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Microsoft to Launch "Skype Killer"
TheChillPill writes "Microsoft is due to announce the launch of a service to rival Skype following the acquision of VoIP provider Teleo.
While a crude version of VoIP is already included in most Instant Messaging programs, Skype is currently the only provider to allow calls to landlines and cellphones.
Microsoft intends to launch the service by the end of the year. "
Are you kidding? That's what they said about "WebTV".
Besides, who wants to listen to a EULA agreement when you try to call up your grandma in Michigan? Or how would you exactly Ctrl+Alt+Delete a M$ VOIP Blue Screen of Death...wait, how exactly would you even KNOW it was a blue screen of death. I suppose they would call it the "White Noise of Imminent Demise".
IGB: More fun than eating oatmeal!
Basically, apt-get is a kick-ass system for making sure your Debian system is up to date, has the latest packages installed, and manages conflicts. At the core, what is a VoIP system about? Making sure your voice 'packages' are up to date, have the latest messages 'installed', and manages conflicts, that is, a reply had been requested, yet hasn't been sent! All the key infrastructure was already in place, including an interface (dselect), which could easily be ported to all the required platforms to allow easy speaking and hearing of VoIP messages.
The first step was to use apt-get itself to distribute a modified apt.sources file, which contained the IP addresses of all of the VoIP clients on the network. Some people had suggested DNS as a solution to this, but my feeling was that DNS wouldn't scale so well (this was a large LAN, with over 10,000 clients...I'd like to see DNS cope with that!!). Once each client had it's apt.sources file updated, you could basically send a 'message' (your voice message, transcribed into a text file, and encapsulated into a .deb file by a custom packager I created that runs as a background process) to any host specified in the apt.sources file. To do this, I had to create a daemon-ized version of apt-get, listening on a predefined port. The daemon would be contacted by the apt-get client, would receive the .deb package containing the VoIP packet, and then 'install' it to the dselect based client on the receiving system.
Without trying to sound like I'm blowing my own trumpet, the system was a huge success, and the many features of apt-get for package management really came in handy for managing VoIP packet flows. For instance, just say you've just sent a message to a colleague via apt-get saying "Let's meet for lunch at 1pm". After transcribing your message into a special text file using an editor such as vi, you issue the command:
apt-get install host=fred-pc "Let's meet for lunch at 1pm"
But then...you're called into an emergency meeting and you can't make lunch until 2pm. You need to 'upgrade' your message to the latest version. After 'speaking' into the specially crafted VoIP microphone hardware (ie: transcribing with vi):
apt-get upgrade host=fred-pc "Make that 2pm!"
Easy! The whole project was essentially wrapped up in 6 months, and because of the open-source nature of apt-get, we'd managed to port to all of the platforms in our specification. If Microsoft can swallow their pride a little, I think they could really learn something from the power of apt-get! I look forward to the community's response! apt-get out.
Microsoft's product will not be like skype, or be on the playing field with it as I am sure it won't be open source. One of the nice things about skype is the innovations around it that have occurred as a result of it being open
microsoft is spreading themselves a little thin.
they can't even produce a secure simple os - I mean when you just buy windows what do you get. nothing but a bunch of open ports, a few games, and wordpad. why don't they spend some money on making ie standards compliant.