finch - debug text frequently dumped to screen

[David]

Binary package hint: pidgin

When using the finch program (part of the pidgin package) on Ubuntu 9.10, it dumps this text soon after startup, or possibly at other times:

(Finch:19551): pidgin-libnotify-plugin-DEBUG: Successfully wrote blacklist file to /home/david/.config/indicators/messages/applications-blacklist/pidgin-libnotifyTotal: 2

The text is drawn on top of the rest of the interface, making it difficult or impossible to read parts of my buddy list or instant messages. Using alt+R to resize the curses 'windows' can sometimes make some of the text go away, but not all of it.

[Dan Buhrman (dan-buhrman)]

Thank you for reporting this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better.

Can you please state your pidgin and finch version? (finch --version && pidgin --version)

[David (web-horizon-nigh)]

$ finch --version
Finch 2.6.2 (95470d310d5d3a229c0b9fc4232da9bfeafaeb5b)
$ pidgin --version
Pidgin 2.6.2 (libpurple 2.6.2)

[David (web-horizon-nigh)]

Bug Watch Updater is incorrect, no fix has been released.

Going by http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/10783 -
It looks like the problem is with a plugin that Ubuntu bundles with this package, and thus isn't a problem with Pidgin/Finch itself.

Can the Ubuntu maintainer fix this and/or take it to the upstream plugin author? This seems to be the plugin author's web site: http://gaim-libnotify.sourceforge.net/

[orzo (joe-jerkface)]

The issue is that the pidgin-libnotify package (not upstream version) uses g_debug() to output messages. finch could redirect that with g_log_set_default_handler() but they apparently don't. Either finch should redirect g_debug() output or pidgin-libnotify and any other libpurple plugin that want's to work with finch should avoid using g_debug().

[Brian Poole (pooleb)]

Can we get this fixed? orzo's comment back on 2010 seems on the money. Ubuntu's pidgin-libnotify patches add g_debug statements that cause this message to randomly corrupt the finch screen. It makes the interface pretty much unusable.

To fix it, either finch needs to catch those messages or we should stop emitting them.

Given that it is a patch on Ubuntu's side that is causing the problem, fixing it on this end seems correct. Can we please comment out the g_debug lines added by the indicate.patch?

[Brian Poole (pooleb)]

Less broken patch. This applies against the existing indicate.patch file. I'm sure it's not a proper Ubuntu patch but at least it should apply correctly, unlike the previous.

It is also tested and working (i.e., not spamming my finch console.)

[Iuri Guilherme dos Santos Martins (iuri-guilherme-dsm)]

I keep erasing the file in .config/indicators/messages/applications-blacklist but it keeps coming back.

[Alex Solanos (hakermania)]

Same here with Finch 2.7.11 (266042fff48838ac6672bcde8cf02babb5d5bae0)

[Brian Poole (pooleb)]

It appears the correct fix is to not install the pidgin-libnotify plugin into the purple-2 lib directory as this plugin relies on GTK+ for alerts. That doesn't make sense for non-GTK purple-based apps (e.g., finch) and per the plugin guide this should not be installed as a core module. See: http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Scripting%20and%20Plugins

The fix is simple. Change gddir to from purple-2 to pidgin in the src/Makefile.am. This was proposed nearly two years ago in the original pidgin bug entry. See: http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/10783

Yes, this should probably should be fixed upstream but there hasn't been a new release in years.

To recap, if pidgin-libnotify and finch are installed simultaneously, finch gets run over by debug messages on startup. It is annoying and broken. Can someone please commit this fix?

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

The attachment "Patch to existing indicate.patch to comment out g_debug calls" of this bug report has been identified as being a patch. The ubuntu-reviewers team has been subscribed to the bug report so that they can review the patch. In the event that this is in fact not a patch you can resolve this situation by removing the tag 'patch' from the bug report and editing the attachment so that it is not flagged as a patch. Additionally, if you are member of the ubuntu-sponsors please also unsubscribe the team from this bug report.

[This is an automated message performed by a Launchpad user owned by Brian Murray. Please contact him regarding any issues with the action taken in this bug report.]