MCabber

MCabber

MCabber is an open-source text-based multi-chat application designed for group communication. It supports multiple chat protocols including XMPP/Jabber, IRC, Twitter, Telegram and more. MCabber is lightweight, customizable and offers features like chat logging, notifications, enc
MCabber image
chat messaging multiprotocol open-source

MCabber: Open-Source Text-Based Multi-Chat Application

An open-source text-based multi-chat application supporting multiple protocols, customizable and featuring chat logging, notifications, encryption and themes.

What is MCabber?

MCabber is a free, open-source, text-based multi-chat application for Linux, BSD, and other UNIX-like operating systems. It is designed for efficient communication in chat rooms and group conversations across different chat protocols.

Some of the key features of MCabber include:

  • Support for major chat protocols like XMPP/Jabber, IRC, Twitter, Telegram and more using libpurple chat library
  • Tabbed interface to connect to multiple chat accounts and join various chat rooms
  • Fully customizable appearance with different color schemes, fonts, layouts using text UI
  • Chat logging for keeping histories of conversations which can be searched later
  • Notifications and highlight support to alert on messages from specific users
  • Built-in OTR encryption for secure chats
  • Automated away messages and chat room moderation abilities
  • Extensibility through Python, Perl, Shell and more scripting languages

MCabber focuses on being a lightweight, responsive and scriptable chat client for power users. With its active development community and plugin ecosystem, it offers a highly customizable platform for communicating across today's chat networks.

MCabber Features

Features

  1. Text-based interface
  2. Supports multiple chat protocols like XMPP/Jabber, IRC, Twitter, Telegram
  3. Lightweight and low resource usage
  4. Highly customizable with scripting support
  5. Chat logging and search
  6. Encryption support
  7. Themes and color schemes
  8. Notifications and alerts
  9. Auto-reconnect
  10. Tabbed interface
  11. Plugin support

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Open source and free

Very lightweight and fast

Supports many popular chat protocols

Highly customizable

Active development community

Available for multiple platforms

Cons

Steep learning curve

No GUI - text-based only

Setup can be complex for beginners

Limited native features compared to GUI clients

Scripting required for advanced customization


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