Gadu-Gadu (Polish for "chit-chat"; commonly known as GG or gg) is a Polish instant messaging protocol associated with an official client. Gadu-Gadu is the most popular IM service in Poland, with over 7.8 million registered accounts and approximately 6.5 million users online daily.

Gadu-Gadu is financed by the display of advertisements. As with ICQ, users are identified by unique serial numbers. There are numerous add-ons available to provide extra features. The official version provides over 150 emoticons, and allows offline messages, data dispatch, and VoIP. Since version 6.0, an experimental SSL secure connection mode can be used. The developer is based in Warsaw, Poland.

Features

One of the most popular features of Gadu-Gadu is the status option, allowing users to display short text messages visible under their buddy icons on other users' contact lists. Gadu-Gadu uses its own proprietary protocol. Many unofficial plugins have been created to expand its capabilities. Even though Gadu-Gadu officially forbids third-party applications to access its protocol due to revised Terms and Conditions introduced in 2006, other instant messaging clients are able to use Gadu-Gadu:

• All software based on libpurple
• Pidgin for Linux and Windows
• Adium and the now-abandoned Proteus and Fire for Mac OS X
• Miranda IM
• Tlen.pl, a rival service in Poland
• Kadu, an open-source client for Linux and Mac OS X attempting to emulate the official client
• Palringo (Windows PC, iPhone/iPod touch, Windows Mobile and Symbian S60)
• Kopete, an IM client for Linux via KDE

Gadu-Gadu became the first IM service used to connect with space. On 27 June 2008, the 30th anniversary of the flight of Mirosław Hermaszewski - the first Pole in orbit - Gadu-Gadu users were able to connect to the International Space Station.

Solidarity founder and former polish president Lech Wałęsa has declared that he is an active user of Gadu-Gadu. After this fact became public, Wałęsa was granted a special number, 1980 - the year in which he founded the solidarity union.

Many users consider the latest version bloatware, so the older versions (especially 6.1 build 158) are still common.

See also

• Comparison of instant messaging clients
• Comparison of IRC clients
• Comparison of instant messaging protocols

External links

• Gadu-Gadu.pl