This plugin adds a libnotify [2] interface to gaim [3], enabling popups much like guifications [4]. It has some configuration options, to show popups when a buddy signs on, on new messages and on new conversations only.

libnotify and notify-daemon aren't stable yet, so it's all very experimental.

Here is the the gaim-libnotify plugin for gaim. This plugin is compatible with the gaim-2.0 package [5] I made earlier on.

Download and install gaim-libnotify-0.9 [6].

Edit: gaim-libnotify-0.10 is now available from debuntu deb's repository [7] . Follow the instruction there and apt-get install gaim-libnotify.
This plugin displays some small notification message a bit like guification, it pops a small message on your desktop when somebody sign on or send you a message.

[8] [9]

[10]

Please, remember to enable the plugin :).