Proteus (instant messaging client)
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| Developer(s) | Proteusapps |
| Initial release | ? |
| Stable release | 4.2.1 (October 27, 2008) [+/−] |
| Preview release | N/A (N/A) [+/−] |
| Written in | Cocoa |
| Operating system | Mac OS X |
| Type | Instant messaging client |
| License | Proprietary with GNU General Public License imservices (see controversy) |
| Website | proteusx.org |
Proteus is a popular instant messaging client for Mac OS X that supports multiple protocols through the libpurple library. It is written using OS X's Cocoa API.
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[edit] History
Proteus was originally developed by Justin Wood, then in 2004 Defaultware took over development. As of August 2006, Proteus has changed hands and is no longer maintained by Defaultware.
[edit] Design
Proteus's interface vaguely resembles that of Apple's XMPP and AIM client iChat, although iChat uses the standard Unified design incorporating brushed metal, while Proteus uses an older Aqua design theme that lacks brushed metal. However it has support for more types of networks than iChat, and can also group multiple conversations in one window using tabs. Proteus fails to support some features of the AIM network, such as embedded images, and has limited support for file transfers. It currently has no audio or video conferencing abilities.
Proteus uses libpurple to connect to multiple services. Libpurple is maintained by the Pidgin project. The Proteus developers work on the interface of Proteus, without working on the connections. Other projects, including competitors Adium and QuteCom, also use libpurple.
[edit] Supported protocols
- OSCAR including AIM, ICQ and .Mac services
- XMPP
- .NET Messenger Service, commonly known as MSN
- Yahoo
- Bonjour
- Gadu-Gadu
- Lotus Sametime
[edit] System requirements
Proteus 4.2.1 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. Version 4.15b6 runs on 10.3.
[edit] Controversy
Proteus is based on the GPL licensed libpurple library. However, the developers did not originally share the source code for Proteus. The developers of Proteus claimed that they were in compliance with the GPL by running an RPC-accessible daemon process to link to libgaim. As such, the developers released the source code to the imservices module (their modified libgaim) while keeping the rest of their application proprietary. It is unclear whether this is a legal way to circumvent the GPL. As of version 4.2.1, the entire code base seems to be released under the GPL.
