Anil Dash: Is Pidgin the Firefox of IM?

Anil Dash on Pidgin, an open-source multi-network IM client for Windows and Linux:

The evolution of the naming of these clients doesn’t just reflect the incessant legal sniping over IP and branding that a lot of small projects face, but is also a measure of a focus on the image of the projects. This is somewhat atypical for a lot of open source projects, as some contributors can see a focus on branding as irrelevant to, or even contradictory to, making a good product. But while the Pidgin site lacks some of the slickness and polish of the Firefox site, it’s still miles better than the standard “choose a SourceForge mirror for your tarball”-style experience that a lot of comparable projects present to the world.

I enjoy Pidgin’s clever URL: “pidgin.im”.

★ Thursday, 26 April 2007