Karmic reverting to Pidgin?

One can certainly hope, when Empathy does not allow one to create an account without saving their password.

No, it's a packaging bug. pidgin is supposed to recommend pidgin-libnotify but instead libpurple0 does. We install recommends automatically and pidgin-libnotify depends on pidgin.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pidgin/+bug/437109

By "getting really good", does it mean "already way better", or "subpar replacement, such that users will experience a loss in quality of service, but someday in the future it'll be ok again"?

https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pidgin/+bug/437109

Hi southern neightbour,

One of the reasons I dropped Windows was I got no choice in advance. I could install my favourite software afterwards which was the answer of "What do you want to do today?". Afterwards it took some sweat to get the default application to my preferred ones.

You saying that we have to hope Ubuntu chooses Empathy really worries me. Personally I like Pidgin much more. Also I don't like Evolution, since I only use web-mail (and Zimbra). Why is de application "Preferred Applications" limited to mail and Internet? Or why does Ubiquity not have an option "advanced user's choices". No, it gives a screen "ask your questions at ubuntuforums.org, where advanced users help people just like you" which gives me the feeling I'm at the same place as 5 years ago.

I hope in 9.10 you can start chatting with Empathy and I with Pidgin just by a single click.

Doesn't look like it was intended - it has been pulled in as a dependency of a recommendation of a dependency of empathy:

$ aptitude why pidgin
u pidgin-libnotify Depends pidgin (>= 1:2.6)
u libpurple0 Recommends pidgin-libnotify
i telepathy-haze Depends libpurple0 (>= 1:2.5.8-1ubuntu2)
i empathy Recommends telepathy-haze
u ubuntu-desktop Recommends empathy

If you look at what packages depend on pidgin it's libpurple and not ubuntu-desktop that is pulling in the dependency. Why the library is doing that I have no idea, but perhaps it's a bug.

Damn, spoke too soon :) Yes, it pulls in Pidgin with dist-upgrade. Strange.

Well so far I don't see Pidgin in updates. I agree that I would like to have Empathy as default too.

As long as I've got voice and video, *shrug*..

See bug report https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pidgin/+bug/437109

It seems that pidgin now is a dependency of libpurple0, which is required by a certain telepathy provider for MSN support. Worth reporting a bug, I suppose.

Taken from https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DesktopTeam/Meeting/2009-09-08:

"The current Plan of Record is to install Empathy with Karmic, but to leave Pidgin in place if the user is upgrading. Pidgin won't be installed on new installs."

I wonder myself.

And what's up with Banshee? Wasn't that supposed to become default in Karmic? I only get Rhythmbox preinstalled...

Pretty sure that's a packaging bug.
Empathy depends on libpurple, libpurple recommends pidgin-notify, pidgin-notify depends on pidgin.

In my opinion the current status of Empathy is nowhere near the capabilities of Pidgin. I try it every now and then to check the progress but it's missing so much features (plugin system, decent separation per account, ...) which come by default on Pidgin.

Personally I wouldn't mind because in my opinion Emapthy is not yet ready to be included. New Ubuntu users need a decent all-in-one solution and currently Pidgin is the only viable candidate.

I noticed that too and also the thing in the top right corner that you shut down IM status only works with pidgin. Its very confusing. I really want empathy by default.