GICQ

# GICQ Reference Guide

1. Introduction

2. Installation
   Getting libicq and gicq
   Compiling the sources

3. Using gicq
   Logging on
   Adding users
   Sending and Receiving Messages

4. The Future

## Introduction

Originally, the only available ICQ client for Unix was Mirabilis' java version. Although featureful, it consumed a vast amount of system resources and ran sluggishly. gicq is an unofficial ICQ clone, written in C and based on GTK, a lightweight, flexible, and object-oriented toolkit used by the GNOME and Mozilla projects. It's small, fast, and (IMHO) attractive, and contains most of the basic features of the official Mirabilis client.

## Installation

gicq is available from http://www.korsoft.com/gicq/. gicq requires libicq, which available from the same site. It also requires glib and gtk, which you can get from gtk.org. You should have recent versions of glib and gtk installed, gicq has been tested with gtk 1.1.15. gtk 1.0.x is NOT supported. With gtk 1.2 right around the corner, it's just not worthwhile to develop for the old 1.0 series. If you want to compile with the optional GNOME support, make sure you have GNOME 0.99.x - you can get that from gnome.org. GNOME 1.0 should also be out very soon.

Compiling should be fairly easy. It should go something like this:

    $ tar xzf libicq-0.30.tar.gz
    $ cd libicq-0.30
    $ ./configure
    $ make
    $ su
    # make install
    # /sbin/ldconfig
    # exit
    $ cd ..
    $ tar xzf gicq-0.30.tar.gz
    $ cd gicq-0.30
    $ ./configure
    $ make
    $ su
    # make install

## Using gicq

Since gicq does not yet support creating a new account on the ICQ servers, you must already have a valid user. At the bottom of the gicq main window is a status pop-up menu. The first time you choose "Online", a login window will appear. Enter your ICQ number and password and hit "OK". This information is saved into the file ~/.icq/icq.rc. If you mistyped your password, delete that file and log back on.

Once you've connected, you can search for other ICQ users with the "Search/Add Users" feature in the menu. You can search by e-mail address, their name, or their UIN (their unique identifier in the ICQ network). Note that when you hit search, the window will disappear and a search results window will automatically appear when that information is available. This normally takes only a few seconds.

Sending messages is easy. If you double-click on someone's name you'll get a "Send Message" window. Just type your message and hit "Send" and it's on its way. You can send a URL by right-clicking someone's name and choosing "Send URL". Also available in the context menu are features to retrieve away messages, get information on a user, and rename and delete users.

## The Future

Since I wrote gicq primarily for myself, I've concentrated mainly on the features I use regularly. Features that yet need to be implemented include user authentication, invisible lists, creating a new account, and high-level features such as chat and file transfer. The new tcp support in libicq 0.30 will make the last two possible. Other priorities include internationalization and better GNOME integration.

Sean Gabriel < gabriel@korsoft.com>
February 20, 1999