VoIP on Linux? (Skype sold to Microsoft)

asedt

Recent news says that Skype has been sold to Microsoft: http://www.linuxaria.com/article/skype-to-microsoft-its-time-to-know-xmppjingle?lang=en The Skype client for Linux is already outdated?: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/get-skype/on-your-computer/linux And now the future is unknown.

Maybe this is a good thing, now maybe more people will realize that Skype is not that funny*. I use Ekiga but I have no contacts on it to test it properly. And I wished that all my contacts could change

What good alternatives is there for Linux? Is Ekiga/SIP good enough to replace Skype?

*Self quote on Skype vs Ekiga:

It's true that these software does not work the same way, and thats the point. They provide the same kind of service VoIP but Ekiga do it in the free Software way (free as in FSF free) as using an open standard protocol and licensed as open source etc, while Skype do it in a closed non free way using a closed protocol and not open source. I take Eikga or other "free" client over Skype any day, but Skype has more users and some people want it [...] I use Skype some days but don't like it because of it's obfuscate nature.

Whats your opinion? What are you using today?

marc

Ekiga is centralized whereas skype is distributed.

The only opensource solution that works similar to skype is xmpp/jingle and it lacks the ability to call real phones (outside the US that is)

Whenever Google enables this around the world... say goodbye to skype ( FINALLY!! it's a real pain in the youknowwhere for any sysadmin)

Regards

woboyle

I use skype on Linux, but I don't have much faith that MS will keep up the Linux client. I'm currently looking at Google Talk, but I have a lot of friends, family, business associates all over the world with whom I communicate with Skype. Changing peoples habits is difficult...

dwclarke

I've been using Skype, but have always had the issue that after 20 mins (exactly) the incoming voice goes burbly and unusable. Never been able to track down the cause of that one.

I'm currently looking at Google Talk, which I'm going to test this weekend, but would be interested in other cross platform possibilities.

marc

I haven't really tested Google Talk video support. If any of you wanna make some tests this weekend I'll be more than glad to help!

Regards

mfillpot

I have already taken action and cancelled my skype account along with removing it from all of my machines.

I have been having pretty good experiences with googletalk's voice and video chat services, they only work with googletalk users but the quality is pretty good.

saqman2060

I've been using skype for a while until I came across google-talk. It works fare, still has some bugs in the sound quality. I haven't tried phone calling yet.

If I can do on googletalk what I did on skype, then by-by, skype. although, if the outdated skype still works, then I'll kee it.

Goineasy9

Matt and I have used Google Talk in video mode and I was surprised at the quality. I have Google Voice but haven't really use it. The phone number I got was 2 area codes away from me. when they get the rights to more spreads of phone numbers, I'll probably use it more. While I have Skype accounts, I haven't really used them since discovering that the Google Talk Plugin works. The Google Talk Plugin wasn't always useful, well, for voice maybe, but, not with video.
Unfortunately, I can't just discard Skype, just like I can't totally dump Windows, clients are used to Skype, and GoToMeeting is a Windows only app.
What we need to do is start experimenting with Ekiga, and see if we can contribute to that project. I see Ekiga (from which GoToMeeting came) as the present day Open Source version of Skype, that is, until Google opens up Talk and Voice to the world.

Edit: Marc had a great idea, we can experiment and see what works between us. We should try and set something up. I'm most interested in seeing if Ekiga can do a video conference.

marc

mfillpot wrote:

I have already taken action and cancelled my skype account along with removing it from all of my machines.

That sounds like a bit radical, doesn't it?

I have been having pretty good experiences with googletalk's voice and video chat services, they only work with
googletalk users but the quality is pretty good.

Are you sure of that?

Won't it work with any jabber/xmpp user?

Regards

marc

Goineasy9 wrote:

I'm most interested in seeing if Ekiga can do a video conference.

Ekiga has proven to work with video, the only problem is that it is centralized rather than distributed

saqman2060

marc wrote:

Goineasy9 wrote:

I'm most interested in seeing if Ekiga can do a video conference.

Ekiga has proven to work with video, the only problem is that it is centralized rather than distributed

What you mean centralized?

marc

saqman2060 wrote:

marc wrote:

Goineasy9 wrote:

I'm most interested in seeing if Ekiga can do a video conference.

Ekiga has proven to work with video, the only problem is that it is centralized rather than distributed

What you mean centralized?

It runs through only one server. Even if that fails you will just connect to another one and only server.

Skype, on the other hand, stablishes the communitacion through many servers at the same time.

That's the difference

Goineasy9

Thanks Marc for that explanation, I wasn't aware of that, good to know.

mfillpot

marc wrote:

mfillpot wrote:

I have already taken action and cancelled my skype account along with removing it from all of my machines.

That sounds like a bit radical, doesn't it?

I have been having pretty good experiences with googletalk's voice and video chat services, they only work with
googletalk users but the quality is pretty good.

Are you sure of that?

Won't it work with any jabber/xmpp user?

Regards

I only used skype once for a single conversation, beyond that other tools have fit the need better. So, complete removal won't inconvenience me at all. I am very picky about not using any ms based software on my Linux installation including novel's attempted implementations due to too many bad experiences with their software, since skype will soon be in the same group it is a cautious move.

Honestly I don't talk to anyone with a jabber or xmpp account so I have not been able to test the voice and video chat under those services, thanks for catching my typo.

asedt

marc wrote:

Ekiga is centralized whereas skype is distributed.

The only opensource solution that works similar to skype is xmpp/jingle and it lacks the ability to call real phones (outside the US that is)

Ok I did not know that.

Is there any xmpp/jingle client available?


Edit:

I did find http://jitsi.org/ maybe a good alternative?

marc

asedt wrote:

I did find http://jitsi.org/ maybe a good alternative?

There's many:

Gajim
Psi (voice)
Empathy
Pidgin
Jitsi

And probably more

Regards

PS: jitsi is java based and I find those kind of apps to be SLOW

woboyle

Well, now that I finally got Skype to work on my SL6 Linux system, I have been able to easily communicate with clients world-wide, even conference calls. It is really useful for that! Also, I talk (voice and video) with my family in Mexico, business associates in California and Brazil, my Little Brother in New Hampshire, and a young college student in Boston whom I am mentoring! It really is convenient. Switching them all over to google-talk is going to be a process. My mentored student in Boston is already on gmail/google-talk so we will probably start off the process of using it and seeing if it will work for my other frequent contacts. Then I can start nudging them in that direction. As I said in my previous post, changing people's habits (even one's own) is difficult! :-)

marc

woboyle wrote:

changing people's habits (even one's own) is difficult! :-)

That is indeed true!

Goineasy9

Skype voice has worked for me on fedora, video not. Since I can use Google Talk, at least for me, the Skype habit is no monkey on my back (heh). I set up an ekiga acct, now, when my work schedule eases up a bit, I think I'll experiment with that first. Jitsi also looks interesting, it has nightly builds in rpm form, that might be my next experiment. I'm also going to watch what progress Google makes with its voice/talk app.

atreyu

All,

I just ran across this article today and it lists a couple of other alternatives not mentioned yet. Personally, I don't use anything more complicated than text-only IM (i'd just use Unix talk if i could get away with it). but maybe this will be of use to somebody.

http://dasublogbyprashanth.blogspot.com/2011/05/practical-alternatives-to-skype-for-me.html

marc

Have a look at this, sounds interesting:

http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki/Muji?action=show&redirect=MultiUserJingle

Goineasy9

That does look interesting, must keep an eye on it for the future. P2P conference ability, unlimited (although one wonders what the true limits are). Hmmm.

marc

Goineasy9 wrote:

That does look interesting, must keep an eye on it for the future. P2P conference ability, unlimited (although one wonders what the true limits are). Hmmm.

Your connections is probably going to hit the limits way earlier than your system resources

Haven't ever tested the software though...

Regards

kiran.kankipati

Actually there is already partiality between Windows Skype VS. Linux Skype versions !

Do you agree ?

Here are the things I found, eventually lead to this conclusion:
* Windows Skype version is far more updated and works smoother (I mean CPU/RAM utilization).
* Linux Skype version is crazy at times. In my Fedora laptop, upon starting skype it first utilizes all the RAM, then almost freezes. This happens 3 times for every 5 attempts.
* Also Linux skype lacks many features. Linux version offers basic features and not like Windows version.

This is the situation of Skype past 6-8 month. So now since M'Soft aquired Skype, ...
I am least expecting in future skype is really bothered about skype Linux releases ?

I foresee Google may dominate skype very easily.

Goineasy9

We've already used the video conference calling function of Google+ that is called "Hangouts". There is no more need for Skype. At least for those of us in the Google Talk universe. Once this feature is available worldwide, I think Skype will wither. This usually happens when Microsoft buys a technology anyway, it's not like it wasn't expected.

mfillpot

Goineasy9 wrote:

We've already used the video conference calling function of Google+ that is called "Hangouts". There is no more need for Skype. At least for those of us in the Google Talk universe. Once this feature is available worldwide, I think Skype will wither. This usually happens when Microsoft buys a technology anyway, it's not like it wasn't expected.

Based upon google's policies on google+, skype and facebook cannot be completely smashed. The 18+ rule will leave many teenagers who love social networking in the dark, which is where facebook and skype will retain their user base.

chekkizhar

mfillpot wrote:

The 18+ rule will leave many teenagers who love social networking in the dark, which is where facebook and skype will retain their user base.

may be. But, before 18, if they afford to do video chat, then it wont take much time to give a wrong DOB and just proceed with hangouts.

In fedora I used one video chat program long back. But, it was crashed frequently . According to me, skype in Microsoft hand is like, flower in Monkey hand . Skype reputation is going to reduce among the people and this is a expected one as goingEasy9 mentioned.

Who knows, kernel 3.0 may has inbuilt substitute for skype .

Goineasy9

I didn't realize they had an 18+ rule. Using Circles that may not affect what we use Google+ for, since our streams aren't walls and are only visible to those we choose. It is an interesting rule, as was said, they could just lie about their age. It'll be interesting how Google patrols this.

Goineasy9

Jajah looks interesting, I'm going to have to check it out. Thanks for the link.