Finch, a command line alternative to Pidgin
I don't know in which scenario should I suggest you to use a console based IM client but I came across Finch for the first time while trying to save my laptop's battery life during power cuts by shifting to old school console 
. I am not sure whether my basic aim was fulfilled or not but it was fun seeing what ncurses could do :).
For starters, you don't need to start configuring finch just like you did with Pidgin the first time. It automatically takes all the required information from your home directory's .pidgin folder. This means, its exactly like Pidgin but on console. So, if you have been using Pidgin then you won't need to do any configuration on finch.
Install finch
In order to install it on Ubuntu/Debian based systems either click this (help -> apturl, apt protocol) or run the following command in the terminal.
[shredder12]$ sudo apt-get install finch
I am not sure about Fedora/RedHat systems but try running this.
[shredder12]$ su -c 'yum install finch'
Now, in order to launch it just run the command finch on the terminal.
Finch shortcuts
Some basic key shortcuts are:
| Alt + a | Bring up a list of available actions. You can use this list to access the accounts window, plugins window, preference window etc. |
| Alt + n | Go to the next window |
| Alt + p | Go to the previous window |
| Alt + w | Show the list of windows. You can select and jump to any window from the list. |
| Alt + c | Close the current window. |
| Alt + q | Quit Finch. |
| Alt + m |
Start moving a window. Press the cursor keys to move the window. When you are done, press Enter or Escape. |
| Alt + r | Start resizing a window. Press the cursor keys to resize the window. When you are done, press Enter or Escape. |
These are just the basic ones which should be enough but a complete list check out its man page
[shredder12]$ man finch
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