Yeemp features

Yeemp features

Yeemp is a decentralized encrypted messaging protocol, intended to fulfill the same functions as things like Jabber.

Yeemp is also a multiprotocol IM client, supporting its own protocol, ICQ, and AIM.

It works with Debian woody (using perl 5.6) and Debian unstable (using perl 5.8). The server and the Yeemp protocol portion of the console clients also work in FreeBSD using perl 5.005. ICQ/AIM does not currently work in perl 5.005 on FreeBSD. It should work without too much tweaking on most POSIXy systems with a recent perl and the appropriate modules. I'd like reports on what systems it's been seen running on - and, even more useful, how exactly it breaks on any that it WON'T run on.

Yeemp uses GPG over SSL to protect your messages from eavesdroppers. GPG is used to try to keep your contacts' servers from reading their messages; SSL to try to keep would-be eavesdroppers from determining who you're sending all these encrypted messages to.

If you let it, Yeemp can use Lluzhionne to send webcam feeds to your contacts, assuming that Lluzhionne supports your camera (currently, it only supports the Casio QV-xx cameras directly, and has a kludge to use any camera whose software will dump an image in the same place repeatedly.). Adding more cameras should be fairly easy.

Yeemp supports freeform status. If you want, your status can be "Watching" and your status icon a picture of the Eye in the Pyramid. Or anything else you can cram into a 32x32 or 16x16 icon. (You can customize the status icons you see for AIM/ICQ contacts' status, but as yet your own custom status icons cannot be seen by AIM/ICQ users. ICQ and AIM do not support freeform statii.)

Yeemp supports status-change sounds. Also customizable, of course (and with the same interoperability caveats as above.). And Yeemp can be set to beep when contacts come online.

Yeemp supports freeform user info files and portrait images.

Yeemp is open source.

The Yeemp protocol is largely decentralized. (It would be entirely decentralized, if it weren't for the fact that it depends on DNS.)

Yeemp addresses make sense: I am 'deekoo~tentacle.net', not 291890218901238902313. The ~ is used because an @ sign would make Yeemp addresses too easily confused with email addresses, in my opinion.

Yeemp has no advertising builtin, and no way for me to force ads on you later should I feel the urge to Make Money Fast. AOL will probably figure out a way to adflood you on AIM/ICQ eventually, though.

The Yeemp key-exchange handshake is spam-resistant - a would-be spammer must disclose their Yeemp address to get your key, and the key given to the user is unique. If schmuck~bulkpro.com gets a key and hands it to all his spammy friends, all you have to do is delete the key and any messages sent by someone who got your key from schmuck~bulkpro.com will be unreadable.

Yeemp has both text and GUI clients.

You control who your status gets sent to (unlike ICQ, where AOL's server controls who gets your status.). You can hide your status from those you don't want to know it, or set Yeemp to ask before disclosing your status to anyone.

Yeemp has ICQ and AIM support, which is by now fairly usable.

Yeemp is written in perl. You'll need to have the perl Net::SSLeay, IPC::Open3, Fcntl, POSIX, and IO::Select modules. You'll also need GnuPG and OpenSSL installed.

Credits:

This product includes software developed by Sampo Kellomaki (sampo@iki.fi)