Linux is an awesome open source operating system which has its unique applications. Though there are more Windows users, people will like Linux the most if they started using it. Say no to viruses when you are on Linux. Social networking is the best place to share our thoughts and ideas with friends. Chatting is the prominent feature what all social networks provide. Some people join social networks like Facebook, Orkut and Google+ only for chatting purposes. It's been a great feature to share personal ideas over internet with friends. Usage of Instant messengers will save the data usage and you are not accessing the whole social networking site to see all news feeds from your friends which contains pictures and videos. Here, I have listed out most awesome Instant Messengers for Linux operating system.
As Linux is concerned to be open source and an operating system which is not used widely like Windows. So, developers are less than that of a Windows Application developers. May be, as it is open source it has got some developers. It has got numerous Instant Messenger Clients to chat with people.
Empathy
I would like to rank the Empathy Instant messenger for Linux as the first one as it supports most of the social networking sites and chat networks. Ubuntu offers Empathy as a default Instant Messenger client. The notification for the new message is more instant than any other.
Voice calls, Desktop sharing, File Sharing and more are included in Empathy. Your Away status is automated when you leave your computer idle for sometime and also depends on your GNOME screensaver.
Most of the social chat networks like Facebook, GTalk, Yahoo!, MSN, Gizmo5, LiveJournal Talk, Nokia Ovi and other Jabber servers are mostly supported. Empathy is a default Instant Messenger client for most of the Linux Distributions.
Pidgin
Notifications for Email for many Email providers are features in Pidgin. This is one of the awesome instant messengers for Linux.
The most stable Instant Messenger for Linux Operating System is Pidgin, I hope as I am a regular user of Pidgin. Additionally, Plugins for Music status, Save chat logs and more. Even I active on work, I can put my status as Away and people who see your name on their chat list will think that you are not at your desk. This will make people not feel bad about you for not replying.
You can also schedule the away status, I mean the time since you are inactive on computer. The status will change automatically. A text status while Away, while busy and while chatty can also be provided.
Skype
Skype, I think most of the users must have aware of this chat client. Skype is mostly used for video chat which is a best among all other Instant Messenger client. Not only video chats, also you may do messaging to your Skype mates.
You can chat with your Facebook, GMail or other contacts. However, you need a separate Skype account for chatting and your friend too needs a Skype account for using Skype. Signing up on Skype is more simple. And, also you can directly send invitations to your Email contacts.
If you connect your Skype account with your Facebook account, it will show up friends who are in Skype and you may include them in your list.
aMSN
AMSN, as the name says, it works well for MSN Protocol. You may have any status while logging in. This is the important feature in this Instant Messenger Client as other IM clients will always give you the facility to change your status only after logging in. This becomes a trouble one. When any of your friend sees you online at that moment, he/she may becomes a disturbance when you are scheduled to work for an important task.
I am not telling in a wrong manner. But sometimes, you may have to avoid them to continue your important task. AMSN lets you to log in as a Busy/Online/Away status, whatever the status you've been at last session. Video calling feature is also included in this messenger.
Digsby
Digsby which is available for Windows Operating System is also available for Linux and OS X. This features most of the services of Social networking. It supports many social networking sites and lets you to see all notifications, messages, chats and new emails right on your desktop. You don't have to browse anything on your browser. This is the most expected Desktop client.
You can switch to many themes so that you will get a better experience while chatting. If you connect Facebook with Digsby, you'll be getting most out of it. I mean, Notifications, News feeds and new messages, right on your desktop. I think Facebook Messenger is supported only on Windows 7. Now you may use Digsby for Windows XP too and get more services than a Facebook Messenger provide.
Also see: Google Talk in different Indian languages
Kadu
Kadu supports services like Google Talk and Facebook and the IM client is programmed using C++ and Qt Framework. Kadu depends mostly on Plugins so there are lot of features available that makes Kadu to get more features. Officially it servers 40+ Plugins for its application, Kadu. Good app to give a try. You may like it.
Psi
Psi, an Instant messaging client which supports XMPP protocol like Google Talk. The IM client which can also support Yahoo!, MSN and AIM clients. Psi was released on Today, that is July 7 but not 2012. It was released on 2001 and it is celebrating its 11 years of experience. When this IM client was initially released, it contained only basic features but now will lot of graphical interface and features, it runs more smoothly on Linux.
Tapioca
Tapioca is a Voice over IP and Instant Messenger Client. Tapioca mainly exchanges information over Google Talk IM services.
Share your thoughts here in comments. If you love any other instant messenger for Linux, you may share here.