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Skype For Mac OS X and Linux
Pablo Martinez-Almeida writes "Skype has just announced full versions of its software for Mac OS X and for Linux.
Now I'm only waiting for some conversations recording feature. (via Om Malik on broadband)"
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All it takes is a moment to fill out the Freedom of Information Act forms.
*rimshot*
Aren't they the spyware kings? Can I really actually trust these people with software I install on my computer?
So far the Mac OS X world has been generally free of spyware and malware. Looking at this Skype release, I feel like the Native Americans watching the first wave of pilgrims coming off the boat, smiling and wanting to trade smallpox-infected blankets with us.
In case the site gets Slashdotted and since the article doesn't clarify, can somebody explain what Skype is?
Great move for Skype, anything that lets people on different platforms use the same software and interact freely with each other is a good thing. I speak from a the perspective of a Mac OS X user. However, the OS X port isn't all the way there - at least Skype admits it. From their FAQ page:
I click on the links that say "Skype Me" but it does not seem to work?
Sorry, in some cases SkypeMe links do not currently work with Skype for Mac OS X.
Hopefully they can iron out that little quirk and we can get Skype everywhere. Now I'm going to have to check this thing out for myself!
"There's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all."
- Bob Dylan
Can anyone tell me if this is loaded with spyware? I'm up to my neck with a project and don't have the normal time to research this.
My apologies for the lazy attitude today, but somebody had to ask.
_damnit_
It's my job to freeze you. -- Logan's Run
Oh give me a break, maybe his comment didn't deserve a moderation up, but he is NOT a troll. Oh well, hopefully some moderators will rectify this problem - and somebody can provide a nice concise answer of what exactly Skype is, and why we should care.
"There's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all."
- Bob Dylan
With the latest release.
.aiff file.
use Wiretap. Worked like a charm, creates a nice
"oohhh... I didn't know Schopenhauer was a philosopher!"
Well, from where I am, the site took a long time to load, which made me think, "Hey, if I'm having trouble, others might too -- maybe somebody can clarify for those of us who are having trouble accessing the site, since the article doesn't really say what the product is".
You know what, you're right -- I guess that line of thinking DID merit a troll mod and your jackass reply. What was I thinking???
Now I'm only waiting for some conversations recording feature. I'm not positive, as I haven't used Skype, but I think that Audio Hijack will likely record such items just fine. It wouldn't be automated, although it probably wouldn't be too hard to automate it with some Applescript, and maybe some Unix scripting on the backside.
Just a thought...
Not sure why you should believe me, but no it doesn't. :)
I've been using it for over a year now and it's been spyware-free from the start.
... is always going to be problematic given the legal implications. Different states have different laws, and things only get worse once you factor in the international implications. (Come to the EU and you have to deal with data protection problems as well as interception of communications problems.) So I don't see Skype offering this anytime soon.
The Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press has a superb guide ("Can we tape?") to state and federal laws: http://www.rcfp.org/taping/.
I've been using Skype on Linux for months, and using it to talk to my girl who has a Mac. I really fail to see the newsworthiness of this?
I hear when you do that, you get Director Commentary as an added bonus. (still trying to figure out what agency he is a director of though)
Also, did you know that tin foil hats cause excessive sweating when hidden under a beanie?
Sigs? We don't need no stinking sigs!
Although I don't use it on Linux or Mac OS X, Skype works pretty well, voice quality is good, and the NAT traversal is nice - not so much with me, but it saves me from guiding technology-challenged family members and friends through opening ports in their firewall/router, having them read the screen out loud for you can't guess what options are on the screen (quite a pain).
But the nicest thing I did is buy a Skype box (the kind that plugs in your RJ11 and phone "passing thru" the POTS, and the USB port plugs to your PC, allowing you to use a real phone on skype - including having the phone ring (don't have to leave your 5.1 channel set of speakers on in case the "phone" would ring, no need turn monitor on and fumble with all that to take the call). It lets one dial out skype contacts easily too (my 53yo mom can make skype calls with it without having the slightest idea of how it all works).
It's great overall, however it's a bit more complicated, especially given that my "POTS" line is actually coming from a VoIP box. So I have an extra digit to dial on all numbers (1 then the number) for the VoIP box, and the Skype box has some buttons too. Not really hard, just slightly inconvenient, but great savings and features.
I wonder if those USB Skype box thingies will also work with Linux or Mac OS X, they're worth it (unlike the USB Skype phones with a short cord that looks like from a dollar store).
///<sig
- Nice interface for creating a new account
- Password can't have characters (boo)
- Birthdate has to be MM/DD/YY instead of MM/DD/YYYY
Now... I have to find someone to call for free...
James Tiberius Kirk: "Spock, the women on your planet are logical. No other planet in the galaxy can make that claim."
Is it legal to record conversations on POTS? If not, is it legal on VoIP, since perhaps the Internet doesn't fall under regular wire-tapping laws? Oh BTW, maybe reference back to the /. story a few days back about Google apparently starting a VoIP product (at least in the UK, which was the source of the article) in the near future. I think we can assume that if Google doing VoIP is true, they'll have a way to record coversations.
"My girlfriend's got sodium laureth sulfate hair."
Nope. Not that I've found, and I've been using the betas for both Linux and OS X up to the release today. Both work pretty well, and I get the feeling that Skype is pretty clueful as far as spyware goes. I mean, they encrypt communication by deafult.
/dev/dsp as set in the preferences. Also, I had a weird thing happen where the skype screen is only half-drawn.
I have noticed some problems though with both the 1.0.0.1 release of Linux and OS X's 1.0.0.0. I would think it's my machine only, but testing Skype requires (okay there is that echo account for testing, but you know what I mean) others, and others ahve been having problems too.
In Linux, I've had problems getting conferencing working properly, when using a USB headset (/dev/dsp1), rings are not heard on the
In the 1.0 Mac version, someone who I was talking to suddenly cut out. Turned out Skype crashed on 'em. I also had some conferencing issues on my mac.
Overall however, skype is great. The fact that you can do conferencing + IMs and voice chat is encrypte is a big plus. the sound quality is great as well. Congrats Skype!
Gentoo users-- 1.0 was in ~arch this morning!
W
-------------------
This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
should newsposters now link every word to dictionary?
http://www.skype.com/
http://www.google.com/search?q=skype
for the 1% who doesn't heard of skype at all...
According to several sources, spyware is still Windows only. That may someday change, but I haven't even been able to get the few viruses I have tried to install correctly inside of wine yet...
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
Otherwise you pay for calls to a standard landline or cell user. You can get unlimited voip from at&t to calls in the U.S. (and I think canada) for a flat rate that's relatively low if you use it a lot.
If you don't use it that much then Skype might be a better deal.
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
that sold it to the Spyware weiners
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Can I now get a bluetooth headset and have all the advantages of a cordless phone? The website mentions headsets, but there is nothing about bluetooth.
I just discovered Skype about a week ago. I was thrilled upon seeing that there was a Linux version, even if beta. I live in Ecuador and badly wanted a way to call the States cheap, but was unwilling to put Windows on my computer for that purpose.
Experiences: Downloaded their version from skype.com. Ran it. It instantly hung on the registration screen. Ran it as root, and that worked.
Then realized that it was in Gentoo's portage. Emerged it. It started OK, but crashed immediately upon trying to make a call.
Went back to the first version I had downloaded, running as root, and everything worked fine!
Normally, there's little I hate more than running closed-source software as root, but I'll forgive them this time since 1) it's a beta, 2) they're bringing a valuable service to Linux, and 3) from what I can tell, they are a reputable company with a reputation to tarnish if it did something bad to my box. (Also, my personal box isn't *that* important anyway, and could be re-installed worst case scenario.)
I will try this new version tonight. If the issues are fixed and I can run as non-root, I'll be very happy! If not, I'll be mildly annoyed but still thankful.
Thanks Skype.
Does anyone know what's happened to the Helix grant that was supposed to bring VoIP to Jabber last year. https://jabber.helixcommunity.org/
Can I interest you in a "fantastic" used car?
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
It refused to be installed on Red Hat 9 (qt 3.1) :)
Time to change to Fedora Core 3, I guess
AFAIK, it is legal to record on POTS as long as you ask the other party first (like all technical support/marketing companies do for "quality purposes") VoIP isn't quite under the same regulations as POTS either (but that probably depends on which country you live in).
///<sig
You know what, you're right.
Hey, you know what? Maybe all Slashdot articles should just list the name of the product from now on! Then users can go to Google News to find out what news is out there for the product!
Think of the benefits!
1) Slashdot bandwidth will be spared.
2) Time to post new articles will be decreased significantly.
3) Google traffic will increase, raising the stock price.
Really, it would be a win-win situation! And nobody would ever feel justified asking for more info ever again!
For about a year and a half, I had to locate myself in Philly while keeping operations of our company up and running in California. My business partner and I had weekly meetings, starting out with Chat on OS X, then audio chat. When we discovered Skype, we switched to that. We found that it seemed to work a bit better. I even used my PS 2 USB headset (originally purchased for SOCOM II) and enjoyed the experience.
Granted, we used it on a very basic level...simply for online chat. I'm looking forward to bigger and better uses, especially loading it onto a wifi-enabled PDA and using it as a "cell phone".
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
is there a port for the Sharp Zaurus? has anyone used it?
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
No, there are plenty of linux zealots like you out there. Even if you had the source you probably wouldn't understand a word of it.
It takes commercial, formerly spyware company to bring a useful too to the masses based on little other then word of mouth. Where is the FOSS tooling to save us from this evil?
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
Tape-recording laws at a glance
In California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington, IT IS ILLEGAL to record conversations without the consent of ALL parties involved.
And if you are engaging in a telephone conversation across state lines, you are subject to federal regulations as well.
If all 3 of you petition them, they might consider doing a port for BeOS. ;-)
Turns out that Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ will do this just fine. In fact a quick google for skypecasting will pop up some instructions on how do this.
I've been using Skype on Linux for at least 2 months.
This seems like old news to me.
Btw, the way they achieve cross platform is they use the QT libraries from Trolltech, of KDE fame.
It depends on where you are.
In some places you have to inform all other parties that you are recording.
In some places you actually have to get the explicit consent of all other parties.
In yet others you can do what you suggest -- freely record any conversation you are directly involved in.
As for if Skype will implement recording or not, it doesn't really matter. There are lots of 3rd party apps that will record any audio stream.
Some people are like slinkies--basically useless but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.
Now, if only it worked on my thinkpad x21. It already works, if by "works" you mean "produces horrible awful distorted sound on both ends".
I'll be happy when they introduce ALSA support.
If the conversations can be recorded and intercepted by third parties, it will only be a matter of time before they start automated searching of the conversations to find interesting sounds such as DTMF. There are quite a few important numbers that are transmitted via DTMF over the phone that could be easily deciphered.
Browse the Information Directory
The Reason that they have no spyware , is because they offer a service called Skypeouthttp://www.skype.com/products/skypeout/, A telephone service allowing you to call an outside line, which of course you have to pay for
This is where we are, our rock we stand, among the world, looking forward, eternally.
They have RPMs for every modern RPM distro but not a single .deb. Darn. I could compile it from source, but I have been avoiding that ever since I switched to Ubuntu.
Open Source Sushi
What spyware? I've got the latest build of Skype installed on my XP machine. When I run Ad-Aware, it finds no spyware. 0, zero, ziltch, nadda, NOTHING!
Please people, stop spreading FUD!
Life is not for the lazy.
Federal and FCC regulations are "one-party" regulations. Only one party, that's you, needs to know the conversation is being recorded. However, this applies to private, non-commercial, conversations only. Business have different rules.
You are correct that several states do have additional laws in place, however, not all of them mentioned need all parties involved to be aware. Some are "two-party" regulations where two of people in the conversation need know, even if it's a three way call.
At least according to this
Be Safe! Sleep with a Marine. Semper Fi!
I see that it appears to be a eurocentric device and winders compatible.
Now that Linux is supported, will the Olympia be usable with Linux and in the USSA???
I hear when you do that, you get Director Commentary as an added bonus. (still trying to figure out what agency he is a director of though)
Which part do you doubt?
That Echelon logs voice traffic (even standard POTS)? The Congressional inquiries already got that information out.
Or do you think that "speech to text" logging is years away, and understood only by those scientists reverse engineering UFO parts?
Or are you so comfortable with Big Brother, that you'll refuse to believe even an admission by the government that this exists?
Or do you just hate freedom pesky Bill of Rights which may be used to protect people who are law abiding, but perhaps too dark to gay or too poor for your comfort level.
Nations never go "mad" like the Stalinists or the Nazi's... they just persecute the fringes, treating those who will turn a blind eye (like yourself) as "good" people.
Given your discrediting statement, when this stuff is NOT A STATE SECRET... I'd have to conclude you understand the issues but that you have about as much appreciation for democracy as the World Bank. You Pig.
I've been using Skype on Windows for some time now. It works really well overall, and especially the PC2PC sound quality is excellent. Usually as good or better than a local landline call.
:( I contacted their "live support" chat option but was told that Skype is having issues with their card approval company.
I have also been using SkypeOut, their 1.7 Euro cent/minute (2.2 US cents). SkypeOut has saved me a lot of cash, both in international calls from home and when making calls from hotels when traveling. Yep, Skype gets out of the usually heavily blocked hotel networks! So instead of being stuck paying exorbitant hotel long distance rates I pay the standard SkypeOut rate. Awesome!
Except.... Skype now refuses to take my credit card to buy more pre-paid SkypeOut credit. I've tried 3 different cards, all of which work on Amazon US and Japan as well as various other sites. No go.
Anyone else have the same problems?
Some people are like slinkies--basically useless but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.
From http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.recordlaw.html
"The federal law makes it unlawful to record telephone conversations except in one party consent cases which permit one party consent recording by state law. What that means is a person can record their own telephone conversations without the knowledge or consent of the other party in those states that allow one party consent."
There are twelve states that require all party consent. They are:
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Illinois
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Montana
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania
Washington
See the above URL for other state restrictions.
Make that both of them. I'm finally giving up BeOS. I'm going to get one of those fancy new Amigas.
I'd be interested in this. Who is your voip provider and whats the service like?
In other words, you are saying it's very hard to install spyware on a Linux or Mac and therefore no one actually codes spyware for the Mac because they neither get enough people to be worth while nor is it as easy as say on a windows box and therefore no effective spyware programs exist.
I would much rather you have said "yes you are naive, here are a list of Spyware apps for Linux and Mac." Instead you basically said "Yes it's possible to get spyware on your Mac or Linux box if someone bothered to code it and someone went around their ass to get to their elbow." What kind of logic is that? There is no rock hard evidence that either platform has any kind of penetration into spyware common on the PC.
PS, I just googled spyware for mac and found discussions on spyware, adds for PC spyware, and a mac company I'd never heard before with a broken website that promise a list of mac spyware "coming soon" and a forum that hasn't been updated by anyone in the company for over 6 months.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
download was pretty slow from skype.com so I made a torrent after I finished @ 20kB/s
skype-1.0.0.1.torrent
From http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.recordlaw.html/
"The federal law makes it unlawful to record telephone conversations except in one party consent cases which permit one party consent recording by state law. What that means is a person can record their own telephone conversations without the knowledge or consent of the other party in those states that allow one party consent."
There are twelve states that require all party consent. They are:
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan , Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Washington.
There are 38 states that permit one party consent. See the URL for more details.
It's a pity that Skype doesn't comply with any. It's almost inevitable that they'll leverage for their own financial benefit their customer lockin at some point in the future, just like Microsoft do with their closed file formats.
The Internet's nature is peer to peer - 20050301_cs_profs.pdf
Skype is special only in that it works behind a firewall, in my opinion.
I would not have even started using it, but the alternatives (linphone, kphone, gnome-meeting, etc) either had to have ports opened on the firewalls of both parties involved in communication, or wouldn't work at all unless DMZ'ed (h323 wont work behind firewalls gnome-meeting/netmeeting).
This is a big deal to mostly due to the possibility of talking to non-geeks, you know, people who don't know what ports are, unless you count those things filled with water and ships.
Computer to computer VoIP used to stink for this reason: not many people to talk to, and the ones that are able are techies. Skype has changed this.
If it's not one thing, it's Steve's Mother
Can you do conference calls? Three-way calling. Is there a conferencing bridge for any VOIP approach?
-- Sally
Where I am it is illegal unless you make an announcement that the call is being recorded prior to starting the recording. The upshot of this is that my system announces it is recording while the company I'm talking to may make a similar announcement. There seems to be a widespread assumption that no confirmation from the other party is required.
Its quite an interesting issue.
I've been using Skype for Mac for a little while now, and I'm impressed with the quality of the UI on Mac OS X, and the fact that they're supporting four (count them, four) platforms with fully native interfaces on each platform. That's not something to sneeze at (we have enough problems with two where I work). These guys seem to really get attention to detail.
Just the fact that they can afford to do the UIs as well as they have, as fast as they have, hints at how lucrative their SkypeOut business is.- Allen Pike
Altering time, one time at a time.
Tried making a Skype call to another user on the same LAN. There was nothing but static.
On the bright side, the static sounded almost exactly like a nice, calming, flowing river. We can toss those little "zen waterfall" things in our cubes and just leave Skype running. Pretty much the same sound.
Skype can only talk to other skype users. While its great that a company is supporting linux and mac, I think in the long term VoIP in generally would benefit from people using something that is standards compliant (there are plenty of SIP soft phones out there for linux)
Skype still uses OSS under linux.
Since it's a new company where the software got developed while ALSA was available, I have to question why they released a "public" linux version that still does not offer ALSA, even after every second post in their linux forums asked for it.
Then there's also the possibility that, had their software been open-sourced, someone would have already added ALSA functionality to it; But that's for a different thread.
I've only had these problems with the 1.0 version. The beta was more stable it seems. In general, wen it works, it works great. I imagine whatever the problem is will be ironed out quickly.
;)
W
PS: Sounds like a good deal. As soon as I sell off this bridge I bought in Manhattan and the swamp land I bought in FL, I should have enough...
-------------------
This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Where's an open source product that I could use to talk from Mac OS X (for example) to someone using Windows or Linux PC? I'm fine with having to set up the firewall just right on both ends (to avoid using the server in the middle and make this truly P2P).
I've searched everywhere and it looks like there's no such thing available. I wonder why?
More seriously, an answering machine would be cool.
------ Curiosity killed the cat. {satisfaction brought it back | it didn't die ignorant | lack of it is killing mankind
heh.
(Yes, I know you're joking, but damn, I get tired of this attitude).
So, how do those FM radio station prank calls work then?
"You can't fight in here, this is the war room!"
There is no "reasonable expectation of privacy" for your work telephone from monitoring by your employers. There's also little expectation of privacy from anything that allows "monitoring for quality assurance".
Properly encrypted, end-to-end VOIP was done many years ago with PGPphone, a Mac based application that could run over a 14.4 kbaud modem line and used RSA to encrypt the conversation. It *could not* be decrypted without either end's private keys. Unfortunately, because of encryption regulations which are deliberately vague andn confusing, there are currently no broadly available such commercial tools with robust end-to-end encryption.
It costs me 3 CAN a minute to call my family in the netherlands with skype unfortunately this excellent service doesn't yet provide local service at reasonable rates. With http://www.vonage.ca/index.php it's 8 per minute and there plan costs 39.99 $CAN per month. You can call unlimited within North America. If you live in the USA for 19.95$ US ( about 30$CAN ) https://www.lingo.com/guWeb/com/primustel/gu/prese ntation/residential/ResidentialController.jpf
You get unlimited minutes each month to speak with anyone in the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe.
So as a Canadian I get two thirds of the service for an extra 1/3 of the cost.
Just tried the new version. (Would have earlier, but my vastly overpriced 128k cable modem was down most of the evening since I posted last.)
IT WORKS without me needing to be root! Woo Hoo!
Thanks folks!
One other amusing tidbit -- it costs about 16 cents a minute to call Ecuadorian cell phones with this thing. Costs about 28 cents via an Ecuadorian land line.
Why not just use SIP? It works, and it's free! Try linphone or kphone. (both open source).
time to cancel the phone line... skype + a minimal voip service to get incoming calls can cost less than $20/mo. as opposed to $40+ for a landline... the bells better get fiber to my house before skype fixes their incoming call problem...
Get your torrents...
for over a year now on my windows machine, and have installed it about a month ago for Linux.
I would say, its sound quality is not that great, but its not bad, it does the job(Maybe the quality is down cause of my firewall??).
Overall, its practical, easy to use/install, interface is neat, (a few memory leaks though, so watch out, it will eat up you resources, it did for me)
Personally, i like it., espically that my wife got a windows machine, and i mostly run on linux, so lately i dont have to reboot into windows to talk to her.
The lunatic is in my head
I personally know of several people who could not use their credit cards at Skype. Its a shame.
I personally have had mixed results. Sometimes my credit cards work and sometimes they dont. I have never had this sort of trouble with an online vendor before.
Yes. Skype is a customer of Qt, so do not worry.
-- "Perceptions create reality. By changing your perceptions you change your reality."
Then you are doing it wrong. Don't assume everyone else is an idiot until you check your facts.
I just d/led a file in BT that averaged 230K on my 300K DSL line. That seems pretty dang fast to me.
Either your firewall is blocking the incoming ports, or your upload speed is slow. Your download speed is dependant on both of those factors.
Quick check: Download Azureus and do the 'wizard' thing. It'll tell you if ports aren't right.
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
It doesn't work. Running Mac Os X (10.3.7). It complains of corrupt password then crash. I cleared the Skype folder in /Users/me/Library/ using Secure Empty. Still the same.
It has been like this since the last 3 versions.
Crap, how can this be even version 1.0.0? It doesn't work!
I'm currently in Lagos, Nigeria for a project and I've been using Skype over our crappy VSAT connection. I expected huge latency but it works really quite well. Top marks to Skype.
Should be Funny (or Sarcastic), not Informative.
3.243F6A8885A308D313
They just had to go and make it qt based, did they?
You really need to do a little research before calling someone else a "bread moron", thus tarring yourself with the same brush. For what it's worth you meant to say "I rarely have the chance or the need to say this but you are a purebred moron." or perhaps "pure bred". All you are implying is that he is a moron made of some sort of delicious pastry. Welcome to humiliation on Slashdot, enjoy your stay.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
You might want to watch out, unless you work for them, they'll want you thrown in jail.
It's not open source ... and doesn't use open VoIP standards such as SIP.
The Internet's nature is peer to peer - 20050301_cs_profs.pdf
SIP
The Internet's nature is peer to peer - 20050301_cs_profs.pdf
I'm sorry, but how is Skype *not* a broadly available commercial VOIP tool with robust end-to-end encryption?
AhForgetIt tendency rated 39%
Skype still doesn't work with ALSA. This is quite a pain in the ass for Linux users (very unstable, crashes anytime, no sound, etc), because i think the majority of Linux desktops are running latest generation distros, with 2.6.x kernels and of course, ALSA.
We should really push for an ALSA version, old OSS is obsolete. And OSS emulation is _not_ the solution. Am i right, dear /.-ers?
PS. is this a FF bug, typing "/" in a text area brings me the page search bottom tab????There is a chance that Apple will be releasing a Windows version of iChat with Tiger Server. Tiger Server includes a Jabber server, and the Tiger version of iChat will support this (the code is already there - if you run TCPDump on iChat in Rendezvous mode you will find that it is almost pure XMPP, with one or two extensions for things like bubble colour). According to the Apple documentation (very sparse before product launch) you can connect using existing clients, but I think it's relatively likely that they will release a Windows version (at least for the corporate market) to allow a consistent user interface.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Im using Pipecall, now i don't make a lot of calls but its super cheap, 1p per min for any landline, 12p for any mobile, and 3 quid line rental... bargain. I don't use the phone a lot as most of my friends are wired/like to text but i have hardly any phone bill at all.
I did a bit more looking. Skype apparently uses 256-bit AES encryption, which is not sufficient for protection against high-end decryption systems. (See relevant security papers for why this is too short for computers over the next few years, if not computers this year). But this key is too short: it should be at least 512, preferably 1024.
It's enough for preventing casual monitoring: the reports here on Slashdot of people monitoring such conversations were of installing a monitoring tool on the user's computers, not of a man-in-the-middle attack, which I had not realized. But Skype also gathers statistics in their central location about who calls what other users when. You'd better bet that information can be subpoenaed, without your knowledge, since that's been the standard for central phone service monitoring for years.
Also, anytime you work through a central office, without control over the source code you're running, you leave yourself open to re-routing of the call or even deliberate re-broadcast of the call from the clients at the whim of the central office.
I'm not saying Skype is a bad service. I'm just saying that we've seen better encrypted software for VOIP published repeatedly, for years, and there are political and fiscal reasons it has never taken off.
AhForgetIt tendency rated 39%
Here in Sweden two or three companies are offering SIP POTS service. I buy service from one of them and use asterisk to record all my conversations as mp3. The entire experience is documented here. http://snippsnapp.polite.se/wiki?RecordingWithAste risk
So what if the dialing party lives in a single-party consent state, and calls someone living in an all-party consent state?
Which states' laws trump consent requirements?
.
"You have liberated me from thought."
Skype is special only in that it works behind a firewall, in my opinion.
:-)
I personally think the multi-platform nature it's starting to develop along with abilities to call regular phones will give it an edge. It's also important to be easy to use, and as you say need a minimum of configuration. We're talking basic things like chatting with people, which anyone should be able to without consulting technicians.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
Much Windows spyware infects its target through security vulnerabilities. Are you saying that OS X and Linux are completely free of all such openings?
The other thing is that if one luser installs spyware, the other users are not adversely affected.
Which other users? The ones on the same machine that suffer from reduced CPU and memory availability? Or the ones on other machines that suffer from reduced network bandwidth?
If you think spyware can't happen here, you're painfully naive. It can (and probably will), and I'm afraid that a lot of people are going to have to eat their words.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
...but perhaps too dark to gay...
Just how dark do you have to be to be unable to gay?
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As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
Skype has just announced full versions of its software for Mac OS X and for Linux. Now I'm only waiting for some conversations recording feature.
Although I have not tried it yet, I imagine this could be accomplished via the use of something like Audio Hijack Pro or Wiretap.
Is Audio Hijack one of those products that substites its own speaker driver, so you can record the output of any program? If so, you couldn't use it with Skype -- you'd only get half the conversation.