iChat Not Dead.....

[Dronecatcher]

Those wonderful folk at macintoshgarden have had their bespoke messaging server in place for a few years now but I recently tried it with iChat on my G3 iBook - it works great with a number of chat services and here it is using Facebook Messenger:

EDIT: I've just had to change the login details of my Facebook account - overnight it had over 70 unusual logins (or attempts) from the garden server - I don't know if there's an explanation for that or was it just plain compromised - waiting to hear back but in the meantime I wouldn't recommend anyone to use this.

EDIT: The developer at macintoshgarden says this behaviour is normal as the server checks/updates your contacts list and as such logs into your account autonomously - I'll forego this service as I don't want hundreds of warnings from Facebook every day!

 

[barracuda156]

So we can use iChat using their server for Facebook messaging normally, with all contacts on FB? Awesome if so.

 

[MysticCow]

Oh you're going to have to give us the full list now...and "how to" if it involves steps. Maybe a wiki???

 

[kaardowiq]

You don’t need iChat, you can also use Adium or any other XMPP client on any Jabber/XMPP server with transports.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Go over to macintoshgarden - all the details are there, hooks up to Telegram, ICQ, Discord etc.

I did the set up in Psi (another chat application) but wanted to return to iChat.

 

[MysticCow]

You don’t need iChat, you can also use Adium or any other XMPP client on any Jabber/XMPP server with transports.

I used to use Adium a long time ago. Sometimes I miss the duck.

 

[barracuda156]

I used to use Adium a long time ago. Sometimes I miss the duck.

We should try fixing it for PPC.

 

[TheShortTimer]

I used to use Adium a long time ago. Sometimes I miss the duck.

I use it on my daily driver MBP as a hotline with one of my best friends. Great programme - light on resources and heavy on features.

 

[B S Magnet]

Go over to macintoshgarden - all the details are there, hooks up to Telegram, ICQ, Discord etc.

I did the set up in Psi (another chat application) but wanted to return to iChat.

Is it a failing that I still remember my ICQ number?

 

[kaardowiq]

Is it a failing that I still remember my ICQ number?

Haha, me too. But to be honest, I still use ICQ regularly via XMPP transports

 

[mectojic]

I was about to get excited, but then I realised that I deleted my Facebook account, and all other social media...

Still, nice find @Dronecatcher !

 

[lepidotós]

I've gotten it to work with AIM Phoenix once before, but have since forgotten my password... I should try again.​

 

[B S Magnet]

Haha, me too. But to be honest, I still use ICQ regularly via XMPP transports

I’ve honestly never tried ICQ via XMPP. The last time I remember using it was probably back when ICQ had a standalone client.

It’s entirely possible it survived the migration to when I used Adium, but I haven’t used that since, like, 2010 (which, alas and unfortunately, coincided with when I first signed up to a social media service — two, to be precise).

 

[B S Magnet]

I was about to get excited, but then I realised that I deleted my Facebook account, and all other social media...

Still, nice find @Dronecatcher !

You did the right thing.

 

[winxmac]

I was about to get excited, but then I realised that I deleted my Facebook account, and all other social media...

Still, nice find @Dronecatcher !

Here I am, thinking of starting fresh/creating new accounts for social media, I mean social network sites, and delete the so-called old versions...

I don't own a mac whether old or new but if I have I would be doing the same, using old apps in these modern times...

 

[Dronecatcher]

I was about to get excited, but then I realised that I deleted my Facebook account, and all other social media...

Still, nice find @Dronecatcher !

I rely on FB for 8 hours of transatlantic phone calls per week...but yes, point taken

 

[barracuda156]

You did the right thing.

I would agree on one hand, but I honestly do not see any alternative atm to keep contacts with people which are not close but still useful.

 

[TheShortTimer]

I would agree on one hand, but I honestly do not see any alternative atm to keep contacts with people which are not close but still useful.

This is exactly why I maintain my Facebook account - and also ended up being pushed into using WhatsApp (also owned by Facebook/Meta) because it's the most practical way for me to remain in touch and share news with a large volume of people - many of whom do not/no longer reside in the UK. For me it's a necessary evil.

 

[Amethyst1]

I honestly do not see any alternative atm to keep contacts with people which are not close but still useful.

E-mail? But even for me who has never ever bothered with any form of “social” networks, this ain’t enough so I “have” to use WhatsApp as well… A necessary evil, as @TheShortTimer perfectly put it.

 

[mectojic]

I use email, yes.
Also Zoom for video calls.
Otherwise, I meet in person!

 

[ouimetnick]

I miss the old aqua interface and iChat. Started using it in 2010 until iMessage and FaceTime replaced it. Loved the screen sharing feature.

 

[B S Magnet]

I would agree on one hand, but I honestly do not see any alternative atm to keep contacts with people which are not close but still useful.

I admit I’ve lost touch with more distant acquaintances since the rise of FB, since I never set up an account from the outset. There is little doubt in my mind that many networking avenues to come of being a FB member were never paved by my not joining.

There was that window during the middle/later ’00s when I’d get random emails froom people I hadn’t spoken to in years doing the “how’s it going?… say, are you on FB?…” thing, and most of those people are folks with whom I’ve long since lost touch.

There are a mess of reasons, both personal (very estranged family of origin) and paradigmatic (surveillance capitalism), why I didn‘t set up a FB account, and of course, this means I also miss out on the few positive aspects which have emerged from the ubiquity of a worldwide private community situated within the internet. It also means I enjoy never reading the conspiratorial screeds of distant family members or rowing against the swift current of FB’s content delivery algorithms.

 

[B S Magnet]

E-mail? But even for me who has never ever bothered with any form of “social” networks, this ain’t enough so I “have” to use WhatsApp as well… A necessary evil, as @TheShortTimer perfectly put it.

The trouble to have emerged with email is the manner by which advertisers and commercial services transformed the text-only protocol into the online equivalent of the glossy, cheap flyers and circulars which get stuffed into one’s postal box — only amplified by several orders.

Completely automated messaging (far from the voluntary mailing lists for groups sharing specialized information and correspondence) accelerated this volume once commercial web services began inviting visitors to join their mailing list (whose data began a medium for capital, one bought and sold between bulk email services).

Another is the commercial and advertising industry’s push from the late ’90s to move email (and, eventually, the producers of email clients, both online and standalone applications) to support a protocol for which it was never really designed: HTML rendering.

Consequently, at least for me, email over these last thirty years has gone from being the online counterpart of postcard messages (with maybe an attached picture or two) and longer missives between friends and loved ones (along with being the work equivalent of dropping by a co-worker’s desk, co-ordinating projects whose needs didn’t necessitate reserving a meeting room, or leaving a “while you were out” note), to being an overwhelming influx of noise (even with multiple layers of Bayesian filtering and rules at both at the server and client level).

All of these have lead to a “terminal email fatigue” for most everyone I know.

 

[jackoverfull]

Wow, this should be viable also for older iOS devices, very interesting as there is no official way to use Facebook messenger’s services on anything older than iOS 10 or so now.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Here's my take....

Facebook: Use for long distance calls and a few groups which I occasionally look at.

Twitter: Joined in 2007 but yet to tweet - used as a news aggregator

Whatsapp: Joined way back when it was available on my Nokia E71! Use it about once every 3 months.

Email: Used constantly - receive junk around twice a week.

You only have to take what you need