In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Pidgin on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Pidgin is an instant messaging client. It is a free and open-source cross-platform application. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AIM, talking to a friend on Google Talk, and sitting in an IRC chat room all at the same time. Pidgin also supports many features of these chat networks, such as file transfers, away messages, buddy icons, custom smilies, and typing notifications.
This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the Pidgin instant messaging on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.
Prerequisites
- A server running one of the following operating systems: Ubuntu 20.04, 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.
- It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
- SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
- A
non-root sudo useror access to theroot user. We recommend acting as anon-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.
Install Pidgin on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa
Step 1. First, make sure that all your system packages are up-to-date by running the following apt commands in the terminal.
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade
Step 2. Installing Pidgin on Ubuntu 20.04.
Pidgin is available in the default Ubuntu repository, Now run the following command below to install it:
sudo apt install pidgin
Step 3. Accessing Pidgin on Ubuntu.
Once installed, you can launch the IM from ‘Show Applications’ menu and enjoy it. As soon as you start the application, you will see the account settings screen. Press the Add button to add a new account:
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Pidgin. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the Pidgin instant messaging on your Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Pidgin website.
