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How to install Pidgin on Ubuntu 17.04

To install Pidgin on Ubuntu 17.04

Pidgin is a free and widely used instant messaging chat application, which gives you the ability to log into multiple chat network accounts simultaneously. This application allows you to chat with friends on most of the popular chat services like Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MXit, and Zephyr. This tutorial covers the installation procedure of Pidgin on Ubuntu 17.04.

Installation Procedure

To proceed with the installation procedure, add the required dependency package into repository via ppa.

root@linuxhelp:~# add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/backports
 Backports of various (low impact) packages to Trusty and Xenial
 More info: https://launchpad.net/~jonathonf/+archive/ubuntu/backports
Press [ENTER] to continue or ctrl-c to cancel adding it
.
.
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)
OK

Next update the machine by executing the apt-get update command.

root@linuxhelp:~# apt-get update
Hit:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty-security InRelease    
Hit:2 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty InRelease           
Ign:3 http://ppa.launchpad.net/jonathonf/backports/ubuntu zesty InRelease
Hit:4 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty-updates InRelease        
Hit:5 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty-backports InRelease      
Ign:6 http://ppa.launchpad.net/jonathonf/backports/ubuntu zesty Release
Ign:7 http://ppa.launchpad.net/jonathonf/backports/ubuntu zesty/main amd64 Packages.
.
1 Metadata [5,132 B]
Fetched 1,601 kB in 5s (274 kB/s)              
Reading package lists... Done

The target system is updated with the required repositories. Now install pidgin application by running the following command.

root@linuxhelp:~# apt-get install pidgin
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  gstreamer1.0-libav gstreamer1.0-nice libavfilter6 libavresample3
  libebur128-1 libfarstream-0.2-5 libgadu3 libgssdp-1.0-3 libgtkspell0
  libgupnp-1.0-4 libgupnp-igd-1.0-4 libmeanwhile1 libnice10 libpostproc54
  libprotobuf-c1 libpurple-bin libpurple0 librubberband2v5 libzephyr4
  pidgin-data pidgin-libnotify.
.
Setting up pidgin-libnotify (0.14-9ubuntu2) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.24-9ubuntu2) ...

The installation is now complete. Now go to Ubuntu dashboard and type pidgin. Click on the icon to run the application.

The application is up and running. The welcome page of pidgin appears on the screen. Click add option to create new account.

Fill the required details to create a new account and click Add option.

The Chat box of pidgin appears on the screen.

Thus the installation of Pidgin on Ubuntu 17.04 is done without any glitches.

FAQ
Q
Why can't I compile Pidgin?
A
You're probably missing some dependencies. The configure script will tell you when you are missing required dependencies, check with required dependencies and compile Pidgin again.
Q
What is Pidgin?
A
Pidgin is a free and widely used instant messaging chat application, which gives you the ability to log into multiple chat network accounts simultaneously. This application allows you to chat with friends on most of the popular chat services like Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MXit, and Zephyr.
Q
Can I run Pidgin on Mac OS X?
A
Yes, you can run Pidgin on MacOs and they do have a package for it.
Q
Where do I get libgtkspell.so.0 for Pidgin?
A
Most people asking this are trying to install our RPMs by hand on their system. libgtkspell.so.0 is provided by the gtkspell package. Most modern RPM-based distros have tools such as yum that can install this for you automatically
Q
What is the stable PPA to be used for Pidgin?
A
The stable repository to be used for Pidgin is as follows
# add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/backports