[OTR-users] Pidgin OTR, Purple Plugin Pack and Privacy

[Peter Lawler]

Hi all,
Just thought I'd drop a note to the list to let you know of a 'bug' in
the Purple Plugin Pack as provided by the team at Guifications.org
(well, technically, not a bug but a Request For Enhancement... but the
side effect may be considered a 'bug' in the normal lingo of users)

'Last Seen should ignore OTR enabled buddies'
https://www.guifications.org/issues/694

A few points:

1. I recommend OTR users ensure that they do NOT use LastSeen for now.

2. I believe it MAY be possible for Pidgin OTR to issue a warning if one
disables logging on a buddy within OTR and LastSeen is enabled. However
this will require a new release of Pidgin OTR, and maybe additional
development of Pidgin itself. 'Watch this space', I guess.

3. I am going to try and write a quick and dirty hack in the next week
or two so as to ensure LastSeen is AT LEAST OTR aware and have this
committed to LastSeen. 'Watch this space'.

4. I am a 'retired Crazy Patch Writer' for Pidgin (see Help->Developer
Information). I'm now seriously considering becoming a 'retired Retired
Crazy Patch Writer' for Pidgin to take up the work of where the Pidgin
'Privacy Rewrite' was left off in the Google Summer of Code project in
2009. This will be a much longer task, so please do not think that it's
currently 'abandoned'. It's just going to take some time to get back up
to speed. I appreciate any patience that users may be able to find for
the task at hand. I'm of the firm belief that fixing up the internals of
Pidgin's privacy is the RIGHT place to correct this, however past
analysis indicates it's going to be 'A Big Job' to make sure Privacy is
'Done Right' looking into the future.

Summary: If you use the Guifications Plugin Pack with OTR, ensure
LastSeen is disabled. This can best be done by deleting the plugin file
on your system and ensuring that if/when you update your Purple Plugin
Pack, you don't add the file back in unless you explicitly notice a fix
in the changelog. Hopefully I'll remember to send a notice to this list
when I get it fixed :)

Regards,

Peter 'Bleeter' Lawler.