > Applications > Add / Remove > "Search" amsn)

• Gaim / Pidgin (multi-protocol instant messaging client): automatically installed

Latest version 2.0.0beta6 in Feisty / Pidgin 2.1.0 in Gutsy

• Skype (Make free calls to anyone else on Skype) : requires manual installation

Visit skype.com - download / installation link (open with "gdebi-gtk (default)" > "Install Package")

• Xchat – (Popular IRC client) : requires universe

sudo aptitude install xchat (or System > Applications > Add / Remove "Search" xchat)

• Gyachi – (Yahoo Messenger client with voice and video support) : requires manual installation

Visit gyachi.sf.net - download page (look for "Ubuntu Edgy" package > open with "gdebi-gtk (default)" > "Install Package")

Also available: (System > Add / Remove > “Search” package)

The packages listed below are from the Ubuntu repositories and are completely safe and supported on your system.

Xchat-gnome (sudo aptitude install xchat-gnome) : requires main

konversation (sudo aptitude install konversation) : automatically installed (KDE)

psi (sudo aptitude install psi) : requires universe

irssi (sudo aptitude install irssi) : requires main

gajim (sudo aptitude install gajim) : requires universe

kopete (sudo aptitude install kopete) : requires main

gossip (sudo aptitude install gossip) : requires universe

Again, I know this isn’t a comprehensive list. I’m taking these applications per section from the Automatix list. Tomorrow I’ll do “Commercial Software”. It should be worth mentioning that while a few of the above have instructions on manual installation that does potentially limit the amount of support for that application. The best solution is to always search for the package in the Add / Remove section of your machine and, as a last resort, install it manually with outside packages.

I’ve also included other (better, if you ask me) solutions for chat clients already available in Ubuntu. This is based on the comments in yesterdays post about leaving things out. I am definitely not meaning to leave anything out, I’m simply focusing on documenting the alternatives to what Automatix does on its own. There are more applications outside of the above list, but this should be plenty to get going with.

See you back here tomorrow with more suggestions on supported alternatives to the applications Automatix installs. If you find these useful please let me know. Other suggestions, leave comments as usual.

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