useless AIM SDK

So AOL has released an AIM SDK allowing third parties to interface directly with the AIM network. Great news, right? Well, not really. The FAQ states:

Developers are not permitted to build Custom Clients that are multi-headed or interoperable with any other IM network.

Not only that; you also need to get a ‘key’ from AOL to use the SDK, and there are licensing agreements involved, and limits on the usage of the key, etc. Lots of red tape. Oh, and while they say there are plans for a GNU/Linux/OS X SDK release, the SDK is currently Windows only. Yawn.

I’m filing this release under the category ‘completely useless’ and will happily continue using Gaim.