Psi (instant messaging client)

Last updated

Psi
Developer(s) The Psi Team
Initial releaseJuly 7, 2001 [1]
Stable release
1.5 [2]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 6 September 2020;2 years ago (6 September 2020)
Repository
Written in C++, Qt
Operating system Unix-like, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Haiku
Available in Chinese, Czech, English, French, German, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Type Instant messaging client
License GPL-2.0-or-later [3]
Website psi-im.org

Psi is a free instant messaging client for the XMPP protocol (including such services as Google Talk [4] ) which uses the Qt toolkit. It runs on Linux (and other Unix-like operating systems), Windows, macOS and OS/2 [5] (including eComStation and ArcaOS). [6]

Contents

User interface of program is very flexible in customization. For example, there are "multi windows" and "all in one" modes, support of different iconsets and themes.

Ready-to-install deb and RPM packages are available for many Linux distributions. Successful ports of Psi were reported for Haiku, [7] FreeBSD and Sun Solaris operating systems.

Due to Psi's free/open-source nature, several forks have appeared, which occasionally contain features that may appear in future official Psi versions.

Project name

'Psi' is the twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet (Ψ), which is used as the software's logo.

Mission statement

The goal of the Psi project is to create a powerful, yet easy-to-use XMPP client that tries to strictly adhere to the XMPP drafts and XMPP XEPs. This means that in most cases, Psi will not implement a feature unless there is an accepted standard for it in the XMPP community. Doing so ensures that Psi will be compatible, stable, and predictable.

History

The application was created by Justin Karneges and it began as a side project. At various points during its existence Karneges was paid to develop the codebase, during which Psi flourished. Typically however, the release cycle of Psi is relatively slow, but the client has always been seen by its fans as a very stable and powerful instant messaging client. Karneges left the project in late 2004 to pursue other endeavors. [8] In 2002 Michail Pishchagin started hacking Qt code which later became libpsi library. Pishchagin joined the team in March 2003 and he is responsible for many large chunks in Psi code.

In November 2004, maintenance was taken over by Kevin Smith, a long-time contributor to the project. In 2009, Smith handed maintenance back to Karneges, [9] who also maintains Iris, the Qt/C++ XMPP library upon which Psi is based. [10]

Remko Tronçon started writing his custom patches for Psi in 2003, and became an official developer in May 2005.

In 2009 a Psi fork named Psi+ was started. Project purposes are: implementation of new features, writing of patches and plugins for transferring them to upstream. As of 2017 all active Psi+ developers have become official Psi developers, [11] and now Psi+ is just a development branch of Psi with rolling release development model.

Users who wants to receive new features and bug fixes very quickly may use Psi+ on daily basis. Users who do not care about new trends and prefer constancy may choose Psi as it uses classical development model and its releases are quite rare.

Features

Because XMPP allows gateways to other services, which many servers support, it can also connect to Yahoo!, AIM, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ and Microsoft networks. [12] Other services available using gateway servers include RSS and Atom news feeds, sending SMS messages to cellular networks and weather reports.

As of 2012, Psi has language packs for 20 languages, with more being created. [13]

Emoticon packs are supported using the jisp format. Many jisp emoticon packs are available, including ones from AIM, iChat, and Trillian.

Psi supports file transfers between other XMPP clients, and it is possible to send to or receive files from other IM networks, if the user's servers support this. Psi supports Contact Is Typing Notification (which works with Yahoo!, MSN, and AIM contacts). Version 0.10, released in January 2006, brought automatically resizing contact list and composing window in chat dialogs, tabbed chats, support for Growl messaging system on Mac OS X, window transparency and many other changes.

Support of audio and video calls in Psi via Jingle is implemented via officially supported plugin PsiMedia. [14]

Encryption

Security is also a major consideration, and Psi provides it for both client-to-server (TLS) and client-to-client (OpenPGP, [15] OTR, [16] and OMEMO [17] ) via appropriate plugins. Encryption of messages in group chats is supported only via OMEMO plugin.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pidgin (software)</span> Open-source multi-platform instant messaging client

Pidgin is a free and open-source multi-platform instant messaging client, based on a library named libpurple that has support for many instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to simultaneously log in to various services from a single application, with a single interface for both popular and obsolete protocols, thus avoiding the hassle of having to deal with a new software for each device and protocol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XMPP</span> Communications protocol for message-oriented middleware

Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML, it enables the near-real-time exchange of structured data between two or more network entities. Designed to be extensible, the protocol offers a multitude of applications beyond traditional IM in the broader realm of message-oriented middleware, including signalling for VoIP, video, file transfer, gaming and other uses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kopete</span> Free multiprotocol messenger

Kopete is a multi-protocol, free software instant messaging client released as part of the KDE Software Compilation. Although it can run in numerous environments, it was designed for and integrates with the KDE Plasma Workspaces. Kopete was started because ICQ blocked Licq from their network in 2001. According to the original author, Duncan Mac-Vicar Prett, the name comes from the Chilean Spanish word copete, meaning "a drink with your friends". Kopete has been nominated for multiple awards. The designated successor is KDE Telepathy from the KDE RTCC Initiative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adium</span>

Adium is a free and open source instant messaging client for macOS that supports multiple IM networks, including Google Talk and XMPP. In the past, it has also supported AIM, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. Adium is written using macOS's Cocoa API, and it is released under the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later and many other licenses for components that are distributed with Adium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centericq</span> Instant messaging interface

Centericq is a text mode menu- and window-driven instant messaging interface that supports the ICQ, Yahoo!, AIM, MSN, IRC, XMPP, LiveJournal, and Gadu-Gadu protocols.

HCL Sametime Premium is a client–server application and middleware platform that provides real-time, unified communications and collaboration for enterprises. Those capabilities include presence information, enterprise instant messaging, web conferencing, community collaboration, and telephony capabilities and integration. Currently it is developed and sold by HCL Software, a division of Indian company HCL Technologies, until 2019 by the Lotus Software division of IBM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Talk</span> Instant messaging service

Google Talk was an instant messaging service that provided both text and voice communication. The instant messaging service was variously referred to colloquially as Gchat, Gtalk, or Gmessage among its users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BitlBee</span>

BitlBee is a cross-platform IRC instant messaging gateway, licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gajim</span> Free instant messaging client for the XMPP protocol

Gajim is an instant messaging client for the XMPP protocol which uses the GTK toolkit. The name Gajim is a recursive acronym for Gajim's a jabber instant messenger. Gajim runs on Linux, BSD, macOS, and Microsoft Windows. Released under the GPL-3.0-only license, Gajim is free software. A 2009 round-up of similar software on Tom's Hardware found version 0.12.1 "the lightest and fastest jabber IM client".

Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) is a cryptographic protocol that provides encryption for instant messaging conversations. OTR uses a combination of AES symmetric-key algorithm with 128 bits key length, the Diffie–Hellman key exchange with 1536 bits group size, and the SHA-1 hash function. In addition to authentication and encryption, OTR provides forward secrecy and malleable encryption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skype for Business Server</span> Real-time communications server software

Skype for Business Server is real-time communications server software that provides the infrastructure for enterprise instant messaging, presence, VoIP, ad hoc and structured conferences and PSTN connectivity through a third-party gateway or SIP trunk. These features are available within an organization, between organizations and with external users on the public internet or standard phones.

The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of notable IRC client programs which have been discussed in independent, reliable prior published sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombus (software)</span>

Bombus is a GPL instant messaging client for the XMPP protocol. It is written in Java, and runs on Java ME/MIDP capable cellphones, including Windows Mobile platform with installed Java ME virtual machine, or any other platform, where Java ME is available. There was successful compilations of Bombue for Android.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empathy (software)</span> Open source instant messaging and VoIP client

Empathy is an instant messaging (IM) and voice over IP (VoIP) client which supports text, voice, video, file transfers, and inter-application communication over various IM communication protocols.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kadu (software)</span>

Kadu is a free and open source multi-platform instant messaging client that supports Gadu-Gadu, XMPP IM networks and other services based on XMPP like Google Talk. It is written in C++ using Qt Framework, and released under the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quiet Internet Pager</span>

QIP is a multiprotocol instant messaging client. It is a closed source freeware program originally developed by Ilgam Zyulkorneev. In 2008 it was bought by RosBusinessConsulting media group and named most popular RBC service in 2009.

aMSN

aMSN was a free Windows Live Messenger clone. aMSN attempted to emulate the look and feel of Windows Live Messenger, and supported many of its features. It had been downloaded approximately 40 million times as of January 2011, making it the 21st most downloaded project on SourceForge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spark (XMPP client)</span>

Spark is an open-source instant messaging program that allows users to communicate in real time. It can be integrated with the Openfire server to provide additional features such as controlling the various Spark functionalities from a central management console, or integrating with a proprietary customer support service known as Fastpath which allows its users to interact with the platform using the Spark client. Being a cross-platform application, Spark can run on various systems. Installers for Windows, macOS and Linux are available on the official website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OMEMO</span> Extension to XMPP for multi-client end-to-end encryption

OMEMO is an extension to the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) for multi-client end-to-end encryption developed by Andreas Straub. According to Straub, OMEMO uses the Double Ratchet Algorithm "to provide multi-end to multi-end encryption, allowing messages to be synchronized securely across multiple clients, even if some of them are offline". The name "OMEMO" is a recursive acronym for "OMEMO Multi-End Message and Object Encryption". It is an open standard based on the Double Ratchet Algorithm and the Personal Eventing Protocol . OMEMO offers future and forward secrecy and deniability with message synchronization and offline delivery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conversations (software)</span> Free software instant messaging client for the XMPP protocol

Conversations is a free software, instant messaging client application software for Android. It is largely based on recognized open standards such as the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) and Transport Layer Security (TLS).

References

  1. ↑ Karneges, Justin. "Justin's Homepage!". Psi. Archived from the original on December 18, 2001.
  2. ↑ "Release 1.5". September 6, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  3. ↑ COPYING
  4. ↑ "Other IM Clients". Google Talk Help. 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ Psi build for OS/2. Version 0.15, ZIP package.
  6. ↑ "XMPP Software: Clients". XMPP Standards Foundation. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Psi". BeBits . February 8, 2010. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  8. ↑ Karneges, Justin (November 25, 2004). "[Psi-devel] Passing the torch". psi-devel (Mailing list). Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  9. ↑ Smith, Kevin (March 5, 2009). "[Psi-devel] Psi - under new^h^h^hold management". psi-devel (Mailing list). Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Iris XMPP Library". Delta XMPP Project. Affinix Software. December 5, 2004. Archived from the original on February 11, 2006. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  11. ↑ "README.md". GitHub . March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  12. ↑ Popa, Roxana (May 29, 2007). "Psi Review". Softpedia . Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  13. ↑ Popa, Bogdan (March 27, 2008). "Best 5 Jabber Clients for Windows in Pictures". Softpedia . Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  14. ↑ PsiMedia
  15. ↑ OpenPGP Plugin
  16. ↑ OTR Plugin
  17. ↑ OMEMO Plugin
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.