Are there good reasons to use AIM Phoenix over modern protocols such XMPP, Signal, or Telegram?

To use it over modern protocols, no, I dont think so. Its just a matter of preference most likely. With that said, adium has never been about one protocol OVER another one. Its already there, all it needs its the modification to make it useful to the users over there. Id assume this change would be easier than removing the protocol all together, and leaving it would make many mac based aim phoenix users happy, as theres no other good alternative.

Ive been talking to the dev about getting the server daemons released too, as theres a bit of interest in that. If that happens, it'll be the first public OSCAR daemons and will open it up even more as a competitor to those you mention.

Their sites are down at this exact moment as they're constantly being worked on. So i cant check the stats, but With this modification it would be the only Mac Aim Client left. Right now users have to try to get an old version of aim working with wine.

With that said, adium has never been about one protocol OVER another one.

Right. But at the same time, code needs to be maintained and unnecessary code is a burden. I'd be surprised if there a more than a few hundred users of AIM Phoenix.

That's fair enough. Im not sure how much needs maintained on a protocol thats unchanged in probably more than a decade, but Its not my software, I am just a user and I was just asking.

No worries. I'll do what I can with the code and compile my own version if I figure it out. If not, ill move along.

thanks for your time.

WTF - I posted a reply and then edited and updated and GitHub mobile web deleted the comment? Makes no sense.

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Please submit any information you have about what needs to be changed in order for AIM Phoenix to work. Is anyone currently using a modified version of the client?

Trying to look into AIM Phoenix, their webpage index is broken. Going via a non-index page works, but the site doesn't provide much information.

If it is as simple as changing a few details, that may be less work than ripping AIM out. But I would ask— what's the purpose of AIM Phoenix? They don't bother offer "here's why we're launching old clients" or anything.

Please submit any information you have about what needs to be changed in order for AIM Phoenix to work.

When you change the "login server" for AIM to anything other than the old AIM hostname (aka, no matter what), Adium tries to authenticate the account through "https://api.screenname.aol.com" rather than the specified Login server. According to the Phoenix site, it worked as recently as Adium 1.3.10 (and lower, with encryption disabled).

I think libpurple_gaim is getting the authentication hostname from.. somewhere, but I cant find it. I've never actually worked on a Mac APP, so take that with a grain of salt.

What other specific information do you need?

Is anyone currently using a modified version of the client?

I do not think so, not that I'm aware of or can find. Most use Adium 1.3.10- or an old official AIM client in wine. I run a VM for the official clients which are a pain anyway.. Problem with this is BigSur and a lot of options going away (it wont run the 32bit stuff).

Trying to look into AIM Phoenix, their webpage index is broken. Going via a non-index page works, but the site doesn't provide much information.

Here is the main page link (its up now). He is currently in the process of migrating everything over to a production server. As you can see, thats on his local server. He is moving the site and nodes here. I've had an account there for a couple years at this point, so I might be able to answer a lot of the basic questions.

RobFrog is probably right, there are probably only a few hundred active users. At any given time during the day, its ~100+ users logged in (dropping to the 50s/60s overnight US time). When I first joined though, in probably 2017/2018, there'd only be 2-3 people on at any given time during the day. The more features he is able to emulate properly, and over time, more people join and remain active.

If it is as simple as changing a few details, that may be less work than ripping AIM out. But I would ask— what's the purpose of AIM Phoenix?

This is why I left my issue open even after seeing the issue to remove it. I figured it MIGHT be as simple as reverting a small section of code, since it worked properly in previous versions, and that you guys would surely be interested in users who are still actively using your software, even if they're stuck on old versions.

As far as the purpose, he and his team have rebuilt a few old games, and are also building yahoo and ICQ servers. I think the main purpose was nostalgia, and just giving people something to play with as well as keeping their dev skills sharp. I think its grown more at this point. It's caught on to a bunch of old users so far, and I think it will continue to grow as they keep working on it.

Honestly though, my personal opinion.... You have AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo!, Google Talk (* works with account modifications), MyspaceIM. Maybe livejournal? Facebook doesnt seem to like it anymore. I believe all of these are dead services or inapplicable. AIM being the only one that can be used and has active users, the only potentially viable one at this time. At present, I only use Adium IRC at this point. If I have to run a windows machine or keep a VM running for AIM, i'll just switch back to IRCN (mirc) (which is why I liked adiums IRC layout in the first place, with the tab locations and all looks/feels like a modern irc client should). Time would be better spent making a small change to AIM (if thats all it is) and then removing those protocols dont have any viable options. Again, thats my opinion.

Im attaching a screenshot of what happens in the more recent stable version of Adium. Please let me know if I can be of any further service.

Actually, heres an updated screenshot. That previous one, I forgot to reverse my host file change. Ive attached the update one. (which the previous screen shot shows it is using SSL to connect to the auth server, despite encryption being disabled, so that could be a part of why I couldnt just fix it with a pointing with my hosts file.)

@stephenchaffins @Asher- and @RobFog : This has been kinda stale for a week now. As RobFog said:

Are there good reasons to use AIM Phoenix over modern protocols such [as] XMPP, Signal, or Telegram?

Please see #18 . I see no reason to keep this issue running when this is about an obsolete service anyway.

Such a weird niche probably means that there are some code-capable individuals floating around... If we got even one of them contributing, that would be a win. I think that if there isn't significant work to enable AIM Phoenix, then why not?

The biggest barrier to entry right now is that there is too much stuff to look at and make sense of organization. Once the code base is cleaned up and an example is working then some of these folks can jump in. I think it's at least worth considering.

Setting this to at lest milestone 1.7. If someone can get the code work @Asher- mentioned done before then we can move talk about moving it.