Awesome

<-- bridgin-php -->

    a nifty little script
        to bridge multiple IM and chat sessions
        across the various chat services supported by libpurple
            (aim, facebook, googletalk, icq, identi.ca,
                irc, msn, myspace, twitter, yahoo and many others)

NOTE: this project has no license and is no longer maintained - it has been completely re-writtten as a native plugin for pidgin/finch/adium to overcome the limitations of this IPC approach allowing for better stability and more features - the bridgin plugin has the same features as bridgin-php (and more) and is AGPL3+ licensed - see here --> https://github.com/bill-auger/bridgin

install instructions for debian (ymmv)

install pidgin and plugins

ensure you have access to the multiverse repositories
then update if necessary and install pidgin

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pidgin

many services are supported by default (irc , yahoo , aim , msn , many others)
but some services such as skype and twitter are not installed by default
so you may need to install the plugins for your favorites additionally

sudo apt-get install pidgin-skype

a list of available plugins can be found on the pidgin wiki

install the dbus php bindings

install build dependencies if necessary which may include

sudo apt-get install php-pear pkg-config php5-dev libdbus-1-dev libxml2-dev

there may be others as well and you may need to use your penguin skills
to ferret out any hints given in the next step when installing the dbus php bindings

sudo pecl install dbus-beta

Add the dbus extension to your 'php.ini' command line config

sudo echo "extension=dbus.so" >> /etc/php5/cli/php.ini

type the following command into a terminal and verify that 'dbus' is listed
along with the 'DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS' environment variable

php -r 'echo phpinfo() ;' | grep dbus

configure pidgin

minimal example (IRC <-> skype):

• launch pidgin and create and activate an 'IRC' account
  and set 'Username' and 'Server' under 'Login Options'

• create and activate a 'skype(D-Bus)' account
  and set 'Username' under 'Login Options'

• launch skype and it will ask you to grant API permission to pidgin
  if you authorize you then see your online skype contacts in pidgin

configure bridgin-php

configuration is not necessary but may be customized via the config file

nano ./include/bridgin.constants.v`cat ./VERSION`.inc

launch 'bridgin.php' via the terminal

php bridgin.php

you will be shown which of your pidgin accounts are setup and active
open a chat window in pidgin session for each channel you want to bridge
(for skype chats someone else may need to initiate before it will appear)
then post the following chat message into each of the channels youd like to bridge

?/add

or

?/add a-bridge-name

this script handles multiple bridges with multiple channels each
there is currently no limit to the number of channels that may be bridged (uayor)
to create a another discrete bridge repeat as above with a distinct bridge name

?/add another-bridge-name

caveats

• local pidgin user is the only admin and may chat on individual channels as usual
  but messages will not propogate to other channels unless properly prefixed

• although bridges and channels are persistent across restarts
  messages can only be relayed to channels with an open pidgin conversation window

nifty tips for additional awesomeness

for added coolness you could set your IRC nick to 'OTHER_CHANNEL' // e.g. 'SKPYE'

/nick OTHER_CHANNEL

an analogous trick may or may not be possible on all chat services
in skype you could set 'Real Name' in your profile to 'OTHER_CHANNEL' // e.g. 'IRC'

admin commands

the following admin commands are currently supported:

    ?/add
        - add this channel to the default bridge
    ?/add 'BRIDGE_NAME'
        - add this channel to the bridge 'BRIDGE_NAME'
    ?/rem
        - remove this channel from its bridge
    ?/disable
        - temporarily disable all bridges
    ?/disable 'BRIDGE_NAME'
        - temporarily disable the bridge 'BRIDGE_NAME'
    ?/enable
        - enable all bridges
    ?/enable 'BRIDGE_NAME'
        - enable the bridge 'BRIDGE_NAME'
    ?/echo 'SOME_TEXT'
        - echo text to the same channel
    ?/chat 'SOME_TEXT'
        - relay text to the all channels on this bridge
    ?/broadcast 'SOME_TEXT'
        - relay text to the all channels on all bridges as $BRIDGE_NICK
    ?/status
        - show status information for all bridges
    ?/status 'BRIDGE_NAME'
        - show status information for the bridge 'BRIDGE_NAME'
    ?/help or ?/
        - show avaiable admin commands
    ?/exit
        - kill the bridgin-php process

enjoy :)

<-- motivation and credits -->

    originally developed for the students and TAs of cs169 on edX
        as part of the educhat project created by sam joseph
        using php and the dbus php bindings
        to interface with pidgin IM via the dbus library
        with a little persuasion from the blog of robertbasic