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NAME
    Gaim v0.59.8 - Instant Messaging client

SYNOPSIS
    gaim [options]

DESCRIPTION
    gaim is  a GTK-based Instant Messaging (IM) client designed primarily
    for use with AOL Instant Messager (AIM).  However, it supports most
    other popular IM protocols including ICQ, MSN Messager, Jabber, Yahoo!,
    IRC, Napster, Zephyr, and Gadu-Gadu.

OPTIONS
    The following options are provided by gaim using the standard GNU com-
    mand line syntax.

    -a, --acct
    Launch the account editor rather than the login window on start.

    -d, --debug
    Print debugging messages to stdout. These are the same debug-
    ging messages that are displayed in the debug window.

    -f, --file=FILE
    Use FILE as the configuration file instead of ~/.gaimrc.

    -h, --help
    Print this help and exit.

    -l, --login[=NAME]
    Automatically login on start using the default account or the
    account specified by the NAME parameter.

    -u, --user=NAME
    Use account NAME as default.

    -v, --version
    Display the version information window.

    -w, --away[=MESG]
    Automatically go away on signon. You may optionally use the
    MESG parameter to set the away message.

BUDDY LIST
    The Buddy List  Window is gaim's main interface window. The focus of
    this window is the Buddy List itself. This is a list of your contacts
    whose presence you have been notified of.

    The list of buddies is organized into groups. Gaim supports multiple
    connections, but all online buddies are organized on the same  buddy
    list. Buddy List organization is handled in the Edit Buddies tab.

    Buddy Lists can be imported and exported to disk using the appropriate
    commands in the file menu.

    The icon to the left of each buddy indicates the buddy's current state.
    Double clicking  a buddy will open a new conversation window.  Right
    clicking will open a menu:

    IM   Opens a new conversation window to the selected buddy.

    Alias Create an alias for this buddy. This will open up a new dialog
    in which one can give this buddy an alternate name to appear on
    the buddy list and in conversataions.

    For example, if a buddy's name screen name was jsmith1281xx and
    his real name was 'John Q. Smith,' one could create an alias as
    to identify the buddy by his common name.

    Add Buddy Pounce
    A Buddy Pounce is a configurable automated action to be per-
    formed when the buddy's state changes. This will open the Buddy
    Pounce dialog to be discussed later.

    View Log
    gaim is capable of automatically log its activities. These logs
    are  html files  (with a .log  extenstion) located in the
    ~/.gaim/logs directory. This menu command will attempt to view
    this file with gaim's internal log viewer.

    The remainder of the menu will consist of protocol specific commands.
    If logged on with multiple connections, these will appear in submenus
    named with each screen name logged on.  These commands vary depending
    on the protocol; below are the commands available when using OSCAR, the
    more popular and developer-recommended AIM protocol:

    Get Info
    Retrieves and displays information about the buddy. This infor-
    mation is also known as a Profile.

    Get Away Msg
    If this buddy is in an Away state, this will retrieve and dis-
    play the buddy's Away Message.

    Direct IM
    This will send a request to the buddy for a Direct IM. If
    accepted, a direct connection will be made between the two
    clients, no longer relying on the server.  This will reveal your
    IP address to your buddy, which may constitute a security  risk.

The Conversation Window
    When starting a new conversation, the user is presented with the con-
    versation window. The conversation appears in the upper text box and
    the user types his message in the lower. Between the two is a row of
    setting, represented by icons. From left to right:

    Bold  adds <b></b> to your message

    Italics
    adds <i></i> to your message

    Underline
    adds <u></u> to your message

    Strikethrough
    adds <s></s> to your message

    Decrease font size
    adds <font size="1"></font> to your message

    Default font size
    adds <font size="3"></font> to your message

    Increase font size
    adds <font size="5"></font> to your message

    Select font face
    adds an appropriate font tag to your message.

    Select a foreground color
    adds an appropriate font tag to your message.

    Select a background color
    adds an appropriate body tag to your message.

    Add hyperlink
    adds an appropriate a href tag to your message.

    Add smiley
    adds an ASCII smiley to your message.  This will become a
    graphic smiley in the upper textbox if the option for graphical
    smileys is set.

    Enable logging
    As the conversation continues, everything will get logged  to a
    log file in ~/.gaim/logs

    Save Conversation
    Saves the current conversation to a log file of your choice.

    Enable Sounds
    Choose whether events in this conversation will trigger sounds.

    Beneath the lower textbox is a row of buttons that execute com-
    mands:

    Send  This sends what's currently in the lower textbox

    Get Info
    This gets information (a profile) about the other person in the
    conversation.

    Warn  This issues a warning to the other person in the conversation.

    Block This adds the other person to your deny list.

    Add to buddy list
    This adds this user to your buddy list. If he already is on
    your list, it will remove him from it.

    Close Closes this window.

Edit Buddies
    Clicking  this tab on the Buddy List Window will invoke the main inter-
    face to edit and organize buddy lists. Buddy's already in your  buddy
    list can be moved to different groups or reordered in the same group by
    clicking and dragging with the mouse. One can also add, rename, alias,
    or delete buddies here, as well as some of the functions available in
    the Buddy List Dialog.

    In the Edit Buddies dialog, the list is arranged by connection. If two
    or more connections have a group of the same, the Buddy List will only
    show one group with that name. Available buddies from both connections
    will be shown in this group. If both connections have a buddy with the
    same screen name in a group of the same name, the buddy will appear
    only once.

Buddy Chat
    For protocols that allow it, Buddy Chats can be entered through the
    file menu, the keyboard shortcut CTRL+C, or the right most button on
    the bottom of the uddy List Dialog.

    Additional commands available in chat, depending on the protocol are:

    Whisper
    The text will appear in the chat conversation, but it will only
    be visible to the sender and the receiver.

    Invite Invite other people to join the chat room.

    Ignore Ignore anything said by the chosen person

    Set Topic
    Set the topic of the chat room. This is usually a brief sen-
    tence describing  the nature of the chat--an explanation of the
    chat room's name.

AWAY MESSAGES
    Most protocols allow for away messages. When a user is away, he can
    leave a message indicating why for others to see. The away submenu of
    the Tools menu is used to add and remove away message, as well as to
    set a user's away state.

    New Away Message provides space for one to enter an away message and a
    title for that message. If Save of Save & Use are chosen, this message
    will be saved. It can later be referred to by the title given to it.

    Remove Away Message is a submenu containing the titles of saved away
    messages. Clicking on one of these titles will remove the away message
    associated with it.

    The rest of the away menu provides the user with a way to assign dif-
    ferent away messages to different connections. Choosing Set All Away
    will set away all the connections capable of the away state.

BUDDY POUNCE
    A Buddy Pounce is an automated trigger that occurs when a buddy returns
    to a normal state from an away state. A pounce can be set to occur on
    any combination  of the events listed, and any combination of actions
    can result. If Save this pounce after activation is checked, the trig-
    ger will remain until it is removed from the Remove buddy pounce menu.

ACCOUNT EDITOR
    The account editor consists of a list of accounts and information about
    them.  Clicking  Add or Modify will invoke a Modify Account window.
    Here, you can alter information about your account.  When creating a
    new account, you will submit your screen name and password. You will
    also choose your protocol; The two AIM protocols, TOC and OSCAR are
    always loaded, but other protocols can be dynamically loaded and
    unloaded using Protocols Plugins (PRPLS).

    If Remember Password is chosen, the password will be saved in gaim's
    configuration file.

    If Auto-Login is chosen, this account will automatically login upon
    starting gaim.

    Each protocol has it's own specific options that can be found in the
    protocol-specific tab on the modify screen.

PERL
    Gaim allows for perl scripting.  This submenu provides for the loading
    of individual perl scripts and for the unloading of all of them.  See
    PERL-HOWTO for more information about perl scripting.

PLUGINS
    Gaim allows for dynamic loading of plugins. The plugin window shows
    the paths to loaded plugins on the left, and the name and description
    of the plugin on the right.

    You may load and unload plugins using the appropriate buttons.

PREFERENCES
General
    Use Borderless Buttons
    Change the appearence of the GUI's buttons.

    Show Buddy Ticker
    This opens the Buddy Ticker, a small window in which the con-
    tents of your buddy list scroll to keep you up to date on  their
    status.

    Show Debug Window
    This opens a debug window into which gaim sends more verbose
    information about what it's doing.

    Report Idle Times
    For protocol's that require the client to report idle times,
    this option sets the method of determining idle times. If None
    is chosen, idleness will not be reported.  If Gaim Use is cho-
    sen, it will send idle times relative to the last time gaim was
    used. If X Use is chosen, idle times will be reported based on
    the last time the mouse or keyboard was used.

    Logging
    Log all conversations will automatically log conversations into
    ~/.gaim/logs/. Unless Strip HTML from logs is checked, they
    will be saved as an HTML file with a .log extension. The pref-
    erences window provides options to specify exactly what to log.

    Browser
    Choose the Web Browser to use when a hyperlink is clicked.

Buddy List
    Hide IM/Info/Chat buttons
    This option will remove the three buttons beneath the Buddy List
    in the Buddy List Window.

    Show pictures on buttons
    If checked, the buttons will feature an icon, otherwise, the
    buttons will be text.

    Hide groups with no online buddies
    This feature will only display a folder representing a group if
    there is at least one online buddy in it.

    Show numbers in groups
    This feature displays the number of buddies in each group and
    the number of these online in the Buddy List.

    Show buddy type icons
    This icon is a quick reference as to what protocol a buddy is
    using, and what away state, if any, he is in.

    Show Idle times
    This shows how long a buddy has been idle next to his  name.
    Show warning levels This shows the warning level of a buddy next
    to his name.

Conversations
    Keyboard Options
    These options set certain keybindings.

    Show graphical smileys
    This will convert emoticons such as :) and >:-O to small  icons
    representing them.

    Show timestamp on messages
    When selected, this option shows in the conversation window, the
    time each message was received or sent.

    Show URLs as links
    This will convert URLs such as http://gaim.sourceforge.net to a
    hyperlink pointing to that site.

    Highlight misspelled words
    While typing a message, if a user misspells a word, it will
    immediately turn red. Right-clicking on the word will invoke a
    menu of possible corrections.

    Sending messages removes away status
    If this option is selected, a user will come back from away if
    he sends a message to someone.

    Queue new messages when away
    This option will cause new conversation windows not to be cre-
    ated until a user returns from away. Instead, a record of how
    many messages received and from whom they were received is shown
    in the away message window.

    Ignore colors/font faces/ font sizes
    These options ignore font settings that can be set in HTML tags.

    Ignore TiK Automated Messages
    AOL's open source TiK client gets a user's away message by send-
    ing him an automated message. This option ignores those mes-
    sages.

    Ignore new conversations when away
    If checked, new conversations will be ignored entirely when
    away. Unlike the Queue new messages when away option, no record
    will be kept of these.

Windows
    Show buttons as:
    This option selects the look of the buttons.

    Show all conversations in one tabbed window
    Instead of seperate windows for each conversation, they are all
    shown in one window with tabs at the top to select the conversa-
    tion. A name on a tab will become red if a new message hasn't
    yet been read.

    Raise windows on events
    When an event happens to a conversation, the conversation window
    will be raised above all other windows on the desktop.

    Show logins in window
    This will show when buddies log in and out in the conversation
    window, if one is open for that buddy.

    Window size
    Select the default size for new conversation windows.

Font Options
 These set the font preferences that are sent with all messages over a
    protocol that supports HTML.

Chat Rooms
    This is a list of available chat rooms and chat rooms that you are sub-
    scribed to.

Sounds
    No sounds when you log in
    This will prevent sounds from playing when gaim is first noti-
    fied of your buddy's presence because you just signed on.

    Sounds while away
    This option will continue to play sounds on events if you are
    away.

    Beep instead of playing sound
    This will cause a terminal beep instead of a sound upon events.

    Command to play sound files
    If you need a special command executed to play a sound, enter it
    in the given box with %s representing the filename. If you pre-
    fer gaim to play the sound, leave it blank.

    Events Choose sounds to play when each event occurs.

Away Messages
    Don't send auto-response
    If someone sends the user a message while away, gaim will not
    respond with the away message if this is checked.

    Auto Away
    If this is selected gaim will automatically go away if it's been
    idle for the specified length of time.

Privacy
    Here, the user can configure his permit/deny lists.

FILES
    ~/.gaimrc - Gaim Config File
    ~/.gaim/logs/SCREENNAME.log - a log of all conversation  with SCREEN-
    NAME.
    /usr/local/lib/gaim/ - Gaim Plugin Files
    ~/.gaim/SCREENAME.PROTOCOL.blist  - the buddy list for SCREENAME using
    protocol number PROTOCOL

BUGS
    Known bugs are at http://sourceforge.net/bugs/?group_id=235

BUG REPORTS
    If you find a bug in gaim, please submit a bug form at http://source-
    forge.net/bugs/?group_id=235

    Before sending a bug report, please verify that you have the latest
    version of gaim.  Many bugs (major and minor) are fixed at each
    release, and if yours is out of date, the problem may already have been
    solved.

SEE ALSO
    http://gaim.sourceforge.net/ http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/gaim/

LICENSE
    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
    Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
    option) any later version.

    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
    WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MER-
    CHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
    Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
    with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
    59 Temple PLace, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

AUTHORS
    The authors of gaim are:

 Rob Flynn <rob@marko.net> - AIM: RobFlynn
 Sean Egan <bj91704@binghamton.edu> - AIM: SeanEgn
 Syd Logan

    The retired authors of gaim are:

 Jim Duchek <jim@linuxpimps.com> - AIM: Zilding
 Eric Warmenhoven <eric@warmenhoven.org>
 Mark Spencer <markster@marko.net> - AIM: Markster97

    This manpage was originally written by Dennis Ristuccia <dennis@den-
    nisr.net> AIM: D3nnisR. It has been updated and largely rewritten by
    Sean Egan <bj91704@binghamton.edu> AIM: SeanEgn