GnomeICU is an ICQ client that can communicate with other ICQ users on any platform, whether Linux, Windows, or Macintosh. Check the GNOME software map at for new versions and recent updates. You can find out more about the ICQ protocol at Several GNOME-based ICQ clients are available for your use. To use ICQ, you register with an ICQ server that provides you with an ICQ number, also known as a Universal Internet Number (UIN). These include chat, message, e-mail, file transfer, and games. Several modes of communication are supported. You are then notified in real time when they connect, and you can communicate with them if you wish. You can set up a contact list of users you may want to contact when they are online. Using an ICQ client, you can send users messages, chat with them, or send files. The ICQ protocol enables you to communicate directly with other users online, like an instant messenger utility. Unlike the others, Jabber is an Open Source instant messenger service ( Table 15-2: Talk and Messenger Clients Currently the major IM systems are AOL, Microsoft Network (MSN), Yahoo, ICQ, and Jabber. Instant messenger (IM) clients operate much the same way, allowing users on the same IM system to communicate anywhere across the Internet. With an Internet Relay Chat utility (IRC), you can connect to a remote server where other users are also connected and talk with them. ICQ works much like an instant messenger. ICQ (I Seek You) is an Internet tool that notifies you when other users are online and enables you to communicate with them. Talk is designed for users on the same system or connected on a local network. The Talk utility operates like a telephone, enabling you to have a direct two-way conversation with another user. You can do so with Talk, ICQ, instant messenger, and IRC utilities, provided the other user is also logged into a connected system at the same time (see Table 15-2).

You may, at times, want to communicate directly with other users on your network. Network Talk and Messenger Clients: ICQ, IRC, AIM, and Talk

Original icq sounds