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ICQ is a cross-platform instant messaging and video-telephony service. ICQ has been around since 1996, one of the longest running instant messengers out there. Originally developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis, it was bought by AOL in 1998 and then by the Russian company Mail.Ru Group (that was renamed to VK since 12 October 2021).

ICQ can be used in a client by logging in with the user's given UIN code. As of 2019, newly registering users of the service require an SMS-enabled mobile cell number for confirmation. Since the recent introduction of the new WIM protocol, an e-mail address (if given during registration) can also be used in place of the UIN to log in. The registered cell number can also be used to login, but this would require an confirmation code by SMS every time so this is not recommended.

While using the ICQ messenger, remember that most of its servers are located in Russia, as the Russian law requires keeping logs and data inboard the country. And that is not the secret that the russian intelligence services may gain access to it, that's even declared in their private policy:

  Any personal identifiable information may be shared with third parties when ... We are required to disclose such information to authorized officers of the court in order to comply with valid legal process

The desktop version of ICQ (including on Windows and macOS) is open source (see GitHub).

## Installation

You can use one of following methods in order to use ICQ in Arch:

(please note that ICQ's OSCAR protocol is depreciated and replaced by WIM - you should check if third-party clients support the new protocol instead of the old one. OSCAR still functions (as of March 2019) but it is highly recommended to make use of the new WIM instead):

### Graphical clients

- ICQ — Official ICQ client for Linux.

  https://icq.com/linux/ || icq-binAUR

- Jitsi — Audio/video VoIP phone and instant messenger written in Java that supports protocols such as SIP, XMPP, ICQ, IRC and many other useful features.

  https://jitsi.org/ || jitsiAUR

- Kopete — User-friendly IM supporting Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, GroupWise, ICQ, XMPP.

  https://apps.kde.org/kopete/ || kopete

- Pidgin — Multi-protocol instant messaging client with audio support that uses libpurple and supports all its protocols (install purple-icyque-gitAUR for the WIM protocol).

  https://pidgin.im/ || pidgin

- qutIM — Simple and user-friendly IM supporting ICQ, XMPP, Mail.Ru, IRC and VKontakte messaging.

  https://qutim.org/ || qutimAUR

### Command-line clients

- EKG2 — Ncurses based XMPP, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ and IRC client.

  https://github.com/ekg2/ekg2 || ekg2AUR

- Finch — Ncurses-based chat client that uses libpurple and supports all its protocols (install purple-icyque-gitAUR for the WIM protocol).

  https://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Using%20Finch || finch

#### Chat client plugins

- BitlBee — IRC gateway to popular chat networks (install bitlbee-libpurpleAUR and purple-icyque-gitAUR for the WIM protocol).

  https://bitlbee.org/ || bitlbeeAUR

### Web-based clients

- WebICQ — The official web ICQ client.
- Franz — Electron application. Messaging browser for many web services.

  https://meetfranz.com/ || franzAUR

- Rambox — Electron application. An alternative to Franz, no longer open source. Offers all the features of its Apache 2 counterpart.

  https://rambox.app/ || rambox-binAUR

Category:

- Instant messaging