Slashdot Mirror
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.'"
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
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
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!
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!
I have Skype on my computer for Windows and have not had any spyware on my computer from its installation. I check my computer daily to make sure no spyware is loaded on from Skype.
I can tell you that if the one for Windows sounds this good, quality wise, then the one for Linux should be better. It freakin sounds like the person you are talking to is in the same room with you. It also uses minimal bandwidth, anywhere from 4kb to 10kb for a single conversation and 10kb to 20kb for a conference call. It is awesome!
Congrats to the Skype crew for making one for Linux!!
Friends help you move...
REAL Friends help you move dead bodies... ^_^
In case you were wondering...
From the FAQ:
Q: Will Skype for Linux beta be made available as open source code?
A: No.
So don't expect any potential spyware to be sitting there in the code for you to look at.
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?
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.
Are you talking about Ogg Vorbis or Ogg FLAC or Ogg Speex? Speex is better for that kind of task. :-)
"Speex is an Open Source/Free Software patent-free audio compression format designed for speech" and speex is part of the xiph foundation
download and burn linux with one click on windows
Nope. Microsoft Netmeeting, which is included in Windows, is entirely compatible with GnomeMeeting as well as other H.323 compliant products.
(Yeah, strangely enough Microsoft follows standards for once.)
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
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
Compare this and this, then decide.
P2P, your Skype client when running helps other skype users to route calls. I've done scans pre and post install for the windows version with spybot search and destroy and adaware and never found anything.
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..."
I can confirm this. I signed up with Skype long ago, so they have my e-mail address. I also e-mailed skype to ask if they will be releasing a linux version in the future. I got a mail back saying "not at this time." Then, some months later, I received a very polite, plain text mail, informing me that, indeed they would be releasing a linux version soon, and would let me know when it is available.
Then, last night, I got a third e-mail from them informing me that the linux version is available, and where I can download it from. Seeing as I e-mailed them asking, I don't consider this spam at all. I also haven't found any spywhere on my Windows box.
sigaar
The guys behind this are the ones who *invented* Kazaa and the FastTrack protocol-they later sold it to Sharman Networks, who are the ones who added the spyware. There's no spyware in this-their website boldly displays this fact, instead of burying it under legalese.
"..One hosts to look them up, one DNS to find them, and in the darkness BIND them."
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!
Just a note, I'm fairly anal about spyware/adware. I have AdAware, Spybot S&D, and SpywareBlaster on my Windows PC, and I keep them updated on a daily basis, and scan the computer before and after installation of just about any program, not to mention on a weekly basis no matter what.
I've been using Skype on my Windows PC for aboout 3 weeks now on a pretty regular basis to talk to some friends, and so far, it's worked pretty much as advertised, no complaints here, in fact, I'm pretty pleased with it, especially compared to previous VoIP programs I've used before. In that time, before and after installation and updates, none of my spyware scanner programs have detected any spyware, at least, none that I can trace to it. So, so far at least, the 'No Spyware or Adware' button on their website seems to be legit.
Dunno about the Linux version, but I figure it's pretty much the same way. And the fact that they were willing to change their Linux EULA over spyware concerns gives me a bit of faith in them. Sure, it's from the same folk as Kazaa, but at least so far, it doesn't seem to have fallen into the same trap as the official Kazaa client.
"Two things are infinite: the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the first one." - Albert Einstein
The folks that introduced spyware EULAs
You're confusing these developers with Sharman Networks. The Kazaa developer team has absolutely nothing to do with spyware, and is only responsible of creating innovative software.
Memory Refresher:
KaZaA sold to Sharman Networks
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
Erm.. actually, no. IANAL, of course, but knowing a tiny bit of how Skype is supposed to work (that is, as a P2P application), what that part of the licence is saying is that you allow Skype to use your CPU and bandwith, yes, but for the purprose of helping other Skype users make their calls. Basically, by agreeing to that part of the licence, you're allowing the program to do what it says it was gonna do, integrate your computer into a P2P network of machines that shuttle encrypted voice data back and forth. There's no way to get 'See, it's spyware!' from that part of the license, seriously. Show me the part where it claims the right to install third party software without having to inform you, or the part where it lays claim to a goodly chunk of your hard drive for storing ads for other companies, and then we'll talk.
"Two things are infinite: the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the first one." - Albert Einstein
What the f*ck would anyone pay for PSTN integration and voicemail when real VOIP systems already offer this for free? (and if you install asterisk, completely opensource too).
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
Informative? There is no free PSTN integration; wherever you attach to the PSTN there is a telco collecting its toll. WTF indeed.
smash.
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.