Re: new client plans and libpurple

[Patrick Cloke]

Hey Andrew,

On 4/22/2013 5:07 PM, Andrew Victor wrote:
> hi Patrick,
>
>> I'm unsure if this will help you or not, but Instantbird [1] is a libpurple
>> client with a native look & feel on each operation system (it doesn't use
>> the Windows API directly, it uses the Mozilla toolkit).
> I was just wondering if there was a reason why Instantbird doesn't
> support the MXit protocol?
Instantbird doesn't directly NOT support MXit...we just never added
support for it. In other words, no decision was decided to not support
MXit, Instantbird just existed before it was part of libpurple and when
it was added, it was simpler for us to not support it then extend our
build infrastructure to add it. Additionally, none of the developers use
MXit (nor have we had any requests to add it), so...it's never
happened. I hope that makes sense.

> I copied the latest mxit prpl source from Pidgin into
> instantbird/purple/libpurple/protocols/, tweaked the Makefiles and it
> seems to compile fine.
Maybe file a bug [1] requesting MXit be added and upload the patch
there? You can request review by me.

> I haven't yet managed to figure out what files are required to add
> MXit to the account dialog though...
I believe you need to add a line to [2] in order to register the
component. Something like (the prpl ID might be wrong, I'm just
guessing) should work:

category im-protocol-plugin prpl-mxit @instantbird.org/purple/protocol;1

> Is MXit a protocol you would be interested in including?
If someone is willing to take the time to add it, test it, etc. I think
we'd be willing to include it, yes. You should note, however, that we
don't support every function in the libpurple API, I'm unsure if MXit
uses these. (E.g. we can't just go "It compiles! Let's include it!", it
also needs to be tested to ensure most of the features work still.)

> Regards,
> Andrew Victor

Are you a MXit employee or just someone interested in using MXit with
Instantbird?

Please let us know if you have any more questions, either here or on our
IRC channel (#instantbird on irc.mozilla.org). Also, I've CCed our
developer mailing list.

--Patrick

[1] https://bugzilla.instantbird.org
[2]
http://lxr.instantbird.org/instantbird/source/purple/purplexpcom/src/prpl.manifest

[Andrew Victor]

hi,

> If someone is willing to take the time to add it, test it, etc. I think
> we'd be willing to include it, yes. You should note, however, that we don't
> support every function in the libpurple API, I'm unsure if MXit uses these.

Thanks, I'll see how far I can get it working & tested and let you know.

> Are you a MXit employee or just someone interested in using MXit with
> Instantbird?

I am an employee, but will be looking into Instantbird in my own capacity.


Regards,
Andrew Victor

[Patrick Cloke]

Andrew,

That's great to hear. Please let us know if you have any questions,
etc. You can ask here, or if you want faster answers, try our IRC
channel (#instantbird on irc.mozilla.org). There are generally people
hanging out there during CET (UTC+2) and EST (UTC-4) hours.

Thanks,
--Patrick