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So nice for Microsoft to think of themselves first, to the exclusion of anyone else.

You, me, and virtually everyone else think of themselves first. Many then CHOOSE to act on behalf of others. As for excluding everyone else...WTF are you talking about? Skype is available as a DEB, RPM, or SNAP install for Linux. Does it suck that Microsoft has chosen to implement non-standards based features that break compatibility with standards based browsers? Yes, yes it does. But Microsoft has been doing that for decades so it should come as no surprise. And Google is doing it as well.

Will they let skype work on Linux again?

It Just Got Easier to Install Skype on Ubuntu - 1 February 2018

What are the system requirements for Skype?

Skype for Linux system requirements

Linux Version:

64-bit Ubuntu 14.04+
64-bit Debian 8.0+
64-bit OpenSUSE 13.3+
64-bit Fedora Linux 24+

Processor - An Intel Pentium 4 processor or later that's SSE2 and SSE3 capable

RAM - At least 512 MB

Additional software - libappindicator1 or GtkStatusIcon to make the tray icon work (optional)

The web app is basically the new official Skype.

Forget about the desktop application, Skype 8 is just the web app wrapped together inside Electron.

Instead :

  - go straight to https://web.skype.com/ with your browser, at least you won't have to endure their crappy wrapper.

  - use the SkypeWeb lib Purple plugin (either directly into Pidgin, or into something else that is compatible like Telepathy). Though that one doesn't support Voice and Video, only chat.

The (old, Qt-based) classic Skype is deprecated and isn't supported on Linux at all (won't even connect to the network).

There is an official Beta for Linux, which is basically the Skype Web webapp wrapped together with a Chromium browser engine (Electron).

The webapp also works directly on Chrome and Firefox (apparently Microsoft has somehow ported their code using ORTC to the WebRTC standard ?)

A plugin for the purple engine (as used by Pidgin, but also compatible with several frameworks like Telepathy) that relies on the Web API has been written and functions nicely for Chat, but currently doesn't support Voice and Video (it was started back when Skype Web was ORTC only and needed a binary plugin to work on Firefox. The dev simply hasn't had time to developped that since, but there's no technical limitation nowadays preventing this from happening).

WhatsApp... Does that even have a desktop version? Without it it won't matter much in a business context for at least a few years. If it does, it's not advertised enough.

Look up Web Whatsapp.

Now there's a huge difference.
When you use Web Skype, the WebApp is connecting directly to the Microsoft servers. You basically get in your browser the same thing as in the new gen applications. (The new gen Skype application is basically a wrapper around the web app).
It's basically "your browser -> Microsoft's Skype server".

In WhatsApp's case, it's a bit different. You still need a smartphone app (either Android or iOS), that app still makes connection to the Facebook servers itself. But when you log into WhatsApp Web, the phone app goes into server mode, and relays data (through cloud servers) to the web app.
It's supposed to be "your browser -> some relay server -> the app running on your smartphone -> the official Facebook's WhatsApp server".

It's supposed to be done for two reason :
  - to enforce the approach that WhatsApp always had about 1 instance on 1 smartphone linked to 1 cellphone number. (they don't want cellphone-less instances)
  - the axolotl end-to-end encryption that Facebook has rolled both into WhatsApp and into their own inhouse Messenger *is end-to-end*. You need the smartphone to do the end-point decryption and eventually re-encrypt the data for the webapp. The webapp cannot directly connect the the WhatsApp server, because that server doesn't have any access to the cleartext.

WhatsApp is completely irrelevant (why is it even alive? Teens?)

Actually, all the youngs I've seen seem to be on snapchat nowadays.

Nice try grandad, but:

Skype for Linux

How do you know that their business model was not sustainable? Since they were a private company before being purchased by Microsoft we do not know their costs and profits per year.

They offer many paid services in addition to their one free service. They offer personal monthly and yearly plans for private repositories as well as enterprise services sold to Fortune 500 companies. They already have tiers of service. Their free service is perfectly good for people wanting public repositories. The paid and business services are perfectly good for companies.

Skype still has a Linux client. They advertise it on the same page as the Windows and OSX downloads.
https://www.skype.com/en/get-s...
https://go.skype.com/skypeforl...

How do you know that their business model was not sustainable? Since they were a private company before being purchased by Microsoft we do not know their costs and profits per year.

They offer many paid services in addition to their one free service. They offer personal monthly and yearly plans for private repositories as well as enterprise services sold to Fortune 500 companies. They already have tiers of service. Their free service is perfectly good for people wanting public repositories. The paid and business services are perfectly good for companies.

Skype still has a Linux client. They advertise it on the same page as the Windows and OSX downloads.
https://www.skype.com/en/get-s...
https://go.skype.com/skypeforl...

MS's handling of Skype is "good" example of how to run a product right into the ground:

* Shitty redesigned UI remake that no one asked for, and
* Forced updates that removes features

Q. How could MS screw it up even more?
A. Delete old threads

* https://community.skype.com/t5...

I'm surprised Microsoft hasn't deleted this thread yet:

* https://answers.microsoft.com/...

As far as Skype is concerned, run the native Preview. It's pretty good.

That, and Facebook, are the 2 biggest memory hogs on my phone I wish I could delete

If they came pre-installed with the phone, and you can't actually reflash a decent ROM (LineageOS) because of locked bootloader, you can still uninstall the update and then disable them. The App will still take place on your flash, but at least they won't be running and hogging system ressource (memory and CPU cycles).

If you *need* them installed (because of networking effect because all your friends, your family, your significant other(s) keep stupidly using them), you can try the Lite version that Facebook produces for 3rd-world countries. They consume much less resources. (But might miss some feature : Facebook Messenger Lite only features text chat, no video/audio calls).

Regarding the other common hogs:

- For Snapchat, I don't have any idea.
- Skype also has a Lite version, but Microsoft hasn't enabled it in the playstore for all users, so you need to side-load it yourself, e.g.: from apkmirror.

I can either install Skype, make an account and chat about that job I want, or I can tell them I don't have Skype and the reasons why I don't want to install it or make an account

If you have used Outlook.com or Hotmail that preceded it, you have a Microsoft account. If you have set up Windows 8 or 10 and accepted the defaults, you created a Microsoft account. And if you have a Microsoft account, a web browser, and the Pidgin IM client, you can log in to Skype for Web once with your Microsoft account credentials and then build and install Skype for Pidgin.

How long ago did you purchase your phone running Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" new?

Ah, um, let me see... that would be... 9 years.

When did its warranty expire?

8 years ago.

How long is its lithium ion battery lasting on a charge

Long time. I replaced the battery, cost me $20, the new one lasts longer that the original, which already lasted days.

and how well is its screen holding up to scratches?

No scratches.

You've had years to save up for a replacement entry-level Android phone such as the Coolpad Catalyst, which I currently carry.

My Desire Z still has the best physical keyboard of any Android phone in the history of the known universe. You are a condescending ass.

Windows RT users can presumably use Skype for Web in Internet Explorer.

See "condescending ass" above. Work for Microsoft much?

How long ago did you purchase your phone running Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" new? When did its warranty expire? How long is its lithium ion battery lasting on a charge, and how well is its screen holding up to scratches? You've had years to save up for a replacement entry-level Android phone such as the Coolpad Catalyst, which I currently carry.

Windows RT users can presumably use Skype for Web in Internet Explorer.

Instead of adding crap that no one wants how about fixing the stuff that people actually DO want? Like respecting the user's choice to turn off forced updates.

https://community.skype.com/t5...

Subject: Microsoft disables p2p Skype protocol starting March 1, 2017

In a recent update of Skype for Windows Microsoft has announced that starting March 1, 2017 older, p2p versions of Skype will cease to work. This affects Skype for Windows versions 7.16 and below, Skype for Mac version 7.0 to 7.18 and the native Linux client (its only functional version 4.3). This news is especially unpleasant for Linux users of Skype, since the new "cloud ready" version of Skype for Linux is nothing more than a packaged Google Chromium web browser with Node.js running a web version of Skype, which means its memory consumption is huge and it's unable to store your conversation history locally indefinitely like the native client did.

P.S. One can only wonder why ./ editors choose less informative posts over more informative ones.

Subject: Microsoft disables p2p Skype protocol starting March 1, 2017

In a recent update of Skype for Windows Microsoft has announced that starting March 1, 2017 older, p2p versions of Skype will cease to work. This affects Skype for Windows versions 7.16 and below, Skype for Mac version 7.0 to 7.18 and the native Linux client (its only functional version 4.3). This news is especially unpleasant for Linux users of Skype, since the new "cloud ready" version of Skype for Linux is nothing more than a packaged Google Chromium web browser with Node.js running a web version of Skype, which means its memory consumption is huge and it's unable to store your conversation history locally indefinitely like the native client did.

P.S. One can only wonder why ./ editors choose less informative posts over more informative ones.

Subject: Microsoft disables p2p Skype protocol starting March 1, 2017

In a recent update of Skype for Windows Microsoft has announced that starting March 1, 2017 older, p2p versions of Skype will cease to work. This affects Skype for Windows versions 7.16 and below, Skype for Mac version 7.0 to 7.18 and the native Linux client (its only functional version 4.3). This news is especially unpleasant for Linux users of Skype, since the new "cloud ready" version of Skype for Linux is nothing more than a packaged Google Chromium web browser with Node.js running a web version of Skype, which means its memory consumption is huge and it's unable to store your conversation history locally indefinitely like the native client did.

P.S. One can only wonder why ./ editors choose less informative posts over more informative ones.

Does "works well" include handling group calls (or whatever Skype calls them)?

Yes but not in the Web version - currently only the Linux desktop version (with caveats). See https://support.skype.com/en/f... (Calling and call troubleshooting):

Does this fix the incoming group call issue I have on Skype for Linux today?
Yes, the problem with receiving incoming group calls is fixed in Skype for Linux Alpha. Make sure the people you're calling or receiving calls from are using the latest version of Skype.

As you may have guessed by the name, Skype for Linux Alpha is not a fully functioning Skype client as of yet.

Further down, there is a link to a help page with the available features. Looks like everything I use, common things, are taken away in the alpha and only one new thing is being added.... Skype for Linux feature list

Works on OSX: https://www.skype.com/en/downl...

Now how *well* it works? Well...

Well, that's your problem for trying to use Linux. Skype was never meant for it in the first place.

Indeed, Skype wasn't meant for Linux particularly, it was meant for all major platforms, including Linux.

It syncs everything just fine for me.

I highly doubt that. Login on a new device and try going back more than a month on a non-cloud chat.

Windows XP and Windows 7 computers.

Interesting point, I'll address this in a moment.

It works perfectly fine here

I genuinely suspect you're making up stories, much like your whole whole super secret IPv6 IRC network that had furry musicians on a domain that wasn't registered and you couldn't even provide a IPv6 address to connect to (I still have those IRC logs).

I don't know what you're doing to screw it up besides using outdated unsupported clients.

Sorry, all the clients and operating systems I use are supported.

Now your Windows 7 support ended on 1/13/2015 and Windows XP support ended on 14/04/2009.

Now, maybe in theory, you running outdated, unsupported systems may work well, but considering how Skype actually works, I doubt it really does and I have no interest in running outdated, unsupported systems.

https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA12316/what-is-the-skype-web-plugin-and-how-do-i-install-it

So Edge without plugin. IE, Chrome & Firefox with plugin on Windows. Chrome & Firefox with plugin on Mac. Not sure about exact versions.

One of the most common requests on the Skype community forums over the last year and a half is some (any!) basic configuration options for the UI.

There's no way to get a properly compact view, there's no way to set the color of the bubbles, and the support for high-DPI screens is abysmal.

In fact, once I started looking into it, I found a whole batch of UI problems with the new "improved" 7.0 UI, which I shared on the forums and then gathered into a handy blog post:

Skype 7.0 - A new entry for the User Interface Hall of Shame?
http://www.moteprime.org/artic...

The 7.0 UI feedback thread is the longest one on the community forums, and can be found here:
https://community.skype.com/t5...

There's a big difference between Windows communicating with application service providers that the user has made an explicit choice to trust (OneDrive, Cortana, and publishers of live tiles) and the browser's phishing filter sending every URL you visit to an organization that works closely with the MPAA.

From your own link:

Torrent trackers freak out over perceived Windows 10 anti-piracy measures

Based on extremely thin evidence, several private torrent trackers believe Microsoft is setting up for a big piracy crackdown in Windows 10.

---

Well let me know if it turns out to be true, as it stands, it seems like a lot of fearmongering...

That being said... If you're downloading stuff you shouldn't be, why are you complaining? Stop that crap, it is stupid.

The problem is that each PC manufacturer is also "a for profit business," and many PC manufacturers have made a business decision not to cooperate with operating system businesses other than Microsoft.

Two points.

1. They have tried it, multiple times... I know Dell twice in the past 15 years has tried selling systems with Linux on it, and stopped due to various problems.

2. What other "operating system businesses"? Linux isn't really a "business", more a loose collection of various builds of varying degree of compatibility.

And thus you have the problem. If HP or Dell goes and sells a PC with Linux on it, ok, what flavor? Lets say it is Linux Mint. Fine, then the customer downloads a program that is meant for Ubuntu. Now what happens when it doesn't work?

http://www.skype.com/en/downlo...

Lets say the HP Linux customer wants to install Skype. Which version does he download and install on Linux Mint?

I see multiple versions listed there, including TWO versions for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and OpenSUSE, and one marked Dynamic.

If you go to the Windows page for Skype, there is one button to click and no choices:

http://www.skype.com/en/downlo...

Because it knows what to do. That one button works for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10.

There's a big difference between Windows communicating with application service providers that the user has made an explicit choice to trust (OneDrive, Cortana, and publishers of live tiles) and the browser's phishing filter sending every URL you visit to an organization that works closely with the MPAA.

From your own link:

Torrent trackers freak out over perceived Windows 10 anti-piracy measures

Based on extremely thin evidence, several private torrent trackers believe Microsoft is setting up for a big piracy crackdown in Windows 10.

---

Well let me know if it turns out to be true, as it stands, it seems like a lot of fearmongering...

That being said... If you're downloading stuff you shouldn't be, why are you complaining? Stop that crap, it is stupid.

The problem is that each PC manufacturer is also "a for profit business," and many PC manufacturers have made a business decision not to cooperate with operating system businesses other than Microsoft.

Two points.

1. They have tried it, multiple times... I know Dell twice in the past 15 years has tried selling systems with Linux on it, and stopped due to various problems.

2. What other "operating system businesses"? Linux isn't really a "business", more a loose collection of various builds of varying degree of compatibility.

And thus you have the problem. If HP or Dell goes and sells a PC with Linux on it, ok, what flavor? Lets say it is Linux Mint. Fine, then the customer downloads a program that is meant for Ubuntu. Now what happens when it doesn't work?

http://www.skype.com/en/downlo...

Lets say the HP Linux customer wants to install Skype. Which version does he download and install on Linux Mint?

I see multiple versions listed there, including TWO versions for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and OpenSUSE, and one marked Dynamic.

If you go to the Windows page for Skype, there is one button to click and no choices:

http://www.skype.com/en/downlo...

Because it knows what to do. That one button works for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10.

> Citations or screenshots please.

Fuck off citation-needer AC shill. It is well documented that these things are an absolute shit parade. At this point, the burden of proof is on any apologists.

But, here's some articles, shillfuck!

The lockscreen assault...
http://www.extremetech.com/com...
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4...

OP claimed that he's getting advertised Office. You claim he needs proof. While this debate rages, here's tutorial on how to make Microsoft STOP advertising Office. Which, of fucking COURSE it does.

http://www.howtogeek.com/22632...

Presumably, the "Get Skype" app is the one to disable to stop the Skype stuff he complains about.

Oh, and if you NEED Skype, here's how to disable ads in Skype. Uh, this worked a year ago? I don't know if it is current.
http://community.skype.com/t5/...

Shills shilling, shills shilling, shills shilling.....

Skype is a Microsoft product now, so there's no way it would have a Linux client
http://www.skype.com/en/downlo...
Wait, it does?

No Office though.
https://www.libreoffice.org/
That's not Office, I mean something that will open .doc files.
*points at link again*
But it isn't Microsoft
https://products.office.com/en...
That's not funny!

Still doesn't address text editors
-emacs
-jed
-nano
-pico
-vim
-gvim
-gedit
-NEdit
-Tea
-Sublime
-Eclipse

They started to cripple the Linux client as well; since last year it ONLY supports PulseAudio. And it natively supported pure ALSA before that, so it is a feature being removed and replaced with an inferior solution.

Luckily someone created apulse, an emulation layer that allows you to run Skype without the hentai-tentacle-monster known as PulseAudio:
https://github.com/i-rinat/apu...

The best part is how they tout the fact that "Hi there, Skype works without Pulse Audio for features like chat as well as sharing files and photos." on their blog, like anyone would use Skype for the text chat features, and that it would somehow make up for the lost functionality: http://blogs.skype.com/2014/06...

http://:community.skype.com/t5/Windows-desktop-client/Critical-bug-Skype-7-4-85-102-simple-message-crush-client/td-p/3996419

edit: Slashdot seems to be auto-fixing the HREF links... damnit.

Case in point: http://community.skype.com/t5/...

They didn't kill the Skype linux version yet: http://www.skype.com/en/downlo...

They will, e-mail received yesterday about my 808: "Skype apps for Symbian are permanently retiring We've noticed that you are, or previously were, signed into Skype on a Symbian phone, and we're sorry to inform you that we are now permanently retiring all Skype apps for Symbian phones. As a result, within the next few weeks, you'll no longer be able to sign in and use Skype on any Symbian phone. You can still stay in touch with friends and family using Skype on an Android device, Nokia Lumia phone or desktop computer. You can sign into them all using the same Skype account. The latest versions of Skype for all your devices are available at http://www.skype.com/download. Do you have a Skype calling subscription? If you want to cancel your subscription please follow the instructions on this FAQ. Requesting a refund To see if you are entitled to a Skype Credit or subscription refund please contact customer support for more information. We apologize for any disruption caused, Skype"

Banned also from my 808 Pureview! E-mail received today: "Skype apps for Symbian are permanently retiring We've noticed that you are, or previously were, signed into Skype on a Symbian phone, and we're sorry to inform you that we are now permanently retiring all Skype apps for Symbian phones. As a result, within the next few weeks, you'll no longer be able to sign in and use Skype on any Symbian phone. You can still stay in touch with friends and family using Skype on an Android device, Nokia Lumia phone or desktop computer. You can sign into them all using the same Skype account. The latest versions of Skype for all your devices are available at http://www.skype.com/download [skype.com]. Do you have a Skype calling subscription? If you want to cancel your subscription please follow the instructions on this FAQ. Requesting a refund To see if you are entitled to a Skype Credit or subscription refund please contact customer support for more information. We apologize for any disruption caused, Skype"

Not on my 808 Pureview! E-mail received today: Skype apps for Symbian are permanently retiring We've noticed that you are, or previously were, signed into Skype on a Symbian phone, and we're sorry to inform you that we are now permanently retiring all Skype apps for Symbian phones. As a result, within the next few weeks, you'll no longer be able to sign in and use Skype on any Symbian phone. You can still stay in touch with friends and family using Skype on an Android device, Nokia Lumia phone or desktop computer. You can sign into them all using the same Skype account. The latest versions of Skype for all your devices are available at http://www.skype.com/download. Do you have a Skype calling subscription? If you want to cancel your subscription please follow the instructions on this FAQ. Requesting a refund To see if you are entitled to a Skype Credit or subscription refund please contact customer support for more information. We apologize for any disruption caused, Skype

So apparently, and I'm leeching from another post above (kudos and thanks DeathElk), they're not!

http://community.skype.com/t5/...

The app itself forces you to upgrade, because ... I was going to write yay-money-grab, but Skype is "free", so... I'm not sure, more ads, more NSA loopholes, or something, but as expected nothing changed technology-wise and everything still works if you block the call to force the update.

Sending an email? They provide a service that is communication. They could use this or this.

Sending an email? They provide a service that is communication. They could use this or this.

Try this: http://community.skype.com/t5/Mac/My-solution-to-continue-using-Skype-2-8-on-older-OS-X-Lion-etc/td-p/3454441

Simple firewall rule to block access to ui.skype.com. Also, I don't see why
  127.0.0.1 ui.skype.com
  in /etc/hosts wouldn't work..

* Stolen money from the accounts (you didnt use it before expiration)
* Centralize the traffic (no more P2P)
* Screwed client for Linux
* Removed "Now Llstening to..." status ...Go go Power Rangers, this year will be the year of Jabber on the desktop

Its not clear just what Microsoft did with the traffic.
Their page still insists they are using P2P for traffic but a centralized directory. I don't know how much I believe that.

The centralized directory is probably forced on them for CALEA compliance, so that the NSA can track who calls who.
The Business Case for Microsoft to buy Skype never made any sense at all, and especially not at the price they paid. I suspect the NSA paid the entire bill to get Skype into someone's hands that could impose a level of tracking on it that met their needs. They had to get it out of Ebay's hand, because they were incompetent. Microsoft was the only company willing to play ball, add the tracking, preserve an appearance of security and fake encryption, and in return for doing that, they get a platform for free, bought by government funds, washed through Microsoft's opaque accounting.

There still exist Skype clients for Linux, but I don't know a single self respecting knowledgeable Linux user who would put that crap on their machine.

But seriously, Now Listening to? Do you really think anyone cares what you are listening to?
Once you get past your Narcissism, you'll get over scrobbling addiction.

* Stolen money from the accounts (you didnt use it before expiration)
* Centralize the traffic (no more P2P)
* Screwed client for Linux
* Removed "Now Llstening to..." status ...Go go Power Rangers, this year will be the year of Jabber on the desktop

Its not clear just what Microsoft did with the traffic.
Their page still insists they are using P2P for traffic but a centralized directory. I don't know how much I believe that.

The centralized directory is probably forced on them for CALEA compliance, so that the NSA can track who calls who.
The Business Case for Microsoft to buy Skype never made any sense at all, and especially not at the price they paid. I suspect the NSA paid the entire bill to get Skype into someone's hands that could impose a level of tracking on it that met their needs. They had to get it out of Ebay's hand, because they were incompetent. Microsoft was the only company willing to play ball, add the tracking, preserve an appearance of security and fake encryption, and in return for doing that, they get a platform for free, bought by government funds, washed through Microsoft's opaque accounting.

There still exist Skype clients for Linux, but I don't know a single self respecting knowledgeable Linux user who would put that crap on their machine.

But seriously, Now Listening to? Do you really think anyone cares what you are listening to?
Once you get past your Narcissism, you'll get over scrobbling addiction.

It seems like this might be the best time to start promoting use of Ekiga to friends that are still back on Skype. I keep seeing less advantages to Skype over the alternatives with each update. What Microsoft considers enhancements seems to be far from what the rest of the community would consider to be providing value. Overtime, I expected Skype to be known as the client needed to interact with Xbox One users. Other than that, it really isn't that great of a communication client.

All Skype-to-Skype voice, video, and instant message conversations are encrypted. This protects you from potential eavesdropping by malicious users.

The accusation was that were also going into then encrypted URLs as well.

Those who care about keeping the contents of their IM conversations secret should not use Skype. As stated in their privacy policy "Skype may gather and use information about you, including (but not limited to) information in the following categories: ... (n) Content of instant messaging communications, voicemails, and video messages"

The EFF recommends using Pidgin or Audium with OTR encryption enabled, for reasonably secure instant messaging.

I'm glad the non-tech-savvy folks use Skype, though. If Microsoft weren't able to intercept these things, I'd have to clean out viruses from my in-laws' computers more often.

People do use Skype for business reasons. Skype sells products for business reasons. I use Skype for business reasons (but my business is basically public knowledge anyway, so no need to steal it). Does the business version come without the back door? Didn't think so.

One of the major sticking points with ECHELON for many was not that it was used to spy on middle school gossip, but that it was used to pass corporate intelligence to favoured "partners of the state".

It's only a matter of time before the back door itself becomes one of those pieces of intelligence as well.

Google has many times the Chinese govt to get stuffed and used their weight to try to resist those laws. I dont remember the details, but I do recall that it was a stark contrast with Yahoo who almost immediately folded in several requests for the identities of bloggers (leading to arrests for political activisim), and MS who now owns Skype which has a custom-built chinese version called Tom which wiretaps all calls made.

I note that Skype TOM still exists, and MS apparently makes no attempt to disguise what it does:
https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10910/what-is-tom-online

You can learn a lot by reading the privacy policy

if Skype offered a proper API that other programs could use, Pidgin etc. would jump on it

Here ya go: http://developer.skype.com/desktop-api-reference

Plenty of 3rd parties don't have any issues using the API. You can find phones, voicemail software, video camera plugins that all work with skype. Of course, with skype you have access to chat with anyone that has a skype, messenger, or facebook chat account.

It won't be long before an advert-filled, forced-upgrade version of Skype that consumes more resources than my web browser (and has an integrate IE component or whatever) is the only way to use it.

Because that's exactly what happened to Messenger. Oh, wait, no it didn't.

Obviously skype got mod points.
It's easy to check:
1-Many companies large and small offer dial-in numbers to tie into VOIP services in Canada
2-Skype has Skype-in in many countries, Canada is not one of them
3-The Canadian Pension Plan is an investor in Skype (try a google news search)
4-Searching skype-in Canada shows forum posts, blog posts, new stories in print news papers going back years and years about this and the same stock answer from Skype being trotted out each time despite it being complete and utter bullshit.

Further reading:
http://community.skype.com/t5/Online-Number/Online-Number-Canada/td-p/11006/page/12

You could just uncheck 'promotions' Skype options you know...

Also, you can use a SIP client just fine with http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/skype-connect/

So yes, there are 3rd party alternatives.