This repository contains all of the proprietary protocol plugins that were ever included in Gaim/Pidgin.
There are many goals of this repository including being able to use any of them with modern versions of Pidgin 2. We are unlikely to ever port these to Purple 3 but if someone wants to do that, they can feel free assuming they follow the licenses.
Most of these protocols have little if any documentation to how they work. By preserving them in this repository it is much easier for people to study them.
Also there has been a lot of interest in creating clones of old chat networks. Projects like Retro AIM Server, escargot, and NINA all do this to different extents.
Many people have asked us about bringing back our old protocols so that they can use Pidgin on these networks. Initially we rejected this idea as this code hasn't been maintained in years and may potentially have security issues.
However, we realized that if we don't support these protocol plugins others may do so and when people need support they'll most likely look to us. While this should be fine, it could take a while to figure out exactly what's going on, especially if there are multiple versions out there.
To avoid all of this, we decided we would get everything setup in a fashion that is low maintenance for us but makes it easy for people to contribute in a way that everyone can win.
When it comes to the clone networks, the protocols may be the same ones used years ago but these are not the same networks. Your friends from way back when are not on these networks as these are completely separate implementations and your data on the official networks was lost when they shut them down.
Likewise, you are unlikely to be able to hold the operators of these networks accountable unless you personally know them. This means you should be very careful about what you share on these networks as they can see everything that is happening on them including the messages you send.