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[newbie]

I've just found another IM-client called "Kopete" in another thread (http://olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=1073.0). It works great for me, and I highly recommend it to everyone else who had problems installing finch or pidgin.

[xyzzy]

How do you add someone to the buddy list in Finch?

Thanks

You can find the instructions on how to use Finch here: Using Finch

It says you need to use F11, but there aren't any function keys on the keyboard, so which one is F11?  Well, I'm not sure.  I found up to F8, but after that, I couldn't identify them (I have a feeling they're either the brightness or volume buttons).

However, there is a workaround, if you're desperate enough.  Basically, you need to remap a key (or combination of keys) to be the F11 button.  I already have instructions on how to do that in Xfce here: http://olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=592.msg8882#msg8882

I can (hopefully) give instructions on how to do that with Sugar if you're interested.

Yes, that is precisely the problem I've been having.  Finch requires F11, but the XO doesn't have an F11.  (It doesn't even work when I have an external keyboard plugged in).  I'm using Sugar Terminal, so any directions on how to configure Finch's key associations on the XO would be helpful.

[electropriest]

actually... the xo does have all the f keys, but they are remapped in sugar, so you can change screen brightness and volume. you can edit the keymap, but you would lose those functions.

in the pre-made xubuntu online, you have all your f-keys back. the brightness keys are remapped to affect brightness, but they activate the f keys at the same time.

[moocapiean]

You're right, I completely forgot that remapping F11 to something else would also remap the lower volume button (I think that's F11).  Kopete might be the better choice for the XO until someone writes a Sugar UI for Pidgin.

[anna]

Sorry to revive such an old thread, but I just recently installed and tested a console only AIM client per my friend Kev's suggestion (thanks, Kev!)

It's called pork, of all things.  This is not fancy, nor does it have all the bells and whistles, but it's very small and light.  It's a bit over 300K and no dependencies.

To install, become root and just:

yum -y install pork

Type exit to become the olpc user again and simply type "pork" to run it.  You'll see an IRC type box at the bottom.  To connect to AIM, type

/connect <username>

Hit enter and it'll prompt you for your password.  Type that, hit enter, and you should see your buddy list.  Unfortunately I couldn't find much documentation out there on the various commands, but I used tab, arrows, and enter to navigate my buddy list and initiate a chat.  There's a /help option, but I haven't really investigated it that much as I just installed this last night.  To quit, I guessed and typed /exit, which put me back into a prompt.

At any rate, if you've been looking for a very small, light AIM client to run in terminal, this might be worth checking out.