Pidgin 2.6.1 that adds Google Talk Voice and Video, released a week ago is now available for upgrade from the repositories. An official .Deb package is not yet available for download from the Pidgin website, yet those who install Pidgin in Ubuntu via theofficial PPA for Pidgin repository can now carry-out a simple upgrade. Check your System ->Administration -> Update Manager if you’ve not net been notified.How to install Pidgin 2.6.1 in Ubuntu
Pidgin 2.6.1 is released. Pidgin is the default IM Client for Ubuntu for a pretty long time now. And Pidgin went through a number of upgrades. But this time it is different. Pidgin brings in the much awaited Voice and Video support for XMPP and are hoping to get these killer features to other protocols as well.
In layman's terms, what it means is that now you can use voice chat and video chat in gmail. Though it seems latest pidgin is still a lil buggy. Voice and Video chat may not work as smoothly as it should possibly due to some dependecy issue. But really, hats off to to those who are behind this exponential improvement of our beloved Pidgin.
Feature List
- Video and Voice chat support for XMPP.
- Service discovery browser plugin.
- Idle time reporting.
- Attention ("buzzing") support.
- In-band bytestreams file transfer as a last-resort transfer method.
- Updated support for buddy icons.
- Full changelog here
Now let's see how upgradation (or installation) to Pidgin 2.6.1 can be done. You will have to add GPG key and new repo before you start with upgradation.
Adding GPG Key
- Simply Copy-Paste the following in terminal.
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys A1F196A8- Done
Adding New PPA Repo
- Now Goto System > Administration > Software Sources and select Third-Party Software tab and click ADD. And Simply Copy-Paste the following Repo(depending on the version of Ubuntu you use)
For Ubuntu Jaunty
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/pidgin-developers/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/pidgin-developers/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
For Ubuntu Intrepid
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/pidgin-developers/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/pidgin-developers/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
For Ubuntu Hardy
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/pidgin-developers/ppa/ubuntu hardy main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/pidgin-developers/ppa/ubuntu hardy main
- Afterwards close the window and Reload when prompted to.
- Done
Upgrading Existing Pidgin to Pidgin 2.6.1
- Simply do the following in Terminal.
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade- Done! You have the latest Pidgin 2.6.1 in your Ubuntu.
Installing Pidgin 2.6.1
- Again, do the following in Terminal.
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install pidgin- Done and Pidgin 2.6.1 is ready to go.
