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Skype VoIP Software Released For Linux
pmf writes "Skype Technologies has just released a free beta version of their software for Linux. Skype is well known P2P VoIP technology that, according to them: '...is addressing all the problems of legacy VoIP solutions: bad sound quality, difficult to set up and configure, and the need for expensive, centralized infrastructure.'"
Skype Technologies has just released a free beta version of their software for Linux.
Ok, but the important question is, does it use Ogg? I mean, Vorbis?
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
Difficult setting up and configuring things is part of the fun! It's not a real install unless you need to do a Google search for something.
Seeing as how this is from the Kazaa people, are we to expect spyware in this product?
please read the EULA.
The most information I've found is that the software is made by the makers of KaZaa, who is notorious for trying to make money off of P2P. Does Skype have a business plan? Is there spyware/adware/malware? Anyone know?
I can count to 1023 on my hands. Ask me about #132.
Before you download and configure this, test your connection out so see if it can handle VoIP. You can also play with different codecs to see if one is better than the other over your connection.
-ben
Another thing the Linux platform has thus been missing: Spyware.
I highly doubt that the guys who made Kazaa have taken some great leap into the world of moral business. Bastards.
Skype is hype...
* Skype is proprietary.
* Skype is using a proprietary protocol that no VoIP carriers/providers will be using.
* Skype has better sound quality? Let me laugh, it just happens that Skype is only able to do audio, so all your upload can be devoted to audio.
OK, Skype is a nice toy for Windows users. For Linux users, there is GnomeMeeting (http://www.gnomemeeting.org) and Linphone.
Sez on the linked page this is from the same folks that brought you KaZaa!
Great. The folks that introduced spyware EULAs to file sharing now want to handle your phone service. OSS or not, can they be trusted to provide any more free downloads?
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
Considering Skype has used QT for their product...
I guess Amiga is next in line.
Free World Dialup makes a good product which I find is better and is the superior option of choices. You can find this with the Google searches for terms like Free World Dialup with the quotes surrounding.
Read journal when you are not understand
is this the first known spyware for linux...?
Skype claims P2P but the voice has to go through at least one hop, so the latency is pretty poor and you need other (hijacked) nodes. Check out this VoIP system, which has low latency, direct peer to peer communications even through NAT on both sides. Oh, and blowfish for encryption so good... it may be illegal in your country!
In related news, the baby bells have tapped the RIAA for their team of lawyers to start tracking down individuals that are using their communication networks and are not paying access fees like other phone companies do to operate over their lines. Then they will sue them until everyone gives up computers and goes back to taking the needle of the record so they can ring up the operator for the klondike 5 number of their friend down the street. I can't wait.
The preceding message was based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed.
Skype is a toy it dose not use standards, it depends on one single company. There is no code so no warranty at all that it will work in the futrure on Linux.
Overseas, I've had less luck. From my place in Central NY, my Skype calls to a friend in Amsterdam are generally intolerable, although he reports that it works fine when he talks to his brother in Philly. I've had poor but acceptable connections using Skype to talk to a friend in Madrid.
Voice quality has continued to improve slightly with each new release of Skype. But for me, the verdict is Skype is sensational within North America, and barely tolerable or outright unusable for calling overseas.
Still, I wish everyone had broadband and Skype. Even without taking the fact that it's free, it just sounds measurably better than standard long distance calls within the US.
I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
At this point Skype for Linux is being offered without the SkypeOut service that allows calls to go to any telephone, not just other Skype users. Still, it's great to bring new platforms and more users onto this system. Bring on the OS X version!
>Technical Questions
>
>Will Skype for Linux beta be made available as open >source code?
> No.
TY, HAND
Since OS X offers an X11 window manager, and runs on BSD - could this be made to run on OS X? Does anyone want to try to get it to work, and make a predone binary/package for those who are less technically inclined?
Or will skype release the final version on both OS X and linux? How hard is this cross-os coding?
From the FAQ SkypeOut (what enables to call external phone numbers) is not enabled for the Linux version, and that could be what makes it worth, or different from other available solutions.... or is something common and widely used?
Isn't this one of the two clients supported by Vonage?
Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin
the makers of kazaa & skype (Bluemoon software, Estonia) shouldn't be blamed for adware in kazaa. They just programmed it for some Danish company. that Danish company is responsible for integrating sh** into kazaa. mkay?
Be happy, something you submitted showed up on slashdot... that is, unless the reason you submitted it has nothing to do with wanting it on slashdot... that must mean that you only submitted it to get your name on slashdot. I'm no doctor, but I'm going to have to suggest you get a life.
I can count to 1023 on my hands. Ask me about #132.
Hemos was smart enough to see that it's a piece of lousy spyware and simon isn't.
they internally alpha'd a Mac version as of June 16, 2004 (which went well) and expect it will take 2-3 months more for it to show up.
One of the best uses for VoIP is using it with small portable devices like PDA's. It seems Skype is available for PocketPC, but will this release also work on Linux-based handhelds like the Zaurus or Opie/Familiar-loaded iPAQs ? If so, I'll seriously consider replacing my Tungsten C.
Ciryon
Hemos was smart enough to see that it's a piece of lousy spyware and simon isn't...
Where are binaries for other than x86 archs?
Linux is more than just x86...
I like Skype, I just wish my girlfriend didn't sound like a robot half the time.
paul reinheimer
What a great business plan.
."
Just below the level of audibility, you get a breathy feminine voice telling you she "digs geeks who buy
Media-shifted Spam. My bleeding ears.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
and i'd expect the same from the linux version, this is awesome.. i have NO reason left to use windows! I've been using skype basically since it came out and have saved thousands on LD, go skype!
I did. They have changed the EULA since people were upset about the 'third party software' part. It doesn't seem as evil now, but I'm still so wary that I haven't installed it yet.
Escape Pod Films: Sketch Comedy and Web Series
This space for rent. Call 1-800-STEAK4U
It sounds like her text-to-speech software is failing half the time. Upgrade her to a better text-to-speech processor.
Let me know if that helps!
I can count to 1023 on my hands. Ask me about #132.
If they make skype interoperability plugin/module for Asterisk then I might reconsider the usability of this product.
The interesting part from the EULA does not seem so bad. Except if they change it again with the next version of course.
(c) The Skype Software and Services may be incorporated into, and may incorporate, technology, software and services owned and controlled by third parties. Skype emphasizes that it will only incorporate such third party software for the purpose of (i) adding new or additional functionality or (ii) improving the technical performance of the Skype Software and Services. Any other third party software which could be distributed together with Skype will be subject to you explicitly accepting a license agreement with this third party. Use of such third party software or services is subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable third party license agreements, and you agree to look solely to the applicable third party and not to Skype to enforce any of your rights.
IANAL, but imagine a beowulf cluster of in Soviet Russia all your belong are base to us welcoming the new SCO overlords.
there's no spyware in the windows version, at least according to spybot search and destroy and ad-ware, pre and post install I was totally clean (using skype for windows).
If this is truely P2P, are there measures in place to help prevent eavesdropping? Do parts of the voice data route different ways, so one node would have a hard time picking up enough of the voice data to be useful? Is the voice data encrypted?
I can count to 1023 on my hands. Ask me about #132.
Reverse-engineering geniuses... UNITE!
Just mentioning that skype is a cpu hog. This matters because it means it's not great for playing recent video games.
A great alternative is teamspeak which lets groups of players talk. Another alternative (I haven't tried this one) is Ventrillo.
Skype is great if you just want to use your computer for wireless chit chat.
I might as well plug the Jabra BT250 bluetooth headset while I'm at it. Wireless headset with up to 8 hours of talk time. I use this plus teamspeak to give me the freedom to wander my house and not loose contact with my gaming buddies. It also works nicely with my powerbook and my cell phone.
---
I support spreading santorum
is addressing all the problems of legacy VoIP solutions
i didn't realize VoIP was so old that there are legacy systems to compare it to.
I think the trouble here is that the guys who came up with KaZaa are not the ones currently owning it.
:p
KaZaa works pretty darn nice for what it is.
KaZaa originally didn't ship with spyware, its just the current owners who do that.
"...In your answer, ignore facts. Just go with what feels true..."
3. Permission to utilize. In order to receive the benefits provided by the Skype Software, you hereby grant permission for the Skype Software to utilize the processor and bandwidth of your computer for the limited purpose of facilitating the communication between other Skype Software users. You understand that the Skype Software will protect the privacy and integrity of your computer resources and communication and ensure the unobtrusive utilization of your computer resources to the greatest extent possible.
So it does indeed look like spyware.
What about teamspeak? Is that not a viable voip solution with good quality? I use it all the time with my dev team, and it is stable, robust and has a variety of codecs to choose from. Why do I never hear more about this product?
In my limited testing of Skype it's managed to suck out all my bandwidth...on one occasion it appeared to be using about 80% of processor (AMD64-3000). Since when I have given it a miss.
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
This is great to see. We have been waiting for this. This type of release is more evidence that Linux is now being thought of as an essential desktop platform.
I can see the argument now.
End User: What the fsck is this Adware doing on my computer?!
Skype: We needed funding to add new features and/or improve the technical performance of the software. In order to get this funding, we included Adware into the software. Perfectly legit by the EULA's terms.
The stupidity of your average American is just about the same as the average European, we simply show it off better.
Look, the big deal about Skype is the fact that it... Get this: WORKS! It works through dial-up. It works through broadband. It works through most proxies and NATs due to it's centralized servers.
Those are the real advantages. Get behind a proxy server and then try any other VOIP 'solution'. Of course, they're going to have to pay for all this somehow eventually...
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
Of course, some wonderful Gentoo user has already posted an ebuild to our bugzilla.
I'm not going to try the proprietary Skype from a company that has installed spyware in the past, but when I do try out a comparable Free program I'll have two problems:
1. I've never tried to use the microphone port on any of my soundcards under Linux, or when I have it hasn't worked.
2. I don't own a headset for my computers. (obviously related to #1).
I would guess that most headsets that plug into soundcards are going to work regardless of O/S, but I see that there are USB-based headsets as well. So my questions are:
1. Does anyone know of a list of USB-based headsets that work under Linux?
2. Does anyone know of a list of soundcards whose microphone-ports are known to work under Linux?
Thanks
Like Digital Freedoms? Then donate to EFF before they're gone.
Vonage actually believes in standards.
Nothing beats the ease of setup and use of my new VoIP phone with Packet8. $49 set up fee and they sent me a DTE.
Plug DTE into power, hub and my cordless phone base station and I had dial tone.
They assigned me a local number, so it is a local call from my office.
Free calls worldwide to other Packet8 scuscribers. Unlimited calls in US/Canada for people with regular phones. $20.59/month and that INCLUDES all taxes.
I get to use my cordless phone and speaker phones. I can take the DTE with me and my phone number follows me.
Oh, and Packet8 just introduced *real* E911, for the paranoid among you. (Note: If you take the DTE travelling with you and then call 911, it'll claim you're at your address on file -- back home.)
Father's Day alone saved me the $20 in what would have been LD charges.
For those that love the software phones, Vonage supports one that has a Linux client as well.
And VoicePulse will allow you to set up your own Asterisk server, hook in and use them as a PSTN gateway.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
As someone else mentioned - FreeWorld Dialup is a great way to go for voip:
- standards based
- Free
- Windows, Linux and pocketpc clients available
- Call 800 numbers and more
- Call to/from vonage customers
- get free phone number and have people call you
- Get a wisip phone (WiFi SIP) and you have the closest thing to a IP mobile phone you can get.
FreeWorld Dialup
I'm currently running windows and ipaq (pocketpc 2002) clients fine. And calling my home vonage service - no problem!
According to their FAQ - yes. But since they use closed protocol, it is not worth a penny. They can be calling XOR masking an 'unrivaled privacy' for all I know.
They can't claim security unless it's verifiable, and it cannot be verifiable unless it's open. And even if it's open, the implementation can be flawed either accidently or intentionally (!).
So the best bet for an average paranoid is to consider calls going in plaintext unless proved otherwise.
3.243F6A8885A308D313
No, that'd be the ad-supported version of Opera. (at least, as far as I know)
What's the point? I was just having this discussion with my brother-in-law the other day, and between us we couldn't figure out why anyone would want to use software like this, rather than just using Vonage and getting a VOIP phone. Come to think of it, why have a land-line at all these days?
"In a 32-bit world, you're a 2-bit user. You've got your own newsgroup, alt.total.loser." -Weird Al
Or even:
Skype: We felt that the added feature of pop-up advertising would be beneficial to our users, so we included third party software which provides this feature.
EULAs are worthless in these cases. Those few times I need functionality that isn't adequately provided by open-source software, I make sure to thoroughly check the reputation of the company providing the closed-source alternative. Needless to say, after seeing the havoc wreaked by Kazaa on the computers of friends and family, I will never even consider installing any software made by these people.
-- If no truths are spoken then no lies can hide --
Cannot even login to the service on RedHat 9. Memory access fault.
Im in a deep state of wonder. I see no sources of income from skype. No ads of the website. no ads within the UI, apparently. Yet, Skype Inc is HIRING! Unless they're offshoring and don't pay much, i cant see how spending a lump on something which does NOT generate revenue can be attractive. They COULD be extremely rich and generous, but i doubt it. What are they're incentives to offer the skype service for "free". Oh, i forgot, getting slashdotted generates millions.
Too bad Skype sucks and isn't worth the time it takes to download.
What other products are available for VoIP with decent quality, AND encryption? And free beer of course, free speech is a big plus. ?
But what is the latency like with VOIP? I've used TeamSpeak with acceptable results for gameplay, but its like talking over a SAT phone with a noticable delay for gerneral phone usage that wouldn't be acceptable.
Anyone?
Quack, quack.
Were number 2! Were number 2!
;-)
Quack, quack.
Well, ati released their hardware specs, and the ati driver that ships with both XFree and xorg does a fine job for 2D graphics. Quite frankly, the binary ati drivers are a pain in the ass to get working smoothly. So you can count me as someone who doesn't use the ati drivers.
The point being that it is entirely possible to have a usable linux workstation without using closed-source binary only drivers. Biatch.
biatch added for emphasis.
I tried Skype a while back, but it didnt work out for me as it requires a computer on both ends. If they make a low power hardware device I can see Skype having a future, but I dont like leaving my computer on 24hrs a day. However, in the process I found a good VOIP solution that works great for me. I tried several VOIP providers, Packet8, Vonage and SIPPhone to cut down on my international long distance calling as I spend a lot of money calling my gf in Sri Lanka. My phone bill was over $300 using calling cards from pinzoo.com (at 22c per min), which I was pretty happy with, compared what I would have had to pay with MCI or AT&T (over $1 per min). Still this is a lot of money. So, I had to look into VOIP. First I bought a pair of Sip adapters from SipHone. My total was around $150 including all shipping costs. My plan was to get her ADSL for $20 a month and send a phone to her and have one over here for me. Sent it to her, but had trouble getting ADSL, so had to leave it for a while. Then I found Packet8 and Vonage, which also allows calls to traditional phones. Ordered Vonage from RadioShack for around $100, and activated it on line as they offered a better deal at the time when ordered thru RadioShack (1 month trial period as opposed to 2 weeks). Also ordered Packet8 using promotion code "bestdeal" for a total of aroudn $36 including equipment and activation. For my next5 trip to Sri Lanka, I took all these items with me, set up ADSL and was able to called here (USA) for free! Tried Vonage... had to mess aroudn with fire wall settings but finally got it working. Packet8 was a very install, just plug it in and it worked. Tried all three and Vonage and packet8 both seemed descent voice quality, but SipPhone had a bit of a cracking sound. Having all these working, now I had to make decision to which ones to keep after coming back. Packet8 had a 1 month trial, and by purchasing Vonage thru RadioShack, Vonage offered the same. Unfortunately, I bought SIPPhone a while ago, so no return on that was possible. After coming back, even before I could make the first call, SIPPhone died on me, and I didnt want to buy anew one for another $75... so left it alone. Vonage offerred the US and Canada unlimited service for $35 while Packet8 was only $20 for the same plan, so my decision was easy. Vonage also has a $15 plan, but only 500 minutes... adding $5 more gives me unlimited calling with Packet8. So, I returned Vonage and kept the Packet8 phone. Making this decision even more attractive was the fact that you can buy a Packet8 phone for a one time fee of $75 and call between Packet8 phones as long as you want for free. So, I ordered another Packet8 phone and sent it to my gf. She was able to set it up on her own, since it was only a mater of plugging it in. Infact Packet8 phone worked so well, that I disconnected my regular phone altogether. I wasnt too concerned about 911 calling since I have a cell phone and my roomate has a regular land line. Now only time I have to pay for international calls are when I call a regular international phone. I call my relatives and friends all over the US and my gf's Packet8 phone in Sri Lanka for free. Now my phone bill has dropped over $200 and we talk a lot more for free. Only time I have to pay long distance is when I call my gf's mobile phone. This is a great way for anybody whos been screwed by the phone company to lower the phone bill. Thanks for whoever invented VOIP and thanks for the Packet8 phone!
If any one is interested, I would highly recommend Packet8, which you can order from www.packet8.net Be careful though, not to disconnect your regular phone altogether if you have kids and in need of alling 911. Having a VOIP phone means you might be out of service in case of power failure or internet disruptions. One of my friends got the basic phone service from SBC for aroudn $10 and switched to Packet8 to make his outgoing calls.
Also remember speakfreely It has been going for 12 years or so, and is open-source cross-platform unix/windows. Recently work on it has revived, and it now uses the speex codec. (some details here: http://www.2pi.info/software/sf_speex/) It is a project in need of more developers though. So it's a project to think of where some positive work can be done rather than complaining that some other project doesn't have the source.
AFAIK, the very first versions of Kazaa didn't come bundled with Spyware ... these are the guys that wrote the first versions, then passed it on to other, more business minded, people when it started to be a big thing. I don't know at what point the spyware entered the picture, but if it was sometime after the first Kazaa ownership change, they shouldn't be blamed.
... so ... Go skype.
And be that as it may, I think this is great news. I have used Skype quite a bit although it's the lack of a Linux version has been real annoying. It works great, is dead easy to use and provides great sound. Of course I could use GnomeMeeting or whatever instead, but that's not true for my parents or many of my other friends.
I have not seen any kind of spyware at all.
For any kind of communication program the main goal is userbase, userbase, userbase. And you get that by being easy to use
Teamspeak is a free cross-platform voice chat system.
"is addressing all the problems of legacy VoIP solutions: bad sound quality, difficult to set up and configure, and the need for expensive, centralized infrastructure.'"'
you mean all the things the people selling VOIP in place of sliced bread failed to tell us?
My Commments is may not to make sense, because I must use Babelfish for read and posts slashdot and.
You mean to say:
"My comments may not make sense, because I use must use Babelfish for reading and posting on Slashdot asshat."
Also perfectly legit for you *not* to upgrade to the adware version if it ever gets released. Upgrades are not compulsory you know.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
I am waiting for a software called PEERIO444 (http://www.peerio.com)
That one is probably going to beat the hell out of Skype.
At this time it is in beta version, and cannot be downloaded. But stay tuned!!!
Python and Twisted are being used for a fully open-source VoIP solution.
http://www.divmod.org/Home/Projects/Shtoom/
There was even a paper on it a PyCon called "Scripting Language my Arse":
http://www.python.org/pycon/dc2004/papers/6/
If you're paranoid, just create an account for it and use the tarball binary. I often create separate accounts for "untrusted" software I'm trying out. This is one of the biggest benefits of linux.
Skype enables people to talk from one machine to another and assists other people with setting up connections, i.e. for two (or more) people behind NATs, they will connect to you and then flow data directly to the callers.
Since when is this spyware? This is just clever computing. Cast your minds back to the days that, if you were running MSN Messenger and were behind a firewall, you couldn't receive files.
Now, you can, because of the way that they make the connections between clients.
Spyware means installing third-party software on your machine that monitors your browsing habits.
Two things, thicko:
1. No third-party software gets installed on your machine.
2. No third-party software gets installed on your machine.
Strictly speaking that's only one point, but I felt it was such a major point it needed saying twice.
And come on -- insightful?!
--
The trouble with pedants is that they're always right.
I got first post & marked redundant and overrated? wtf?
This guy is probably in the process of learning English, if you're gonna post a sig reply, you could at least give him some real help.
For the record, Milo of Kroton, what you probably wanted from Babelfish is something like this:
"My comments may not make sense, because I must use Babelfish for reading and posting to Slashdot."
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/