Arch Linux AUR Package
If you are an Arch Linux user interested in using Open Steamworks on your machine, someone has taken it upon themselves to make this awesome plugin available in the Arch Linux User Repository.
If you want to use it, all you have to do is point your favorite Arch User Repository client at this package to install it. Do you not have an AUR client? You might want to check out some of these.
Installing the Plugin Manually
Download the 64 bit plugin here or the 32 bit plugin here, then extract it to your Downloads folder. You’ll also need to download the icon package for Pidgin to use. You can get it here.
When you have everything downloaded and extracted, it’s time to install the plugin to the Pidgin plugin directory. Open up a terminal window and enter the commands below. For 64 bit system: for 32 bit system: Doing this will install the Steam chat plugin into Pidgin’s user plugin directory. This means that the Open Steamworks plugin will only be accessible by your username on the system. After doing this, we’ll need to install the icon package.
Once the plugin and icon package has been installed, restart Pidgin. It needs to reload the plugins directory. When it’s opened again, you’ll be able to log in to your Steam account in Pidgin.
Note: once you’ve entered your login details, you’ll need to check your email and input your Steam guard code (if you use it).
Running the Plugin in Empathy
Do you want to use Steam chat on Linux but are not a fan of Pidgin? Don’t worry! You can easily get all of your favorite Pidgin chat plugins working in Empathy by installing one simple package. Using your Linux distributions’ package manager of choice, search for the package known as “telepathy-haze”. After that, just install it and restart Empathy. Everything should be there after that.
From there you’ll be able to go to the accounts section of Empathy and then add your Steam account to it. Please note: if you use Steam guard, you’ll need to go to your account settings in the Empathy client and apply the security code that was emailed to you.
Conclusion
Steam is a great service, but it’s kind of a pain to have it open all the time, especially since Steam can sometimes be CPU intensive. That’s why I think this plugin, which allows you to chat with your Steam friends in Pidgin, is awesome. It takes one of the best parts of Valve’s service and allows you to use it in your favorite instant messaging client.
