How to install Pidgin in Ubuntu using terminal. Install the latest Pidgin 2.11 via PPA in Ubuntu 16.04 Systems. Pidgin is an easy to use and free chat client used by millions. Connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and more chat networks all at once.
Pidgin is compatible with the following chat networks out of the box: AIM, ICQ, Google Talk, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MXit, and Zephyr. It can support many more with plugins.
Pidgin supports many features of these chat networks, such as file transfers, away messages, buddy icons, custom smilies, and typing notifications. Numerous plugins also extend Pidgin’s functionality above and beyond the standard features.
Supported chat networks:
- AIM
- Bonjour
- Gadu-Gadu
- Google Talk
- Groupwise
- ICQ
- IRC
- MSN
- MXit
- SILC
- SIMPLE
- Sametime
- XMPP
- Yahoo!
- Zephyr
Pidgin 2.11.0
Pidgin 2.11.0 fixes many security issues with MXit, an IM protocol of a South African social network. Other changes in the Pidgin version 2.11.0:
- 2.10.12 was accidentally released with new additions to the API and should have been released as 2.11.0.
- Include the Mozilla certificate bundle. This fixes connecting to servers with certificates from Let’s Encrypt.
- Remove all 1024-bit CAs
- media: fix an issue with ximagesink displaying only a corner cut-out of a larger webcam video (Jakub Adam)
- mediamanager: update output window destruction so that it reflects recent changes in the media pipeline structure
- Ported Instantbird’s CommandUiOps to libpurple (Dequis)
- Fixed alignment of incoming right-to-left messages in protocols tha don’t support rich text
- Fix a potential crash while exiting pidgin
- Add support for the newer kerberos-based authentication of AIM 8.x
Install Pidgin 2.11.0
The easiest way to install Pidgin is from Ubuntu Software Center. But sometimes the latest version isn’t available there and you will have to install it with the following command.
Run the following command in Terminal to download the official Pidgin source code:
wget http://pilotfiber.dl.sourceforge.net/project/pidgin/Pidgin/2.11.0/pidgin-2.11.0.tar.bz2
Once downloaded, navigate to the downloaded directory. Use cd to change the directory into the download folder. Now run the following command to extract the tar.bz2 file.
tar xvf pidgin-2.11.0.tar.bz2
cd pidgin-2.11.0/
sudo apt install libxss-dev libgtkspell-dev libgstreamer0.10-dev libfarstream-0.1-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-dev libidn11-dev libmeanwhile-dev libavahi-glib-dev libavahi-client-dev network-manager-dev libperl-dev libnss3-dev tcl8.4-dev tk8.4-dev
./configure
make
sudo make install
Once installed, open the Pidgin from Ubuntu Dash or Terminal.