The second alpha release of the Pidgin 3.0 (2.96) instant messaging client has been introduced. This release is marked as not yet ready for everyday use. Builds are prepared in Flatpak format and hosted in the beta repository on Flathub.
The Pidgin 3 branch has been in development since 2011, following three additional years of discussion at the concept and ideas level. Pidgin 3 transitions to the GObject type system, GTK4 libraries, and Adwaita, uses the Meson build system, GPlugin for plugin handling, SQLite for chat history storage, and GSettings for managing settings. The API has been completely redesigned. GTK Builder XML is used to define interface elements, and a custom Talkatu widget library has been created for displaying chat history.
Pidgin 3 combines the contact list and chat windows into a single interface. The delivery of the console client Finch has been discontinued (it may return in the future). Currently, implementations of the IRCv3, XMPP, SIP, Demo, Bonjour, and Zulip protocols are being developed. The Pidgin 3 branch is incompatible with Pidgin 2 and previously created plugins but can be installed alongside existing Pidgin 2 builds.
Among the changes in the presented test release:
- Functionality for displaying text notifications and sound alerts for incoming messages has been moved from the purple-toast and notification-sound plugins to the core of Pidgin. Options for managing notification output have been added to the settings.
- Participant avatars in discussions are now displayed.
- A user interface has been added for managing the built-in Scheduler for running tasks on a schedule. Through the proposed interface, for example, one can find out how long until the next connection retry attempt.
- In the implementation of the protocol for
the Zulip messaging platform, direct messaging to users and groups has become possible. - The ability to log in using a QR code scan has been added.
Source: opennet.ru
