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Finally: PC-to-Phone Calling from Linux
Greg Herlein writes "There is finally a way to do direct PC to Phone calling from linux: GnomeMeeting
now supports decent quality, low-cost VoIP calls to any real phone in the world. It's about time." The calls are through a company called MicroTelco; read this FAQ page to learn more about it. (And don't forget TheKompany's approach to IP-telephony-with-Linux, using a Sharp Zaurus plus Net2Phone.)
Since the subject of this said phone calling from Linux i was thinking of some weird kernel patch. Since it was some Gnome software, it was not linux. Linux is the kernel, and only that. I bet that Gnome program would work just as fine on for example a BSD system that it does on Linux.
Note to self: get smarter troll to guard door.
Would this be significantly different from a phone with a built in pda - ie what we use today?
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I don't mind paying service charges for VOIP, but I'm surprised I need to buy hardware.
Even if it doesn't work as well, VOIP should be accessible with a soundcard and a microphone. I'm not so excited by this announcement.
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What about Roadrunner? It's run by a cable company; I don't think it would cut into their revenues much.
I fail to see the point of your post - see the (admittedly rather obvious) parodies below.
The amazing thing is not that this is popular now; the amazing thing is that the local telephone companies are poised on the brink of irrelevancy. Don't know about your area, but you can't GET data lines in my town from the telco without the sort of hassle you would have expected from Bell Telephone at the height of their monopoly. They simply don't get it. Meanwhile, you can call the cable company and they will have you set up with high-speed internet access THE NEXT DAY, regardless of your OS. The cableco's customer service is better than that of the telco, so when the inevitable screwup occurs, the cableco will keep you and the telco will lose you as a high-speed customer.
The only real reason to continue sending checks to the telco is for phone access. Internet telephony makes that irrelevant (except for 911 location service). This kind of technology, as it becomes more widely adopted, will either make the local telco obsolete or a lot more responsive.
Circa 1981...
How many people ACTUALLY own a personal computer? Although I understand they're cheap, they're not as good as a mainframe.
Circa 1881...
How many people ACTUALLY ride in a horseless carriage? Although I understand they're nifty, they're not as useful as a horse.
Circa 1985...
How many people ACTUALLY use the protection features of Intel's 80386 CPU? Although I understand the concept, it still serves no useful purpose in DOS.
Why use a desktop computer at all? I'm more impressed by services like Vonage. They give you a little POTS-to-Ethernet gizmo that you plug in anywhere behind your firewall, and you just connect any phone to it. Pick up the receiver and you hear a dial tone. Dial a number and it goes out over the Internet. You never have to bother with the computer. The computer doesn't even have to be turned on. Let's face it, if you're a geek, or even a lesser gadget freak, you've already got multiple computers sitting behind a firewall or mini-router on a broadband connection. So you just plug this thing in and go.
QuickNet's service appears to be cheaper. I was going to sign up for it, but I don't like the idea of having to have a program running on a desktop to keep the dial tone available. That's the problem with most Windows-based programs that do things like this, and it's no better when someone does it on Linux. (Ok, it's a little better, but this type of thing belongs either in a daemon or in dedicated hardware.)
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