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Cross-Platform, Simple Voice Chat Software?
nordicfrost asks: "My wonderful girlfriend and I have a dilemma. We want to talk to each other via the net to save money and still have a conversation. But she is a strictly Apple girl, and I'm a Debian man, who compromises with Windows at work. So, does anyone have the solution for an easy cross-platform voice chat application, preferrebly without having to altering my GF's firewall router via the phone?"
Have you looked at OpenH323? There's a multitude of clients that it can communicate with. I've used it to communicate with family who use Windows, and friends who use Macs. As a bonus, video works great too.
I live overseas and have tried many of the cross platform clients (my wife's brother is only a Max OS guy). We never could get anything that really worked (I think we got yahoo working decently once for voice only).
Eventually we discovered Packet8/a It's solved all our problems and we use it to call parents and great grandparents as well. I assume you both have broadband (since your GF has a router) and the costs is minimal ($20 month - unlimited minutes, free adapter). Lose you landline and pick this up instead. One other trick would be to get telephone numbers in each others city. That way you can use your local POTS to call her from anywhere and it would be a "local" call.
We love Voip. It allows us to receive calls via a US telephone number here as well. The whole thing works just like you'd expect and call quality is good.
Why? If a long distance relationship works you already know you can trust your SO.
My gf from HS and I stuck together through years of separation (as I got my degree), and are now happily married.
I think that a long distance relationship takes a bit more effort and a lot more trust then many want to expend.
But if you can't trust each other while dating, why would you trust them married 20 years down the road?
Maybe this explains the 50% divorce rate over here.