5 ms·

NINA: Rebuilding the original AIM, AOL Desktop, Yahoo and ICQ platforms

84 points by ecliptik 1y ago

deadbabe 1y ago
Someday someone will do a project like this but for Discord.
benguild 1y ago
the sad thing about this is what made it magical before was the people that were on there, and it’s impossible to get that back now!
- endre 1y ago
  same with IRC except IRC never went down.
  - Bluestein 1y ago
    ... and never will :) Spaceships bearing our genes will still beam IRC from somewhere down deep in engineering.-
    - stevenAthompson 1y ago
      What would be the purpose of launching a decaying lump of monkey meat into space when the AI can explore just as well with a tiny fraction of the mass requirements? I'd wager that it will be AI's using IRC from space, but IPv6 still won't have replaced IPv4. :)
      - Bluestein 1y ago
        > wager that it will be AI's using IRC from space, but IPv6 still won't have replaced IPv4. :) You are indeed totally correct on all points! (But IRC it will be :)
  - anthk 1y ago
    Ditto with Usenet albeit there's always cool people there.
  - mmmlinux 1y ago
    no but apparently you can have some kind of coup on one of the most popular servers and cause a huge dent in it...
- thedanbob 1y ago
  Yup, they can probably rebuild ICQ the way it was when I was 16 but they can't make me 16 again.
  - bulte-rs 1y ago
    Hmmm… my wife constantly reminds me that I behave like a 16 y/o child. Perhaps ICQ should be reborn!
    - ta12653421 1y ago
      Attention: Incoming divorce/separation detected, find shelter soon!
- 5- 1y ago
  what made it magical was us being younger. likewise, it's very likely impossible to get that back.
- btucker 1y ago
  Also, it was a time when being “online” was an active state. Now we’re “online” passively 24/7.
  - sylens 1y ago
    Yes, this is it. "Logging on" and "Logging off" were explicit actions that you took as part of your day, instead of just being perpetually connected and reachable.
    - jackvalentine 1y ago
      The internet used to live in a room.
- ocdtrekkie 1y ago
  The invitation to join the project's Discord is magical. That's... where all your friends are now anyways.
iforgotpassword 1y ago
Cool project, kudos to the devs, even though (as other comments say) it seems rather pointless. Some things better stay in the past while you enjoy the nostalgia once in a honeymoon.
ck2 1y ago
so basically Trillian?
- wolrah 1y ago
  Other side of the equation. Trillian was an unofficial client, this seems to be a group running a series of unofficial servers that can be used with the original clients, and presumably also contemporary unofficial clients. I'm also aware of the P3OL project which supports AOL 2.x and 3.x clients.
pjmlp 1y ago
What a way to make me feel old. Nice project. :)
lukaslalinsky 1y ago
What I truly miss is the short era, when it looked like Jabber is going to win the chat world. At least here in Europe, ICQ was on its way out. Both Google and Facebook had interoperable XMPP servers. It ended very shortly after that, but it was good for the year or two while it lasted.
- tomschwiha 1y ago
  For me it was xfire/icq => msn/skype => teamspeak 2/3 (short mumble) => discord
- WorldMaker 1y ago
  Since Champions Online, Cryptic Studio's game chat server used to be Jabber compatible, too. I don't know if it still is, I haven't had a Jabber client running in a while. It might still be. There was something really cool about getting MMO Guild chat (or Fleet chat in my case as a big Star Trek Online player at the time) in your normal IM client. That was also about when we discovered the server would let you create channels that would be global across all the games (and any IM clients). I still tend to refer to Champions Online and (Cryptic's) NeverWinter Online as "Holodeck Adventures" for that reason, because I'd commonly play those in the days of my very active STO Fleet until people started chatting about STO in the global fleet chat.
- tracker1 1y ago
  I was just talking about this the other day... it was nearly a panacea of interconnected, interoperable messengers. My memory shortened it to a few months, but I remember it pretty well. The protocol sucked, but it did work. I really miss the group chats on Yahoo that included voice. X spaces is close-ish, and I know that discord and others have similar features... just feels a lot less connected.
  - xnx 1y ago
    > panacea of interconnected, interoperable messengers It's a miracle we still have this with email.
fithisux 1y ago
Are Pidgin/MrandNG supported?
- anthk 1y ago
  You might need to patch Pidgin/Libpurple plugins. An example for Escargot (MSN): https://codeberg.org/transgirlphoebe/msn-pecan/commit/2bac1e43f2120683dab0fc14fdbc8ce671c1519e https://codeberg.org/transgirlphoebe/msn-pecan/commit/2bac1e... Repo: https://codeberg.org/transgirlphoebe/msn-pecan https://codeberg.org/transgirlphoebe/msn-pecan
  - rw_grim 1y ago
    We're working on not needing patches.. We have an installer in the works, but in the mean time check out https://github.com/pidgin/retro-prpl https://github.com/pidgin/retro-prpl There are binaries in the action artifacts, but like I said an installer is coming soon (tm)
anthk 1y ago
I saw that referenced from an OCC challenger: https://occ.deadnet.se https://occ.deadnet.se Here you would try to reuse your old computer (usually 15-20 years old) for common tasks done in 2025. The web it's a no-no minus a few services but you would surprised. Hint: yt-dlp+mpv set to 480p and below, Retrozilla+ a TLS hack in about:config, fake User Agents (PSP, Opera Mini...), https://legacyupdate.net https://legacyupdate.net with a Gemini client and gemini://gemi.dev with the News Waffle proxy, RSS news delivered from Usenet with GMANE... there are tons of hacks. Patching the old clients it's often usually easy, even more in case of AMSN (TCL). It's a matter of changing the URL of the service and maybe some slight API change. Escargot covers the MSN services, which is similar to NINA: https://escargot.chat/ https://escargot.chat/
- sdoering 1y ago
  From the NINA site: > Yahoo! Messenger support is publicly available and interoperates with our Escargot network.
icedchai 1y ago
I loved the original AIM. I remember using it from roughly 1999 to when it was finally deprecated in 2017. Almost 20 years!
- xcrunner529 1y ago
  I’m so bummed I didn’t think to log in before it shut down and grab my buddy list and stuff.
nickdothutton 1y ago
Create the Internet you want to see.
acheron 1y ago
Ah nostalgia. My text message alert (when my phone is not on silent) is the "incoming IM" sound from AIM.
- GuinansEyebrows 1y ago
  at maximum gain, of course, to startle you into a heart attack.
musicale 1y ago
What is the story for security/encryption to exist in a modern threat landscape? I expect with server-based systems you could have an encrypted tunnel to the server and just connect to a local proxy, or ??
lvturner 1y ago
Arugably, ICQ is still going.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent_QQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent_QQ
- giantrobot 1y ago
  ICQ was not QQ. The ICQ service finally shut down last year IIRC. I don't think QQ bought out the ICQ service or anything.
  - lvturner 1y ago
    That's why I said 'arguably', perhaps I should have been more clear in stating that QQ is more like a spiritual successor, although I thought the linked Wikipedia article made that clear enough.
- tracker1 1y ago
  Dunno, last I tried it was very different and I couldn't login to my original 5-digit icq number.
ljlolel 1y ago
Hangout.fm is like AOL chat rooms with music
fishgoesblub 1y ago
Unfortunately, the dev refuses to opensource this and the Escargot rewrite. There's a FOSS AIM server[1], and apparently it supports ICQ, which is new from the last I saw it. [1] https://github.com/mk6i/retro-aim-server https://github.com/mk6i/retro-aim-server
- xcrunner529 1y ago
  Yeah very annoying. They ask for donations constantly but are enjoying keeping everything for themselves.
  - fishgoesblub 1y ago
    Especially since the original Escargot server software was open source.
    - xcrunner529 1y ago
      I have a lot of love and nostalgia for aim and AOL and think it would be a fun motivator to learn more programming with a project like that but not without sharing.
bastardoperator 1y ago
Unless they bring back personal filing cabinet, AOL will remain dead. I attribute the entire death of AOL to the death of cerver and mp3z
marcodiego 1y ago
> We're working to primarily rebuild the original AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), AOL Desktop, Yahoo and ICQ platforms as close to the originals as possible, and document the entire thing. Why not contribute to one of many FLOSS implementations that were once maintained?
whalesalad 1y ago
So Adium and Pidgin? https://adium.im/ https://adium.im/ https://pidgin.im/ https://pidgin.im/
- anthk 1y ago
  Or Bitlbee, but no. Here there are reimplementing the server side of the protocol. AIM, MSN and ICQ are reimplemented in a form that even legacy patched clients should work as they came minus the server URL patch.
_chu1 1y ago
These guys are reverse engineering Skype now too. Really cool stuff. https://nina.chat/news/120500000101270/icq-now-in-open-alpha-skype-news-and-other-stuff/ https://nina.chat/news/120500000101270/icq-now-in-open-alpha...

84 points by ecliptik 1y ago

Someday someone will do a project like this but for Discord.

the sad thing about this is what made it magical before was the people that were on there, and it’s impossible to get that back now!

endre 1y ago
same with IRC except IRC never went down.
- Bluestein 1y ago
  ... and never will :) Spaceships bearing our genes will still beam IRC from somewhere down deep in engineering.-
  - stevenAthompson 1y ago
    What would be the purpose of launching a decaying lump of monkey meat into space when the AI can explore just as well with a tiny fraction of the mass requirements? I'd wager that it will be AI's using IRC from space, but IPv6 still won't have replaced IPv4. :)
    - Bluestein 1y ago
      > wager that it will be AI's using IRC from space, but IPv6 still won't have replaced IPv4. :) You are indeed totally correct on all points! (But IRC it will be :)
- anthk 1y ago
  Ditto with Usenet albeit there's always cool people there.
- mmmlinux 1y ago
  no but apparently you can have some kind of coup on one of the most popular servers and cause a huge dent in it...
thedanbob 1y ago
Yup, they can probably rebuild ICQ the way it was when I was 16 but they can't make me 16 again.
- bulte-rs 1y ago
  Hmmm… my wife constantly reminds me that I behave like a 16 y/o child. Perhaps ICQ should be reborn!
  - ta12653421 1y ago
    Attention: Incoming divorce/separation detected, find shelter soon!
5- 1y ago
what made it magical was us being younger. likewise, it's very likely impossible to get that back.
btucker 1y ago
Also, it was a time when being “online” was an active state. Now we’re “online” passively 24/7.
- sylens 1y ago
  Yes, this is it. "Logging on" and "Logging off" were explicit actions that you took as part of your day, instead of just being perpetually connected and reachable.
  - jackvalentine 1y ago
    The internet used to live in a room.
ocdtrekkie 1y ago
The invitation to join the project's Discord is magical. That's... where all your friends are now anyways.

iforgotpassword 1y ago

Cool project, kudos to the devs, even though (as other comments say) it seems rather pointless. Some things better stay in the past while you enjoy the nostalgia once in a honeymoon.

ck2 1y ago

so basically Trillian?

wolrah 1y ago
Other side of the equation. Trillian was an unofficial client, this seems to be a group running a series of unofficial servers that can be used with the original clients, and presumably also contemporary unofficial clients. I'm also aware of the P3OL project which supports AOL 2.x and 3.x clients.

pjmlp 1y ago

What a way to make me feel old. Nice project. :)

lukaslalinsky 1y ago

What I truly miss is the short era, when it looked like Jabber is going to win the chat world. At least here in Europe, ICQ was on its way out. Both Google and Facebook had interoperable XMPP servers. It ended very shortly after that, but it was good for the year or two while it lasted.

tomschwiha 1y ago
For me it was xfire/icq => msn/skype => teamspeak 2/3 (short mumble) => discord
WorldMaker 1y ago
Since Champions Online, Cryptic Studio's game chat server used to be Jabber compatible, too. I don't know if it still is, I haven't had a Jabber client running in a while. It might still be. There was something really cool about getting MMO Guild chat (or Fleet chat in my case as a big Star Trek Online player at the time) in your normal IM client. That was also about when we discovered the server would let you create channels that would be global across all the games (and any IM clients). I still tend to refer to Champions Online and (Cryptic's) NeverWinter Online as "Holodeck Adventures" for that reason, because I'd commonly play those in the days of my very active STO Fleet until people started chatting about STO in the global fleet chat.
tracker1 1y ago
I was just talking about this the other day... it was nearly a panacea of interconnected, interoperable messengers. My memory shortened it to a few months, but I remember it pretty well. The protocol sucked, but it did work. I really miss the group chats on Yahoo that included voice. X spaces is close-ish, and I know that discord and others have similar features... just feels a lot less connected.
- xnx 1y ago
  > panacea of interconnected, interoperable messengers It's a miracle we still have this with email.

fithisux 1y ago

Are Pidgin/MrandNG supported?

anthk 1y ago
You might need to patch Pidgin/Libpurple plugins. An example for Escargot (MSN): https://codeberg.org/transgirlphoebe/msn-pecan/commit/2bac1e43f2120683dab0fc14fdbc8ce671c1519e https://codeberg.org/transgirlphoebe/msn-pecan/commit/2bac1e... Repo: https://codeberg.org/transgirlphoebe/msn-pecan https://codeberg.org/transgirlphoebe/msn-pecan
- rw_grim 1y ago
  We're working on not needing patches.. We have an installer in the works, but in the mean time check out https://github.com/pidgin/retro-prpl https://github.com/pidgin/retro-prpl There are binaries in the action artifacts, but like I said an installer is coming soon (tm)

anthk 1y ago

I saw that referenced from an OCC challenger: https://occ.deadnet.se https://occ.deadnet.se Here you would try to reuse your old computer (usually 15-20 years old) for common tasks done in 2025. The web it's a no-no minus a few services but you would surprised. Hint: yt-dlp+mpv set to 480p and below, Retrozilla+ a TLS hack in about:config, fake User Agents (PSP, Opera Mini...), https://legacyupdate.net https://legacyupdate.net with a Gemini client and gemini://gemi.dev with the News Waffle proxy, RSS news delivered from Usenet with GMANE... there are tons of hacks. Patching the old clients it's often usually easy, even more in case of AMSN (TCL). It's a matter of changing the URL of the service and maybe some slight API change. Escargot covers the MSN services, which is similar to NINA: https://escargot.chat/ https://escargot.chat/

sdoering 1y ago
From the NINA site: > Yahoo! Messenger support is publicly available and interoperates with our Escargot network.

icedchai 1y ago

I loved the original AIM. I remember using it from roughly 1999 to when it was finally deprecated in 2017. Almost 20 years!

xcrunner529 1y ago
I’m so bummed I didn’t think to log in before it shut down and grab my buddy list and stuff.

nickdothutton 1y ago

Create the Internet you want to see.

acheron 1y ago

Ah nostalgia. My text message alert (when my phone is not on silent) is the "incoming IM" sound from AIM.

GuinansEyebrows 1y ago
at maximum gain, of course, to startle you into a heart attack.

musicale 1y ago

What is the story for security/encryption to exist in a modern threat landscape? I expect with server-based systems you could have an encrypted tunnel to the server and just connect to a local proxy, or ??

lvturner 1y ago

Arugably, ICQ is still going.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent_QQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent_QQ

giantrobot 1y ago
ICQ was not QQ. The ICQ service finally shut down last year IIRC. I don't think QQ bought out the ICQ service or anything.
- lvturner 1y ago
  That's why I said 'arguably', perhaps I should have been more clear in stating that QQ is more like a spiritual successor, although I thought the linked Wikipedia article made that clear enough.
tracker1 1y ago
Dunno, last I tried it was very different and I couldn't login to my original 5-digit icq number.

ljlolel 1y ago

Hangout.fm is like AOL chat rooms with music

fishgoesblub 1y ago

Unfortunately, the dev refuses to opensource this and the Escargot rewrite. There's a FOSS AIM server[1], and apparently it supports ICQ, which is new from the last I saw it. [1] https://github.com/mk6i/retro-aim-server https://github.com/mk6i/retro-aim-server

xcrunner529 1y ago
Yeah very annoying. They ask for donations constantly but are enjoying keeping everything for themselves.
- fishgoesblub 1y ago
  Especially since the original Escargot server software was open source.
  - xcrunner529 1y ago
    I have a lot of love and nostalgia for aim and AOL and think it would be a fun motivator to learn more programming with a project like that but not without sharing.

bastardoperator 1y ago

Unless they bring back personal filing cabinet, AOL will remain dead. I attribute the entire death of AOL to the death of cerver and mp3z

marcodiego 1y ago

> We're working to primarily rebuild the original AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), AOL Desktop, Yahoo and ICQ platforms as close to the originals as possible, and document the entire thing. Why not contribute to one of many FLOSS implementations that were once maintained?

whalesalad 1y ago

So Adium and Pidgin? https://adium.im/ https://adium.im/ https://pidgin.im/ https://pidgin.im/

anthk 1y ago
Or Bitlbee, but no. Here there are reimplementing the server side of the protocol. AIM, MSN and ICQ are reimplemented in a form that even legacy patched clients should work as they came minus the server URL patch.

_chu1 1y ago

These guys are reverse engineering Skype now too. Really cool stuff. https://nina.chat/news/120500000101270/icq-now-in-open-alpha-skype-news-and-other-stuff/ https://nina.chat/news/120500000101270/icq-now-in-open-alpha...