[ILUG] the killer free software app for joe public

[Paul Jakma]

Apparently Instant Messaging is really popular with ye olde, normal,
non-techy, computer users. And apparently one of the things they find
slightly annoying is the plethora of clients they have to run to stay
in touch with the various "buddies" they might have on various IM
networks. (apparently they also get ads with some of the clients).

I recently introduced one of these normal, non-techy users to Gaim:

	http://gaim.sourceforge.net

And they were very very happy with it and its multi-protocol 
abilities. Indeed, they're now off reccomending it to their various 
IM buddies :).

Its a perfect demonstration too, wrt multi-protocol support, of one
of the key advantages of Free Software, that it serves the users
interests, not some corporate "market share" interest that leads
oodles of incompatible IM networks. And you get the perfect
opportunity to tell the user that when they go "wow, it can connect
to all my different IM accounts".

Dont forget to tell them to create a Jabber account either 
(tools->add account, add a jabber account and hit the 'Register' 
button at the bottom), and that it's an open protocol, in the same 
vein as Gaim is open.

A perfect introduction to Free Software for joe public.

regards,
-- 
Paul Jakma	paul at clubi.ie	paul at jakma.org	Key ID: 64A2FF6A
	warning: do not ever send email to spam at dishone.st
Fortune:
You will be married within a year.