Multi-protocol IM client that allows for grouping of contacts by protocol

[NoOp]

On 07/07/2011 03:31 PM, Avi wrote:
> Morning All,
> 
> I'm actually asking this on behalf of someone else, but I've not found
> the answer myself so I'm hoping you can help.
> 
> He's after a multi-protocol IM client where the contacts can be grouped
> by protocol or account. It seems like a fairly reasonable request, so
> I'm a bit perplexed that nobody else appears to have implemented it yet.
> 
> Has anyone got any suggestions? Feel free to ignore any other aspects
> of the client (general usability, supported protocols and OSs etc.) for
> now :)
> 

Pidgin
But install from the ppa as the standard Ubuntu hasn't updated since 2.7.3:
http://pidgin.im/news/security/?id=52
http://pidgin.im/download/ubuntu/
https://launchpad.net/~pidgin-developers/+archive/ppa/

These might be of interest:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EmpathyVsPidginUsability
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Pidgin
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Empathy