Objective:
Get an AIM-transport in place for my new jabberd2 server.

Outcome:
Success. While I didn't end up taking the course of action I expected, I ended up with a better end result. AIM-t for 1.4.3 never did seem to work with buddy lists, but I instead used PyAIM-t after learning that it wasn't ejabberd specific.

Steps:
Well, this one was definitely a lot more of a challenge than mu-conference. I originally planned to try compiling AIM-t through JCR, but decided to explore more options when I found that jcomp.mk was specific to mu-conference; just to see if there was an easier route before trying to learn a whole new set of stuff. Next I started exploring the option of running concurrent jabber servers as I was going to do for mu-conference; but I had this nagging feeling that perhaps that wasn't the best answer. I also lack an understanding of what really happens under the hood of jabber servers; I decided to order two books last night to aide me in future experiments: Jabber Developer's Handbook and Programming Jabber: Extending XML Messaging. I had seen an alternative solution mentioned, PyAIM-t, but every time I had seen it, it was in the context of ejabberd, so I always ignored it. After seeing the hackery involved in running AIM-t, I decided it was worth a shot, so I checked it out; I figured I could port it to jabberd2 when I got my books. Instead I found instructions for running it with a number of different XMPP daemons! I was quite impressed by this, so I got the necessary twisted port and then PyAIM-t distribution. I followed their directions here and was online in no time. It's documented well enough that I don't really even need to put my config changes here!

Closing Remarks:
I'm happy I ended up deviating from the path of JCR or running a native jabberd1.4 server because I learned a little something about routers and the architecture of jabber components. This definitely opens up some more doors in my mind about how to properly utilize XMPP to its fullest extent through jabber; I can't wait 'till my new books come! Lesson of the night: don't write off options unless you're sure they won't work.