Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Ekiga 2.0 Released

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the truly-free-speech dept.

Some Anonymous Coward writes "After about one year of development the former GnomeMeeting team has released Ekiga. Ekiga is the successor of the popular GnomeMeeting. Ekiga calls itself the very "first Open Source application to support both H.323 and SIP". Ekiga is based on the h323/sip codebase, provided by the openh323 project. Also introduced with this release is ekiga.net, a platform to provide the community with free sip addresses."

203 comments

  1. Ready? by Douglas+Simmons · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Will this successor be successful in placating the higher ups in my office if I start converting XP machines to use this instead of MS's equiv?

    1. Re:Ready? by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 0

      No. It is not a Microsoft product. Was that easy?

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    2. Re:Ready? by shokk · · Score: 1

      My guess is "no" considering I can't reach ekiga.net right now.

      --
      "Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
    3. Re:Ready? by diegocgteleline.es · · Score: 1, Funny

      ass and breasts in high res

      Could you change your sig? For some reason I don't continue reading the rest of the commentaries after seeing it.

  2. ANYTHING has to be better... by Illbay · · Score: 5, Informative
    ...than Netmeeting.

    I remember trying NM for the first time several years ago--maybe 1998 or so. I couldn't believe how badly it DIDN'T work.

    Flash forward to about three months ago. Our company HR department is having a presentation on the new benefits package. Seems like the SAME OLD PROBLEMS that were "en vogue" eight years ago are still around.

    I have asked, and been given no satisfactory answer, why we do not look around for a better alternative. "Well, it's supported by Microsoft" seems to be the only cogent response.

    --
    Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
    1. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by Aspirator · · Score: 3, Insightful

      At least with a name like Netmeeting I had some idea what
      the software did.

      Now with names like Ekiga in my menus I won't have a clue.

    2. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Now with names like Ekiga in my menus I won't have a clue.

      Yeah, it's like calling a spreadsheet "Excel". How will anyone know what it does with a name like that. Or calling a retailer "Amazon". In the business world you'd be dead in the water if you used names like that.

    3. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by mobilebuddha · · Score: 1

      we use MS livemeeting. it works just fine. i also have webex, while not as "interactive", it also works fine for presentation purposes.

    4. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Point them towards TightVNC.

    5. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by pomo+monster · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Your interpretation is crippled by linear thinking. For example, Excel contains the word "cell," and describes what the spreadsheet (ostensibly) lets you do. Even if you don't notice it, others do--others who aren't constrained by your inability to connect dots. And frankly, lateral thinkers are the sorts of people who matter. Not you.

    6. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by zootm · · Score: 0, Redundant

      I think NetMeeting was replaced with something else, but I really couldn't tell you what it's called, sorry.

    7. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Netmeeting is no longer supported by Microsoft (or that's the reason our company gave for switching from it to Lotus Sametime).

    8. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by SnowZero · · Score: 2, Funny

      With that kind of "lateral thinking", it's obvious that Ekiga stands for "telekinesis gathering".

      Or maybe both names suck. I doubt the average office worker would pick up on the "cel" thing, especially since a cel is something completely different than a cell. Maybe Excel is an animation package? Why didn't they call it Excell to be more clear? Of course given how bad spelling is nowadays, maybe nobody would notice.

    9. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by SnowZero · · Score: 1

      With a name like GnomeMeeting they could get sued by Microsoft. Remember Lindows? It's about as similar. Of course they shouldn't use the name by itself whenever possible, and should refer to it as "Ekiga Web Meeting Software".

    10. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by Illbay · · Score: 1
      Yeah: Live Meeting, about which I cannot comment--having never used it.

      But I find it interesting that (1) MS "abandoned" NetMeeting for the "new, improved" prodcut, and (2) our shop still uses NetMeeting--I guess they don't want to shell out more bucks for something that they have every expectation will "work just as well" as the old brand.

      FWIW, the problems we have with NetMeeting is mostly with regard to frequent dropping signals, having to restart clients--and once, even having to restart the SERVER.

      I did "attend" a presentation for which we paid to do some training, using Live Meeting, and the presenter had to restart their server twice.

      They actually agreed to refund part of our cost for the presentation as a result.

      Anecdotal, yes, but that's my experience.

      --
      Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
    11. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by Coppit · · Score: 2, Informative
      Recently I poked around to find out the state of the art for videoconferencing. The best appears to be Sightspeed. The quality is good, and they have Mac and Windows clients. Family using Windows can point IE to a webpage which downloads an ActiveX control to display video in the browser.

      The free service has a 30 second limit on video mail, and only allows one-to-one conferencing.

    12. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by Breakfast+Pants · · Score: 1

      If Gaim (and hell their service icons...) doesn't have to change their name... why should Gnomemeeting?

      --

      --

      WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
    13. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by Lobais · · Score: 1

      If you look at the gnome hig: http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/
      You will see, that the menu entities should not be the name of the app, but something the users understand. e.g. firefox is shown as webbrowser etc.

    14. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by zootm · · Score: 1

      I've never used either, to be honest, so you're anecdotal evidence is good enough for me. :)

    15. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by Makarakalax · · Score: 1

      FYI, your insulting tone makes you look a lot less intelligent than you claim to be.

    16. Re:ANYTHING has to be better... by Sierpinski · · Score: 1

      e.g. firefox is shown as webbrowser etc.

      Firefox itself doesn't mean anything to someone who's never heard of it. Now obviously calling it TheBetterWebBrowserThanIE v1.5 is stupid, but the word FireFox says nothing about web browsing. Its just commonplace now because its very well-known. Who's to say this new application won't have the same amount of name-fame? Its new, give it a chance.

      Or, people can just look it up and research for themselves instead of sitting there trying to think what Ekiga is. O'Reilly did this with the pictures of animals on their covers, and (usually) managed to tie them somehow into the theme of the book. (Armadillo for security or firewalls or something like that, I can't remember exactly.) But at least they did explain it right in the book cover.

      --
      And they said zombies weren't real!
  3. Ekiga is the first Open Source... by nubbie · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ekiga is the first Open Source application to support both H.323 and SIP.

    Depends on what you consider an application. I'm pretty sure http://asterisk.org has a few months on you.

    --
    'Go for the eyes, Boo, go for the eyes, aaarrrrrrrr!' -- Minsc
    1. Re:Ekiga is the first Open Source... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 1

      Depends on what you consider an application. I'm pretty sure http://asterisk.org/ has a few months on you.

      Yes, but does it run on Windows? :-/

    2. Re:Ekiga is the first Open Source... by grosh · · Score: 1

      Depends on what you consider an application. I'm pretty sure http://asterisk.org/ has a few months on you.

      Yes, but does it run on Windows? :-/

      Yes, it does. Kinda.

    3. Re:Ekiga is the first Open Source... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 1

      Thanks for your answer. Now I'm able to say that you can't run Asterisk on Windows without having to install VMWARE first.

      I guess I'll go for Ekiga, as soon as the server gets un/.'ed :)

    4. Re:Ekiga is the first Open Source... by kimvette · · Score: 1

      You don't want to run asterisk on vmware unless it's just a toy, a test environment, or a very light use home installation.

      --
      The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
    5. Re:Ekiga is the first Open Source... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well for starters Asterisk is a Server SIP/H323/Analog Phone Server and so much more, Ekiga is a client software that requires a SIP/H323 Server for connection establishment, routing, and so forth. Secondly, VMWare is awesome, and there are many different levels of VMWare, Asterisk running on top of ESX and good hardware runs amazingly.

  4. From the Article by Orrin+Bloquy · · Score: 5, Funny

    "As soon as we were able to confirm that 'ekiga' is not Japanese for Happy Fun Tentacle Rape Time, it was a go."

    --
    "Made up/misattributed quote that makes me look smart. I am on /. and I must look smart."
    1. Re:From the Article by ceeam · · Score: 4, Funny

      I check my dictionary and the closest is "ekika". Meaning "armpit". FYI.

    2. Re:From the Article by neutralstone · · Score: 1

      Sounds like you need a new dictionary. (:

      According to my wordtank, ekiga can be represented with two Han letters that individually mean "side" and "bud" and means:

      "(usually leafy) buds that form at the base of a root;  also, commonly, those that form on the upper side of the base of a leaf and (in large numbers) from within a stem."

      (Translated from:  "Ha no tsuke ne ni dekiru me.  Futsuu, ha no kibu no uwakawa ni dekiru ga, youhei no uchigawa ni shou-zuru mono mo ooi."  But my Japanese is so rusty that it's actually a small pile of *iron oxide* and various impurities, so you might want to double-check that.  Also, apologies for the romaji; stupid Slashdot still doesn't come in UTF-8 flavor.)

      What that has to do with VOIP... I have no idea. (:

      But that assumes the word is intended to be taken as Japanese, which I'm not so sure of...

    3. Re:From the Article by neutralstone · · Score: 1

      Ah -- others have pointed out that it refers to drum-based communication using the voice instead of drums.  But I can't find a reference to the culture and/or language it comes from...

    4. Re:From the Article by davidsyes · · Score: 1

      Looking ONLY at the Japanese translations and not the original Chinese characters and looking for a relevant meaning, I looked up in JquickTrans (Bought at store... maybe Fry's or MicroCenter, a few years ago...)

      of 7 possible meanings, "e"'s most relevant entry is:

      picture, drawing, painting, sketch
      =============

      of 13 possible meanings, "ki" 's most relevant entry would be:

      chronicle

      =======

      I found ONE entry for "ga", and it is moth.

      ==========

      of 5 possible meanings, "eki"s most relevant could be:

      (vs) gain, benefit, profit, use, advantage, being beneficial (useful, profitable, valuable)

      ===

      "kiga" has several meanings/readings:

      Hunger, starvation

      daily life

      hunger

      =======

      As for "ekika"

      there is also the meaning "liquefaction"

      Sometimes, people might mix up the particles "ka" with "ga". Maybe this is intentional in this case? Maybe they think they'll undermine netmeeting via some "liquefaction"

      --
      Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
    5. Re:From the Article by colombus · · Score: 1

      Abstract from http://www.unescocat.org/cultmon/en/dossiers/bantu s3_1.html
      "In drum language, the sender identifies himself at the start of the message with the notes of his personal motto and those of his listener's, so as to draw his attention. This technique is also
                          used in another variety of language without drums, called ekiga, which
                          consists in reproducing the notes without the words, emitting the syllable
                          ke in a falsetto voice and repeating it with the corresponding tone.
                          This other type of language is used mainly for calling someone by their
                          motto from one field to another or from a clearing to a field, when
                          the sender and the receiver are not too far apart and when there is
                          no wooden drum available or no-one who can use it."

  5. Is this compatible with consumer VoIP? by fak3r · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Will this be compatible with consumer VoIP? In otherwords, I'm considering signing up for Speakeasy VoIP (already have DSL with them) which would cut out our phone company ( something I'd love to do ), so would this work with that? At home I would use a normal 'phone' but on the road could I use this to make/recieve calls on my laptop? What other advantages would this provide? Back in the day I did some internet phoney thing, but it was early in dev and not very useful. With all our calls going out on TCP/IP I'd imagine this app would be helpful, but I still haven't grasped what it's all about.

    Thanks.

    --
    fak3r.com
    1. Re:Is this compatible with consumer VoIP? by lintux · · Score: 2, Informative

      I use Twinkle together with a SipDiscount account, FWIW. Works quite well for me so far. Will think of buying real SIP hardware later, maybe.

    2. Re:Is this compatible with consumer VoIP? by The+Munger · · Score: 1

      We're this far down the comments, and this is the first mention of VOIP. When a technical person sees video standards and GnomeMeeting in an article they make assumptions, but I do believe it could have been spelled out a little clearer. Don't you?

      --
      Refuse to make a statement in your sig!
    3. Re:Is this compatible with consumer VoIP? by mdaniel · · Score: 1

      I wanted to chime in as a long-standing Speakeasy.net customer who subscribed to their VoIP package about 6 months ago.

      I strongly agree with the child post who raved about Speakeasy.net as an ISP. I have been absolutely happy and it will take a physical relocation for me to cancel my service with them.

      I have not been as happy with their VoIP service. It's not that it's broken, or disruptive or whatever. It's a touch expensive (I don't have the number in front of me, but ~$30/mo seems right), they required a 12 month contract (in contrast to my ISP service with them which was month-to-month: a major selling point for me) and (the biggest of all points) the new system for managing one's VoIP account is terrible.

      First, a little background: when I first signed up, they had one system. It was bland, and would occassionally catch phone calls in voicemail that should have been forwarded to my cell, but generally pretty much what I expected from a VoIP solution. That's the Old System(tm).

      The New System(tm) is much more bland and seems immature. Unlike the Old System, the New System does not allow one to download their voicemail messages over the web.

      I feel bad not supporting my argument with more facts, but the main point of the message is to shop around before committing with what is otherwise an outstanding ISP.

          -- /v\atthew

    4. Re:Is this compatible with consumer VoIP? by aliquis · · Score: 1

      Earlier I used an ATA box and a SIP VoIP from Bredbandsbolaget (sweden, all of the rest aswell) and then I switched to Rix Telecom which I only use together with a softphone, I'm considering switching to Affinity Telecom since you don't pay anything per month and get a free ATA box if you sign up for 12 months (I haven't found the catch in that...)

      Anyway, I call with software only and yes it works. For Windows and others gizmo project has a client which seems nice, but I think it only works with their servers. SJlabs SJphone is the client I thought where best in Windows and there is a Linux version aswell. Another client is Xten X-lite which I avoided since the GUI looked so weird (it tend to do on them all.)
      Free as in speach clients for the UNIX world has been quite crappy in comparision, the best are probably linphone both kphone might work aswell.

      Anyway yes it do works! In Linux with ALSA I would rate the sound quality ekiga / SJphone on first place, then linphone and last kphone. For the interface SJphone, ekiga, kphone, linphone. The bad thing with SJphone in Linux was that it didn't had any calling tones if you didn't set up a command yourself to run when you got incoming calls. But I didn't know if it would kill it aswell or repeat it or anything so I never did and therefor never knew if anyone called ;)

      Ekiga is good.

  6. Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by foxtrot · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I might have been able to guess what GnomeMeeting did. I would have guessed that it was perhaps a collaborative whiteboard tool, perhaps with a dose of voice-chat built in. I'd bet it worked in Gnome.

    I would have no bloody clue what an Ekiga is if the article hadn't mentioned it was the successor to GnomeMeeting. I'm sure it means something really appropriate in Sanskrit or something. How very clever.

    And so, another project winds up with a useless name and they get to wonder why nobody uses their product, because folks see "Ekiga" and have no idea that it does exactly what they need, where GnomeMeeting might've hinted that at least.

    -F

    1. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Slack3r78 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Ekiga is the name of the project's primary coder's girlfriend from what I've read. While a sweet sentiment, it's still a terrible name for a software project - as I've already posted elsewhere in the thread.

    2. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Rac3r5 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Actually, you're not the only one who is confused by Ekiga. I think its a really cool name. The problem lies with the website and its FAQ on what Ekiga is. It tells me about SIP and H.323 bla bla, but that doesn't tell me what it really is. I had to lookup wikipedia to find out that its a video conferencing tool.

    3. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by tpgp · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Of course, everyone can immediately tell what skype does.

      Seriously, is anyone else getting a little sick of the plethora of "me too" comments about the appropriateness of a software product's name on slashdot?

      --
      My pics.
    4. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by jacksonj04 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Bet she gets strange looks putting that on official forms. If it a common foreign name, or the product of people who call their child things like "Vagina" (The USA currently has 2 Vaginas on the census, interpret how thou wilt).

      --
      How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
    5. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oh stfu you metro, wtf cares as long as it works fine.

    6. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by briqui · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No skype isn't immediatelyobvious - and perhaps on that basis skype was a poor choice of name.

      But in addition to this there is one other major difference - the advertising budget.

      Skype has thrown a huge amount of money and resources into turning itself into a 'name' brand and as such it makes sense that they should go with something original and snappy.

      Unless we want to put together a community project to fund an advert in New York Times for every open source project it probably makes more sense to pick obvious names.

    7. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by brunes69 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and Adobe Acrobat is really inidicative of the fact that it is a portable document viewer.

      God I am sick of this BS.

    8. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by milgr · · Score: 4, Funny

      I hope that his next girlfriend has a better name. Maybe something like gvideoconference.

      --
      Where law ends, tyranny begins -- William Pitt
    9. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Slack3r78 · · Score: 1

      Acrobat had the marketing dollars of Adobe behind it. Your average layperson doesn't talk about 'PDFs' they talk about 'Acrobat files.' Ekiga is a bit player in a saturated market. It is not Kleenex, Coke or Xerox.

      If it was a market leading product with a budget behind it, they might have the luxury of choosing an esoteric name and still gaining acceptance from the average user. The reality is, that luxury doesn't exist for them.

    10. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would have guessed that it was perhaps a collaborative whiteboard tool.

      And you would be wrong. So you point is?

    11. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by tpgp · · Score: 1
      Unless we want to put together a community project to fund an advert in New York Times for every open source project it probably makes more sense to pick obvious names.

      I take your point about advertising and brand recognition - however, the flip side of the coin is brand protection.

      I know its not a registered trademark - but taking a unique name like 'ekiga' rather then 'openconference or similar means:
      1) It's less likely the domain name has been registered.

      2) Its harder for someone to muscle in on your business using a similar name (in the event your project's a success).

      3) Once you do make it to the bigtime, you've got a fanciful mark ready to go.
      --
      My pics.
    12. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by carlmenezes · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree here. All of a sudden, the thing to do is to mud sling about package names. Come on. If the guy named it after his girlfriend, that's great. If he named it after his favorite cartoon, that's great. The POINT is, if it gets used widely enough, it won't matter what it's called. How about Trillian? EMule? EDonkey? Acrobat?

      Get the point? If it's a good app, help expand its user base. If you really want to help, do that. Anyone can sit around and bitch.

      --
      Find a job you like and you will never work a day in your life.
    13. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by amias · · Score: 2, Funny

      I believed you right up to the phrase 'primary coders girlfriend'.

      --
      [site]
    14. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by bigtrike · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's better than GIMP

    15. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Neil+Hodges · · Score: 1

      I use GNOME on one of my installs, and never realized what Ekiga was until I clicked on it.

    16. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 0

      its about as sweet a sentiment as getting her name tattooed somewhere on your body...
      just what happens if/when a breakup occurs. there it'll be, haha suckers

    17. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Jessta · · Score: 1

      what on earth is an Excel?
      what about a powerpoint?
      A Dreamweaver?
      An access? does it open doors?
      what is a linux?
      samba?
      GoLive?
      PHP? .NET?
      Airport card?

      Most products aren't named after what they do, because there are so many implementation of the same thing that always run out of proper names. Wouldn't it be even worse if everyone who made a datastorage application called it "database".

      I'm sure you'll get use to the name.
      - Jessta

      --
      ...and that is all I have to say about that.
      http://jessta.id.au
    18. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by lintux · · Score: 1

      According to this screenshot she's called Jonita. Man, she's everywhere on that website, so I almost feared you were right. I saw her on FOSDEM, and all the guys drooling around her. Oh well, I guess it's all a matter of taste. ;-)

    19. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by lintux · · Score: 2, Informative

      FWIW, I just found this blog post, which explains where the names come from.

    20. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      If it a common foreign name[...]

      You mean like the swedish name Jerker...?

    21. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get over it. Not all product names have to evoke their purposes. If you sit and think for thirty seconds, I'm sure you can come up with half a dozen very successful brand names that suggest nothing at all.

    22. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The article summary has the same problem. I have no idea what Ekiga is. The summary says that it's open source successor to GnomeMeeting. That doesn't help because I don't know what GnomeMeeting is (a calendar program maybe?). It supports H.323 and SIP but I don't know what those are either. A few words stating that it's a video conferencing program would have save time for a lot of people. Something like

      After about one year of development the former GnomeMeeting team has released the video conferencing program Ekiga.

      would have been helpful.

    23. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is completely false, how is it +5 Informative?

    24. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Actually, you're not the only one who is confused by Ekiga. I think its a really cool name. The problem lies with the website and its FAQ on what Ekiga is. It tells me about SIP and H.323 bla bla, but that doesn't tell me what it really is.

      From http://ekiga.org/

      Ekiga is a SIP and H.323 compatible VoIP, IP Telephony, and Video Conferencing application that allows you to make audio and video calls to remote users with SIP or H.323 hardware and software. It supports all modern VoIP features for both SIP and H.323.
      Ekiga is the first Open Source application to support both H.323 and SIP, as well as audio and video. Ekiga was formerly known as GnomeMeeting.

      It's literally the first thing everyone reads on that site.

    25. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Dr.Sweety · · Score: 1

      And so, another project winds up with a useless name and they get to wonder why nobody uses their product, because folks see "Ekiga" and have no idea that it does exactly what they need, where GnomeMeeting might've hinted that at least.

      Ahhh, this must be the reason why Skype has been so unsuccessful :)

    26. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by zsau · · Score: 1

      Just better hope his next software package isn't a word processor for KDE!

      --
      Look out!
    27. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I already used up my mod points. :( I'd mod your post up insightful because these repeated arguments are pointless. Who gives a flying **** why it isn't named for its purpose?

      I suppose some people think that Kleenex actully means "facial tissue" and is not a brand name?

    28. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by pomo+monster · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Jesus Christ. The eye stumbles on the acronym soup in the very first line of that description. Nobody's going to notice the phrase "audio and video calls," buried as it is among four references in only three fucking sentences to "SIP and H.323." Try this instead:
      Ekiga: Bring your friends and colleagues onto your desktop with Ekiga's standards-compliant videoconferencing and audio calls. Supports all modern VoIP features of SIP and H.323.
      There you go. Direct, clear, helpful. Maybe even stuff the last sentence with all the other technical descriptions in the fine print. What's not to like?
    29. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by briqui · · Score: 1

      I'd say the reason that this is an issue is because every project wants to be a brand to itself. Projects don't feel it is enough to be 'the conferencing bit for Gnome' they want to make a name in their own right - and in order to do that they need to have a name that does all the things you list.

      Now in one way this is more than fair enough! They put the work in (usually unpaid), they are justifiably proud of the work that they have done and they would like some recognition for what they have done.

      But does it help the 'community'? I'd say not really - it dilutes the 'brand recognition' of the open source movement, linux and Gnome by increasing the number of different brands that people have to recognise.

      What was wrong with trying to increase the brand awareness of 'Gnome'?

      Macromedia, Microsoft, IBM, even RedHat all produce a number of different products but they don't seem to feel the need to give a special name to every product - instead each product reinforces the brand awareness of the company or range as a whole.

    30. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I hope that his next girlfriend has a better name. Maybe something like gvideoconference.

      Well, some guys I know have girlfriends with the last name .Jpeg--does that count? :)

    31. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by IgnoramusMaximus · · Score: 1
      How about Trillian? EMule? EDonkey? Acrobat?

      Why stick with software only? Try "Xerox", "Blackberry", "Walkman", "iPod" or even the old-fashioned "Mercedes" or "BMW". None of these convey anything about the respective products, yet are widely recognised and immediately associated with consumer items names.

    32. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by Novus · · Score: 1

      Actually, BMW stands for "Bayerische Motoren Werke", which translates as "Bavarian Motor Works", which is a pretty accurate description of what BMW is.

      Acronyms and abbreviations, of course, only make sense if you know what they're short for.

    33. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by darksith69 · · Score: 1
      Hmmm... that finally explains why there are so many comments saying how the name sucks balls.

      Any pictures?

  7. Name Change by Slack3r78 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since I have the karma to burn:

    GnomeMeeting to Ekiga is quite probably the single worst name change I've ever seen in a piece of software, commercial or free aside. They went from a name that clearly communicated the software's purpose to something cryptic that isn't even easily pronounceable. (Yes, I am aware of the new name's origin, that doesn't make it any less terrible a name for a software project).

    So the new name fails on pretty much every front. It fails to communicate the purpose of the program. It fails to be something the average person will actually remember. It fails to be something that's not going to scare off a neophyte. As a program that's bandied about for inclusion in Gnome proper, this pretty significant IMO.

    1. Re:Name Change by ViceClown · · Score: 1

      Amen.

      --
      Have a Happy.
    2. Re:Name Change by caseih · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Skype anyone?

    3. Re:Name Change by hey! · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of a satire I once read in which the author "rebranded" the United States of America. This mean a new, spiffy, streamlined flag, currency redesign, and, of course a new name: USAM.

      Wish I could remember the book.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    4. Re:Name Change by srw · · Score: 1

      At least "Skype" has an easy and un-ambiguous pronunciation. (At least to an English-speaker.)

      I agree, though, that "GnomeMeeting" make far more sense.

      ttyl
      srw

    5. Re:Name Change by Kjella · · Score: 1

      It's just Linux becoming too popular. Can't be all elitist and smug running your niche OS if your grandma uses it, can you? It's like with Windows and hardware, the more it becomes available, you have to apply an equal amount of complification to make sure you stay in equilibrium. Or maybe I should reaaaaaaally cut down on my conspiracy theories.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    6. Re:Name Change by Slack3r78 · · Score: 1

      As another pointed out, Skype is at least pronounceable. Secondly, Skype has a commercial venture with marketing dollars behind it to engrain a brand in the average person. That's not exactly a luxury Open software has.

      The only piece of free software aimed at end users to really get that kind of marketing push to date is Firefox, and even so, only a fraction of the general public would know what you're talking about if you brought it up.

      This is all ignoring that Ekiga isn't going to be a good name to market around in the first place.

    7. Re:Name Change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obviously a contraction of sky and hype. What more could you want from the intarweb??!?

    8. Re:Name Change by GauteL · · Score: 1

      To be fair to Skype, you can actually remember it if you know English. It is easily pronouncable and is simply one syllable. Ekiga on the other hand....

      --
      Gaute

    9. Re:Name Change by diegocgteleline.es · · Score: 1

      Internet Explorer
      Office
      Word
      Messenger

    10. Re:Name Change by XMilkProject · · Score: 1

      Yep, it also fails the number one rule for naming an IT product, it doesn't lend itself to being a verb.

      "Hey, let me google that real quick."

      "Ya, I'll skype you in a few minutes"

      Those both work well, but try to say "Ok, let me Ekiga you".... wtf?

      --
      Big ones, small ones, some as big as yer 'ead!
      Give 'em a twist, a flick o' the wrist...
    11. Re:Name Change by nuzak · · Score: 1

      Skype is one syllable. It's catchy that way. And they have a marketing budget. And they're still an exception.

      Worst. Name. Evar.

      --
      Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
    12. Re:Name Change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      powerpoint
      excel
      outlook
      firefox
      thunderbird
      opera
      safari
      dreamweaver

      in short - get over it.

    13. Re:Name Change by Nimey · · Score: 1

      What? All nouns can be verbed in English.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    14. Re:Name Change by eh2o · · Score: 1

      I for one welcome the change. I depise the trend of naming software Gnome* just because its a Gnome application (K*, etc). Its a totally intractable approach to naming, not to mention redundant. And "GnomeMeeting" sounds like event planning software for mythical creatures that live in peoples' gardens. At least Ekiga is not at risk of being confounded for something that its not.

      Uniqueness is of huge importance for visibilty in text search engines also, i.e., google. When applications are given totally generic names and/or non-unique names, its impossible to find relevant information (e.g. searching for "software phone" vs searching for "ekiga").

      As for the neophytes, well they can be dealt with -- descriptive text, tool tips, intelligent menu categorization, help systems. That is what HCI standards are for. In my experience newbies have the most difficulty with the organization of information within applications, not in determining which application to use for what purpose. Worst case, the standard working vocabulary of modern english is some 150000+ words. Learning one more is not a big deal, especially if its something you plan to encounter on a regular basis.

      With respect to pronounciation, given my en-US centrism, its probably a unilateral opinion anyways so I won't comment ;).

    15. Re:Name Change by FooBarWidget · · Score: 1

      Pronouncable to who? Try telling a Japanese, Chinese or Korean to pronounce it. America != world.

    16. Re:Name Change by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      You mean like GIMP, SAP, Paradox, or any other of a bunch of other programs that have been around forever. Or websites like Google, Yahoo, and Slashdot.
      Hey at least it doesn't start with a G or a K.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    17. Re:Name Change by charlesnw · · Score: 1

      Love your sig. Its a great variation of the standard quote. Got a good chuckle out of it.

      --
      Charles Wyble System Engineer
    18. Re:Name Change by shimage · · Score: 1

      the point is that it doesn't roll off one's tongue as easily as the other examples.

    19. Re:Name Change by potHead42 · · Score: 1

      But verbing weirds language!

    20. Re:Name Change by fbg111 · · Score: 1

      GnomeMeeting to Ekiga is quite probably the single worst name change I've ever seen

      Granted 'Ekiga' is annoyingly Web2.0-ish, but GnomeMeeting isn't exactly the dog's bollocks. Yes, 'Meeting' gives you an idea of what the software does, but wtf does 'Gnome' tell the average PHB, or even a good business exec who came from Finance, Operations, or elsewhere and who just isn't familiar with hacker culture? If hackers want this stuff to go mainstream, coming up with more mainstream names, even meaningless but neutral monikers like Ekiga, is a better alternative and something we're going to have to get used to.

      --
      Flying is easy, just throw yourself at the ground and miss. -Douglas Adams
    21. Re:Name Change by jamesots · · Score: 1

      Yes, Skype has a silly name too. However, they didn't start with a sensible name and then change it to something silly. I mean, Paula Yate's daughter is called Heavenly Hirani Tigerlily, but that doesn't mean I'm going to change my name to Fiddledy Pimple Grimblewart, 'cos that would be stupid.

      --
      Ho hum for the life of a bear
    22. Re:Name Change by pomo+monster · · Score: 1

      If you honestly can't connect the dots between "Safari" and exploring the web, "Dreamweaver" and content creation, "PowerPoint" and structuring presentations, "Outlook" and managing your life--then you're a hopelessly linear thinker who has no business coming up with names for products. Sorry for being blunt, but it's getting late, and it's true.

      I'll agree with you that "Firefox" and "Thunderbird" are about as shitty as names can get. Interestingly, both are open source projects.

    23. Re:Name Change by Nodatadj · · Score: 1

      As a native english speaker
      I've heard skyp (to rhyme with swipe) and sky-pe

      completely unambiguous

    24. Re:Name Change by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      And I still don't know what I should make of "Vista" (except to put "hasta la" in front, which surely is not what MS wanted to imply ...) Interestingly, this is clearly not an Open Source project :-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    25. Re:Name Change by CFrankBernard · · Score: 1

      Don't mean to be a Troll, but is there clear communication at a GnomeMeeting?

    26. Re:Name Change by timmyd · · Score: 1

      The skype homepage is translated into chinese, japanese, and korean, and I'm pretty certain it has a fairly large userbase in each of those countries. So I don't think it's really a problem.

    27. Re:Name Change by arodland · · Score: 1

      Actually, Vista seems to have a good idea behind it. "Vista" in English is subtly different than in Spanish. One aspect of the word is "what you can see from here", which makes sense in Microsoft's vision of the world on your desktop. Besides, it aptly describes the rolling hills teletubby wallpaper they had in XP.

    28. Re:Name Change by pomo+monster · · Score: 1

      I prefer the other interpretation. :-)

    29. Re:Name Change by ClamIAm · · Score: 1

      Hey, perhaps you could READ THE 20 COMMENTS IDENTICAL TO YOURS before posting. I realize getting your +5, redundant is really great, but seriously dude.

    30. Re:Name Change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps you could open your eyes and realize that the parent comment to this thread and the comment that started the other thread were posted a whole minute apart? But wait, that wouldn't let you be self righteous about the issue, would it?

    31. Re:Name Change by be-fan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're only making the association because you've heard of the product before. "Safari" doesn't imply "exploring the web" any more than it implies "exploring your photo album". When I hear "Dreamweaver", I'm much more apt to think "video editor" or "animation package" than "HTML editor". Same thing for PowerPoint --- the connection makes sense if you know what it is "oh, you point during a presentation", but before that?

      You're basically saying that certain names can be vaguely tied to their purposes after you know what they do. But at that point, it really doesn't matter, does it? It's not like these names are are useful descriptions to someone who doesn't already know what the software does (like iPhoto or iTunes). The fact that they still work pretty well shows that software names are just that --- names. Names aren't meant to be descriptive, they're meant to be short and easy to remember. I'm sure your name isn't "annoy guy who hangs out on Slashdot" is it? It's probably something completely undescriptive --- like "John" or "Ted".

      --
      A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
    32. Re:Name Change by be-fan · · Score: 1

      How is Skype more easily pronouncable than Ekiga? How do you pronounce "Skype" anyway --- is it like "skip" or "skyp" or even "skyp-e". For Ekiga, I can see Eck-E-Ga, Eck-I-Ga, but anything else is a bit of a stretch. Other than that, it's short, easy to spell, only three syllables, and most of all, unique.

      --
      A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
    33. Re:Name Change by pomo+monster · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "You're only making the association because you've heard of the product before"

      Yes, but once I've heard it once, it just clicks, and sticks, because it makes sense. Besides the obvious Beach Boys reference to surfing the web, a safari also implies exploration and venturing into territories unknown. These are both very good ways the name "Safari" works for a web browser.

      My point isn't that the name should tell you, with no preknowledge, what the program does. It's just that the name should fit well enough so that after you've made the link once, you'll remember it later without even trying.

    34. Re:Name Change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The name "GnomeMeeting" had some big strikes against it.
      1. It was too closely associated with the product NetMeeting, which represents a bad experience to too many people.
      2. It was too closely associated with the product GnomeMeeting, which represents a bad experience to too many people.

      Ekiga can shuffle things up, rework the UI, streamline the user experience, and leave the bad old days behind. Afterall, there still is no real killer VoIP app. The playing field is still wide open.

    35. Re:Name Change by colombus · · Score: 1

      Just an addition to this one...
      Will you accept an application on your MS Windows desktop named "Gnome*"...

    36. Re:Name Change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And I still don't know what I should make of "Vista" (except to put "hasta la" in front, which surely is not what MS wanted to imply ...

      Windows Hasta la Vista fits very well with Windows XPensive, I think.

    37. Re:Name Change by be-fan · · Score: 1

      Safari is a Beach Boys reference? And as I said, exploration could very well refer to other types of exploration.

      Your link is really tenuous here...

      --
      A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
    38. Re:Name Change by pomo+monster · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but once you associate Safari with exploring the Web, that's what you remember. Do you really, honestly think Safari's no better a name than, say, Firefox?

  8. YANLMA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    yet another linux messaging application

    so AIM,MSN,YHM,JABBER,ICQ,IRC,VOIP wasnt enough ? please see previous /. article on consistancy and why Dell are not pushing Linux, imagine the side of your car if every garage you visited had its own non-standard shaped filler

    comms is fast becoming a joke with every 2bit portal and voip company wanting their own version meaning applications like Trillian/Gaim exists to patch up the mess of differing methods all with their own passwords,config,mem space,methods if each protocol needs its own application (like GAIM doesnt support that bit yet) things get real messy

    the whole thing is turning into mush, just pick up the phone and talk, at least that just works(TM)

  9. Excuse me.. by msimm · · Score: 1

    You must be new to the Gnome project.



    :)

    --
    Quack, quack.
  10. Ekiga - great name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I don't get the complaints on the name-change.

    "When communicating using drums, the sender will identify himself at the start of the transmission with the specific notes corresponding to his personal moto, and those of the other correspondant in order to draw his attention. This technic is also used in another communication language, without drums, called Ekiga, which consists in reproducing the notes, without words, emitting the syllable "ke" in a falsetto voice, and repeating it with the corresponding tones."

    Where are the complaints on firefox/ubuntu/debian/gnome/thunderbird/evolution?

    Gnomemeeting linked the application to much to the god-awful Netmeeting, and needed a change.

    Once a brand name is established, no-one bothers anymore. This release is about establishing that brand name.

    Focus on the quality of the software instead of useless trolling.

    1. Re:Ekiga - great name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Where are the complaints on firefox/ubuntu/debian/gnome/thunderbird/evolution?

      Don't read Slashdot much, I see. "Firefox" kept us entertained for the better part of a year.

  11. Does it interoperate with... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting
    • any clients on MacOS
    • any clients on Solaris
    • any clients on Windows

    If there's a yes answer to all of those, we'd likely recommend it for work.
    So far we're using skype for a lot; but it's not a complete answer to our needs.
    1. Re:Does it interoperate with... by caseih · · Score: 1

      Yes, Yes, Yes, provided the clients you are interacting with support the industry standard SIP and H.323 protocols. Certainly it can talk to netmeeting. I believe it can also talk to any SIP VoIP service out there (computer->computer and computer->land line).

    2. Re:Does it interoperate with... by niskel · · Score: 1

      MacOS - OphoneX
      Windows - Netmeeting

      As for solaris, I believe it will run Ekiga/Gnomemeeting itself anyways (guessing but very probable)

    3. Re:Does it interoperate with... by Bob+Loblaw · · Score: 4, Informative

      Ekiga should work with and SIP service that openly peers to other networks. I have personally used it with Gizmo for voice-only chat and it works fine. Unfortunately, the text chat does not work with Gizmo. Gizmo is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

      In my experience, Ekiga is better than Gizmo in that:
      - it is open source
      - it can register with multiple providers simultaneously
      - integrates with your Evolution contact list
      - has support for more codecs
      - is not tied to a particular SIP provider so you can use it as your Gizmo voice client and access all the features of the Gizmo SIP provider
      - has video
      - communicates with old and new NetMeeting

      Gizmo client is better than Ekiga in that:
      - it has built-in Jabber presence and messaging although you can use Gaim as your Gizmo Jabber client
      - has a mapping button to see where your caller is calling from

      So pick whichever suits your needs.

    4. Re:Does it interoperate with... by Wise+Dragon · · Score: 1

      Netmeeting. No, it does not in any meaningful way. It only supports audio to NetMeeting, which is NOT the way NetMeeting is actually used in the real world. NetMeeting is primarily used to share slide presentations and views of office applications among 2-100 remote meeting attendees, and to remote control someone's desktop for support purposes. Saying GnomeMeeting/Ekiga supports NetMeeting is like saying elinks supports the Web. Technically, its true, but practically, the web is more than text. Voice (audio conferencing) is provided as a separate service, usually through the telephone system. Part of the reason for changing the name to Ekiga is that GnomeMeeting implies interoperability with NetMeeting, which is embarrassingly inadequate and has been for years. Ekiga developers consider NetMeeting "dead" but it's not. Its still very much in use inside Microsoft-dependent companies, and the effort to get Ekiga to interoperate would be very much appreciated. I myself would buy the developer of this feature a case of fine local beer. In the 3-5 year future we will also need to interop with MS LiveMeeting.

    5. Re:Does it interoperate with... by colombus · · Score: 1

      I've successfully used it with SJPhone, Xlite, and Windows Messenger (do not confuse with MSN messenger)

  12. In short... by beavis88 · · Score: 2

    In short, it sounds like a name the programmers would have chosen. See, marketing goons *are* useful sometimes.

    1. Re:In short... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In short, it sounds like a name the programmers would have chosen. See, marketing goons *are* useful sometimes.

      No. If you'd bothered to READ the post you were answering and then to THINK before posting then you would see that he's complaining about exactly the sort of name that marketing goons come up with. The succesful ones anyway.

      He thinks that a good name is one that describes the product. Not "Excel" but "a program for doing calculations and stuff", not "Amazon" but "that online bookstore thing", not Sony but "Japanese electronics and evil company", not "Firefox" but "another web browser and it's got popup blocking and stuff". That isn't what marketing goons are paid for. Marketing goons are paid to come up with actual names that people will actually use in conjunction with a succesful product. Not descriptions. Names.

      Hint: 99.9% of the world's population actually relate better to names than to generic descriptions. Shocking, isn't it?

  13. A similar situation by meteau · · Score: 1

    The guys over at GrepGrok http://www.grepgrok.com/ had a similar view, but I think they took the post down.

    --
    -- "You used your dictaphone to post, didn't you?"
  14. Onomotopoea? by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 3, Funny

    C'mon! "Ekiga?" Is that the sound of a penguin expectorating?

    I can deal with some odd-ball names. Heck, I run "Ubuntu" with Gnome and "Sylpheed". But Ekiga - It's not really "Skype" or "Gizmo", is it?

    --
    "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
    1. Re:Onomotopoea? by shmlco · · Score: 1
      Plus it's not very descriptive. Nor, for that matter, is the summary, which was pretty much a bunch of non-informative buzzwords. I did learn, however, that Ekiga supports h323/sip, whatever that is, and that there's an Ekiga forum/site that supports Ekiga, which, remember, supports h323/sip.

      This must be the open-source answer to marketing-speak: "Ekiga, a world-class provider of world-class solutions to world-class problems, has..."

      --
      Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
    2. Re:Onomotopoea? by Alioth · · Score: 1

      Well, MS manage to sell Axapta, which sounds a bit like the noise a toy gun makes.

      --
      Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
    3. Re:Onomotopoea? by say · · Score: 1

      Yeah, right, Skype and Gizmo are sooo descriptive.

      --
      Roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF, all my base are belong to you
    4. Re:Onomotopoea? by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 1

      It's gonna be called something else, now. That was an MS aquisition - the name came from the Swiss start-up.

      --
      "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
    5. Re:Onomotopoea? by 6*7 · · Score: 1

      Sure they are:
      -gizmo is good for lots of gremlins
      -skype sounds like hype

    6. Re:Onomotopoea? by ClamIAm · · Score: 1

      Ubuntu as a term is not "oddball", it was chosen for a reason.

    7. Re:Onomotopoea? by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 1

      I know. You know.

      Drop th eword into modern US or UK conversation and get the "Whatzzat?" look!

      I love the reason. I'd been rolling my own deb for years, with unnoficial packages. Ubuntu converted me because of Shuttleworth's vision, and the hot black girl in the original wallpaper.

      --
      "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
    8. Re:Onomotopoea? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Ekiga too has a reason. Although it is not a known word, when you learn what it means, it is the perfect match
      http://blog.gnomemeeting.net/index.php?p=22

  15. Re:skype? What the hell is a skype? by Tezkah · · Score: 1

    I might have been able to guess what GnomeMeeting did. I would have guessed that it was perhaps a collaborative whiteboard tool, perhaps with a dose of voice-chat built in. I'd bet it worked in Gnome.

    I would have no bloody clue what a Skype is if the article hadn't mentioned it was VOIP. I'm sure it means something really appropriate in Sanskrit or something. How very clever.

    And so, another project winds up with a useless name and they get to wonder why nobody uses their product, because folks see "Skype" and have no idea that it does exactly what they need, where GnomeMeeting might've hinted that at leas

  16. Re:skype? What the hell is a skype? by jandrese · · Score: 1

    To be honest, I had to look up Skype on google to find out what it was. It's not a good name either.

    --

    I read the internet for the articles.
  17. Re:skype? What the hell is a skype? by foxtrot · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Even ignoring the fallacy in the "they're doing it, why don't we do it?" argument, there's a big difference here.

    Skype comes from a business. They've got money to throw at Madison Avenue, and the advertisements will make sure we all know exactly what they do.

    Where, exactly, is Ekiga's advertising money going to be coming from?

    -F

  18. Ekiga: vocal communication technique by tjwhaynes · · Score: 1, Informative

    I might have been able to guess what GnomeMeeting did. I would have guessed that it was perhaps a collaborative whiteboard tool, perhaps with a dose of voice-chat built in. I'd bet it worked in Gnome.

    And you would have been partly right, partly wrong. GnomeMeeting used to provide video/voice conferencing along with text chat. It used to be a NetMeeting clone but it has grown beyond that original aim.

    I would have no bloody clue what an Ekiga is if the article hadn't mentioned it was the successor to GnomeMeeting. I'm sure it means something really appropriate in Sanskrit or something. How very clever.

    And of course you know what a Skype is? Or what to Google means? Or how to what you would do with a AIM? For the record, Ekiga is a vocal technique used to communicate across distances.

    Names are important but the old name for the project actually no longer reflected the usage or the abilities of the project. Having Gnome in the name is fine all the time that the project is just working on GNOME stuff but the Ekiga project now offers considerably more than just a GUI front end to other libraries.

    Ekiga offers a GNOME UI for H.323 and SIP-based video/voice/text chat/conferencing. It also offers several libraries that are not Gnome-dependant to access/interoperate with various SIP/H.323 servers. Changing name is always a major pain but in this case I think it was warranted. At least having a flame war on Slashdot will mean that more people know about it.

    Cheers,
    Toby Haynes

    --
    Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.
    1. Re:Ekiga: vocal communication technique by VisiX · · Score: 1

      When "AIM" came out it was called AOL Instant Messenger. Some things get Acronymed (yes I did just use acronym as a verb) when they get popular enough that the original name, which describes the product, is no longer necessary due to popularity. AIM actually contains an acronym inside an acronym as the service America Online (AOL) underwent the same namechange scenario.

      I am aware that this is all obvious to most people, but it is completely ignored by your post. And while I think that programs with names that are descriptive are the way to go, I don't think it is absolutely necessary to name your program Video Meeting Tool if it is good enough that it gets word of mouth advertising. It does, however, seem to me that the majority of the most popular programs for computing have names that specify what they are used for.

      Skype is really the only example you used that makes any sense at all, since google is a company and not a product. A short list of google products and services would provide a counter to your argument as google uses very descriptive names for the most part (See: Google maps, google earth, gmail, google desktop search, google images, google local, google talk, google video, google scholar etc). Even on the main page the button you press says "Google Search" right on it.

  19. Encryption by Hakubi_Washu · · Score: 1

    Anyone knows whether this, any other SIP, any other H.323 or any other free (RMS-style) supports acceptable encryption? Public key preferrable? Since Skype did the Intel thing I'm about to ditch the last non-free app I commonly use, but encryption would be a necessity for me (Given recent court decisions in Germany my trust is waning :-P).

    1. Re:Encryption by mpapet · · Score: 1

      I'm not an expert, but the wind is blowing towards TLS encryption of the call.

      I'm not aware of any softphones that have TLS features. Not to mention anyone providing TLS capable SIP service. But, it's been a while since I've looked it over.

      --
      http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
    2. Re:Encryption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TLS - quite popular - pick your cipher...

    3. Re:Encryption by Hakubi_Washu · · Score: 1

      I need to this to work for windows users as well, so setting up a tunnel is way too much hassle for practical means. Is there nothing supporting encryption out of the box since PGPfone anymore? Sad state of affairs indeed...

  20. Re:Depends by mpapet · · Score: 1

    Depends on what you want it to do versus what speakeasy would allow you to do.

    If you have some access to the url's of your speakeasy voip account, you can probably use the same url's to do an SIP call on your linux desktop. I'm making a very generous assumption speakeasy would "play nice" with their sip setup and keep it relatively open.

    The h.323 features are a whole other bag though. The average company would see h.323 as an "additional feature" and demand a hefty premium payment.

    How much would the voip cost you on top of your regular ISP bill?

    --
    http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
  21. What's in a name by PenGun · · Score: 1

    I dunno, how 'bout GnomePhone.

          PenGun
        Do What Now ??? ... Standards and Practices !

    1. Re:What's in a name by robokev · · Score: 1

      How about PhoneGnome?

  22. Re:skype? What the hell is a skype? by Tezkah · · Score: 1

    Look, the name does not matter as much as the Branding.

    Firefox, or even Opera. Much less descriptive than INTERNET EXPLORER (something you use to explore the internets).

    GNOME. KDE. Linux. What the hell are these things? Do they display windows on a computer????

    Google? What does that do? Yahoo? What ?

    Skype was chosen because the domain was available, as long as the software is solid you shouldn't have a problem with the name.

  23. Gekiga - 'Dramatic Pictures' by digitaldc · · Score: 2, Funny

    C'mon! "Ekiga?" Is that the sound of a penguin expectorating?

    Only if you show it drawn by a Japanese person in the 'dramatic' style.

    --
    He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
  24. What ekiga means by milgr · · Score: 2, Informative
    According to the blog where the ekiga name change was announced,
    When communicating using drums, the sender will identify himself at the start of the transmission with the specific notes corresponding to his personal moto, and those of the other correspondant in order to draw his attention. This technic is also used in another communication language, without drums, called Ekiga, which consists in reproducing the notes, without words, emitting the syllable "ke" in a falsetto voice, and repeating it with the corresponding tones.
    --
    Where law ends, tyranny begins -- William Pitt
  25. Re:skype? What the hell is a skype? by Attackman · · Score: 1

    Like most FOSS without corporate backing, they're probably banking on word of mouth. I've already reccomended this app to people, and they're willing to check it out.
    All I had to do was describe calling Gizmo Project from Ekiga. It was easy enough for my non-technical friends to do and they're interested in trying it now.
    And as little as I want them using Windows, I'm hoping the Windows port takes off. Makes it less challenging to get to the less stubborn ones.

    --
    Ignore the rantings above. Poster is an idiot.
  26. Re:Depends by fak3r · · Score: 1

    How much would the voip cost you on top of your regular ISP bill?

    $27.95 per month - much less than the ~40$ we're giving to Bell right now.

    They don't list the 'advanced' features that you're talking about, but still, it looks like you can do a ton more with it than with a standard POTS line:

    http://speakeasy.net/home/voip/features.php

    So at the very least I'll finally be able to say f-you to the 'big bells' and get voicemails as email attachments.

    --
    fak3r.com
  27. Welcome to the Neighborhood by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    Anyone have a side-by-side comparison of Ekiga/GnomeMeeting with Asterisk, at least on their common telephony/conferencing features?

    --

    --
    make install -not war

    1. Re:Welcome to the Neighborhood by faedle · · Score: 1

      Asterisk is a PBX. Ekiga is a user agent.

      Apples to oranges.

    2. Re:Welcome to the Neighborhood by Bob+Loblaw · · Score: 1

      Any such side-by-side comparison would be like comparing shiny red buttons to nuclear bombs.

      Ekiga is the end client that would connect to Asterisk which would provide the PBX and infrustructure to route your call. Not exactly the same animal and the only comparison that could be usefully drawn is that they communicate with one another.

    3. Re:Welcome to the Neighborhood by batkiwi · · Score: 1

      Yes, and does anyone have any spec sheets comparing Firefox to IIS?

      Or thunderbird to sendmail?

      How about any comparisons on my ADSL modem to a DSLAM?

      (pssst... one is a client, one is a server)

    4. Re:Welcome to the Neighborhood by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

      All those clarifications that Ekiga is a client to Asterisk's server are helpful corrections to my post's wrong assumptions. But it's not really so clear - lots of telephony/messaging/collaboration features can be delivered either by the client or the server, or in combination. So it would still be helpful to see which, if any, features they do have in common, and how successful was their placement on their respective sides of the divide.

      It also would be helpful to turn my question around, and see how well these two packages work together where their features are complementary.

      --

      --
      make install -not war

    5. Re:Welcome to the Neighborhood by batkiwi · · Score: 1

      Sorry for the ass-ness in my reply, but sometimes you have to be blunt :)

      So to make it short, using H.323 you can call another IP address. H.323 is a crappy/outdated protocol, but "why not" support it when the code's already there.

      SIP uses both a signalling channel and a data channel. Long story short (and slightly technically incorrect) your client connects to a server to place the call. It's like email without a relay.

      So if you call me at j@b.com (i'm a client registered as "j" on b.com's SIP server) here's what happens:

      1. I log into b.com as j using Ekiga (or a hardware SIP device, or...)
      2. You load up Ekiga and call j@b.com.
      2b. Your Ekiga directly contacts b.com (it doesn't go to whomever you're "registered" with, hence my saying no relay) and says "connect me to j"
      3. the server b.com sends your packets to me, we talk, hooray!

      Depeding on the setup, 3 happens via a proxy (you send your packets to b.com, b.com sends them to me) or as a matter of signalling (b.com tells you how to send packets directly to me).

      I'd guess (but haven't tried yet) that Ekiga works perfectly well as a softphone for asterisk, and would be even better if they added IAX support.

  28. Re:Depends by pdbogen · · Score: 2, Interesting

    For what it's worth, Speakeasy tends to be a VERY nerd-friendly company. (I want to say "hacker-friendly," but people would almost certainly get the wrong idea.)

  29. Mandriva packages available by G�tz · · Score: 1

    I've uploaded package of Ekiga 2.0.0 earlier today to Mandriva Cooker, a version built for GNOME2.14 is available from my private repository: http://gpwgnome.osknowledge.net/

  30. A resounding NO for most providers. by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    Most all providers will not support anything but their locked down hardware.
    companies like Broadvoice and others that are not hostile to customers will be able to have this application work with their service.

    Vonnage and Speakeasy (and packet8) will never ever allow you to use any device that is not completely controlled by them and locked down tight with their service.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  31. Can't use it by obender · · Score: 1

    Wanted to give it a try but then I read that it needs ALSA. The Nvidia driver for NForce4 mobos only implements OSS.

    1. Re:Can't use it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      wow that's really lame, go buy a real sound card.

    2. Re:Can't use it by Bob+Loblaw · · Score: 1

      You should bug Nvidia to make a driver that impliments ALSA since that is the standard these days whereas OSS was the standard 10 years ago.

      Or even better, try to convince them to contribute directly to the open source drivers for their boards.

      Ekiga supporting OSS would be a giant leap backwards and I'm glad they don't. Hauling around code to support an obsolete legacy interface is just a drain on developer time and asking for trouble as the code rots.

    3. Re:Can't use it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ekiga *does* support OSS, just install the proper plugin (pwlin-plugins) for OSS.

    4. Re:Can't use it by Gusano · · Score: 1

      don't want to sound like a smartass here, but have you tried ALSA's OSS emulation?

      haven't checked if this is at all possible with the nforce4, it's just a thought.

      --
      .oo00OO
    5. Re:Can't use it by arkhan_jg · · Score: 1

      Wrong way round; that's using an ALSA driver to emulate OSS for OSS-only apps. Here, we need a way for an OSS-only driver to support ALSA calls. Nice thought though.

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    6. Re:Can't use it by nutshell42 · · Score: 1

      the alsa module "snd_intel8x0" supports the nforce4 sound chip (I think, it could be something slightly different I can't check it atm but I know that alsa worked here and I don't use the nforce drivers)

      --
      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
  32. Bad name, Great product, win32 port available by jgaynor · · Score: 4, Informative

    To echo the 15 comments above this, yes the name needs some work. While we're at it the logo sucks too - but that does not change the fact that this is a fantastic product. I've been using it for a few months now on in a 'videoconferencing only' role on my winboxen and I REALLY like it.

    Pros
    - relatively stable: only has problems when I try to redial before a previous session has properly terminated
    - interoperability: I've tested with Sony, Polycom & Tandberg H.323 codecs - flawless. SIP native means it will continue to work with equipment from these vendors.
    - Higher speed, more options than netmeeting or openphone (static images, video files, etc)
    - It's f**king free (Polycom PVX, Tandberg suite cost assloads and require support fees)

    Cons
    - relatively stable: see above, could be improved
    - adding codecs screws shit up - it comes with H.261 default. I've had mixed success trying to add 3rd party codecs (h.263, h.264)

    Microsoft gave up supporting netmeeting years go (and with it, open standard conferencing). They are now dumping all of their money into conferenceXP - a laggy, buggy and mem-leaky alternative which excludes anyone other than XP or win2k3 users. Win32 Ekiga is a godsend to anyone who has to support hardware video codecs in a windows environment.

    Here's the slow link to the port info: http://snapshots.gnomemeeting.net/win32/

    1. Re:Bad name, Great product, win32 port available by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I don't suppose you've heard anything about a PocketPC port? I'm sure the easiest way by far would be to run linux on my iPAQ and get it going on there, but there's no way in hell I'll do that - if I do, I can't run Pocket UFO.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  33. Re:Advanced Features by mpapet · · Score: 2, Informative

    The h.323 standard allows for some desktop interactivity, whiteboarding and a few other things in a conferencing mode.

    SIP on the other hand, is pretty narrowly defined to voice/video communication. From recollection, conferencing can be done, but it has something to do with number of lines your SIP phone can handle and the number of "lines" your SIP provider allows.

    --
    http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
  34. Does it work with Vonage? by swillden · · Score: 1

    Although there are a couple of softphones for Linux that do work with Vonage, I haven't been very happy with them, and they seem to be dead projects, so I'd like to see another option. Does anyone know if this would work? I don't see any mention of anything but the Ekiga "PC to Phone" account in the FAQ.

    --
    Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    1. Re:Does it work with Vonage? by golgotha007 · · Score: 1

      This is a very good question, and no where on the Ekiga site does it say,
      "You can use Ekiga with SIP services from Vonage, SIPDiscount and others!"

      The FAQ makes it seem like Ekiga will *only* work with services from Diamond.

      I'm totally lost here; I was using Skype until Ebay took over and the linux port supporting ALSA was dropped. Then, I moved to Gizmo, dropped $10 for PC to phone calls and the service is 100% unusable (drop outs, really bad delay, echo problems, you name it).

      All I want to do is use linux to make PC to phone calls. I'm thinking that perhaps using Ekiga and some service like Voange is a possibility. Can anyone vouch for this? What are my options?

    2. Re:Does it work with Vonage? by mbwjr12 · · Score: 1

      You should check out twinkle (www.twinklephone.com). It's the only real SIP phone usable on Linux if you ask me. I like it better than eyebeam for windows by far. Addressbook integration in KDE, tray icon, multiple accounts/lines, STUN, SRV support. It's good stuff.

  35. Re:Depends by fak3r · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yep, and that's why I like them so much. If you call and have a question the person who answers (and that usually takes 2-3 rings) will know what's up. Linux question? Go for it. Server question? Same thing...they know their stuff and are a joy to deal with, that's why I'm happy I'm going to get to move voice alongside data to Speakeasy.

    --
    fak3r.com
  36. meaningfull names: exception not rule by petermgreen · · Score: 1

    sure word and netmeeting have meaningfull names but you can hardly say excel or powerpoint do. access and outlook are borderline cases.

    --
    note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  37. And what do Gnomes have to do with Software? by tabdelgawad · · Score: 1

    And what does Apache have to do with webserving? or Firefox with browsing? I can't believe people are bitching about the name. You left out Linux, Debian (is Ian still going out with Deb?), Gnome, and Gimp, and are picking on Ekiga?!

    --
    Imposing Libertarian views on everyone online since 1992.
  38. Ek PhoneGnome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    n/t

  39. Eresh-Kigal? by PontifexPrimus · · Score: 1

    Strange, but the first thing it reminded me of was the sumerian goddess of death: Eresh-Kigal. But maybe I'm funny that way... ;)

    --
    -- Language is a virus from outer space.
  40. Something You Have Never Heard Of 2.0 Released by chiok · · Score: 0, Redundant

    After about one year of development the former Something Else You Have Never Heard Of team has released Something You Have Never Heard Of. Something You Have Never Heard Of is the successor of the popular Something Else You Have Never Heard Of. Something You Have Never Heard Of calls itself the very "first Open Source application to support both Some What A Standard Maybe You Have Never Heard Of and Another Thingie You Have Never Heard Of". Something You Have Never Heard Of is based on the Some What A Standard Maybe You Have Never Heard Of/Another Thingie You Have Never Heard Of codebase, provided by the Some Project You Have Never Heard project. Also introduced with this release is SomethingElseYouHaveNeverHeardOf.net, a platform to provide the community with free That Thingie You Have Never Heard Of addresses.

  41. Problem of the /. effect by charlesnw · · Score: 1

    The problem of the slashdot effect is that everyone will discuss the horrible naming choice of your product vs the product itself :) Gotta love it.

    --
    Charles Wyble System Engineer
  42. Player in what market? by brunes69 · · Score: 1

    What are you smoking? Ekiga is not a player in any market. It is a Gnome-only app. It is not a Windows application. Sure, in theory someone could write a Windows port, but A) why would you, and B), if you did no one but OS freaks would use it anyways.

    Ekiga is not competing against anyone else. They will already have the leading market share.

    1. Re:Player in what market? by Halvy · · Score: 0

      Maybe they are smoking the same thing you are because if I'm not terribly mistaken any program in linux that can be compiled with gcc can be made to run in Microsoft os's... and visa versa.



      -- Someone stold my 'Good' Karma.. please return it.

      --
      I will gladly loose all of life's battles.. in order to win the war..
    2. Re:Player in what market? by kimvette · · Score: 1

      And I suppose you'd say the same about web browsers, like, oh, say, "Firefox" for example?

      Yeah, only OSS zealots run it. Not people who are simply looking for great software independent of price. In fact, I'll bet you never heard of "Firefox" - only OSS freaks run it. You certainly won't find any law office, medical practices, colleges/universities, etc. running Firefox after having repeatedly having been stung by MSIE vulnerabilities.

      I plan to try out Ekiga - I am in the midst of configuring apache and have so far been unimpressed with soft phone programs - maybe Ekiga will prove to be different. At first glance (based only on RTFA and looking at the screen shots) it appears to be far better than kcall, kphone, and even twinkle.

      --
      The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
    3. Re:Player in what market? by kimvette · · Score: 1

      Ack! Brain fart! It was clear from the context when I said apache above, I was referring to asterisk. Someone asked me how to configure something in apache as I was typing that post last night. Heh!

      --
      The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
  43. Re:skype? What the hell is a skype? by carlmenezes · · Score: 1

    You don't need money for that. Ekiga will get its advertising exactly the same way the rest of open source gets it - word of mouth.

    --
    Find a job you like and you will never work a day in your life.
  44. Through NAT? by horacerumpole · · Score: 1
    I tried a release candidate a few months ago but couldn't pass the point of actually communicating with anyone.

    My setup is an ADSL modem/router (D-Link 504G) which does firewalling and NAT'ing for my Linux and my wife's windows 98. Even when I do all the port forwarding I could configure, or even putting my Linux in the DMZ, the ONLY application which could give me VoIP was Skype (which doesn't require any setup) and MSN for video conf on the Windows 98.

    I'd love to be able to do VoIP and video conf on my Linux using an open application but so far couldn't make anything pass through my NAT except Skype, and it doesn't support video-conf on Linux. My current plan is to buy enough RAM to run Skype-2/Windows-XP on top of VMware on my Debian Sarge but would love to be able to do this with a native Linux application.

    Any hope from here?

  45. Gyach & Ekiga Are Both Worthy Products by Halvy · · Score: 0

    I found in trying the previous version of Ekiga (GnomeMeeting 1.2.3x) on my Debian Sarge that both video and audio worked quite well both on my local network.. and over the Net.

    Another easy to remember named program-- Gyach, (I pronouce it: 'gotcha') is a voice/chat/video (webcam) program-- but not confrencing, is at:
    http://www.phrozensmoke.com/projects/pyvoicechat/

    is based on the Yahoo protocol ONLY.. but works quite well.

    It is of course for Linux, free and hackable OSS, and easily connects with Yahoo users in Windows as well.

    The project is in quiet rest now for about a year, but the program has advance features that even the crappy Yahoo for Linux or Windows has-- like: advanced security, monitoring, extreme stealth settings, ability to 'boot' the 'booter' or bot that is trying to 'boot' you, etc ;)

    -- SORRRRY!!! But I am still a proud member of SlashDot :)

    --
    I will gladly loose all of life's battles.. in order to win the war..
  46. What does this software do? by d_jedi · · Score: 1

    "After about one year of development the former GnomeMeeting team has released Ekiga. Ekiga is the successor of the popular GnomeMeeting. Ekiga calls itself the very "first Open Source application to support both H.323 and SIP". Ekiga is based on the h323/sip codebase, provided by the openh323 project. Also introduced with this release is ekiga.net, a platform to provide the community with free sip addresses."
    Nice description. Without reading TFA, I have no clue what Ekiga does!

    --
    I am the maverick of Slashdot
  47. Re:Advanced Features by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nope. SIP is a session protocol, that's all.. there's nothing voice specific about it. It can be used for lots of stuff including whiteboarding.

    http://www.sipquest.com/about/faqs.php

  48. Yes! Ekiga works well with consumer VoIP by dcorking · · Score: 1

    Last week I tried out the Beta in advance of the release of 2.0.0

    Ekiga worked well for me with consumer/SOHO SIP providers FWD (http://www.freeworlddialup.com/ ) and Gradwell (http://www.gradwell.com/voip ) as well as http://www.ekiga.net./ I imagine the final version will work fine with http://www.speakeasy.net/home/voip/ but I can't be certain as Speakeasy don't mention on their site what technology they use, or if they will tell you your VoIP username and password. I don't know how their 'Remote Office' private WAN works.

    Why not try it and let the world know on the Ekiga mailing list http://www.ekiga.org/index.php?rub=8

    One alternative is to get Speakeasy at home, and a low cost SIP account for the laptop (you can get a free Washington State number from ipkall, and there are many other low cost SIP options.) Configure your speakeasy account to forward your calls to your laptop while you are away. Ekiga will work fine on the laptop.

  49. Names Aren't That Important by Makarakalax · · Score: 1

    If they are sensible they'll make the startmenu shortcut "Ekiga - Video Conferencing Application". Of course on GNOME/KDE this is done automatically by the Applications/K-Menu.

    But anyway, naming apps after what they do is not that important. Word-of-mouth is the fastest way that people learn about apps, especially ones that don't come with the computer. And it is a rare case that word of mouth doesn't include the tool's purpose.

    The most important thing is to have a distinctive name that people won't forget, and can pronounce easily in your target market.

    Hence, Firefox and not "No Machine - NX". The latter is a fabulous technology that no matter how many times I tell my boss about it, he can't remember the name. Firefox he got first time.

    So finally I agree Ekiga is a suboptimal name, but not for the reasons in the parent's post. My problem is, I'm not sure exactly how to pronounce it, and it isn't that easy to rememeber.

  50. Names Aren't That Important by Makarakalax · · Score: 1

    If they are sensible they'll make the startmenu shortcut "Ekiga - Video Conferencing Application". Of course on GNOME/KDE this is done automatically by the Applications/K-Menu.

    But anyway, naming apps after what they do is not that important. Word-of-mouth is the fastest way that people learn about apps, especially ones that don't come with the computer. And it is a rare case that word of mouth doesn't include the tool's purpose.

    The most important thing is to have a distinctive name that people won't forget, and can pronounce easily in your target market.

    Hence, Firefox and not "No Machine - NX". The latter is a fabulous technology that no matter how many times I tell my boss about it, he can't remember the name. Firefox he got first time.

    So finally I agree Ekiga is a suboptimal name, but not for the reasons in the parent's post. My problem is, I'm not sure exactly how to pronounce it, and it isn't that easy to rememeber.

  51. Doesn't Matter by Makarakalax · · Score: 1

    I don't think that your requirement for the link to be there is necessary.

    Humans are well geared to learning meaningless bunches of syllabals thrown together randomly and associating them with objects. Each of us knows millions of words! Association took a few years and didn't require words to be built on each other.

    I don't disagree that it helps, but honestly, all the best names are taken. It is also important for the name to be distinctive, short and memorable. GnomeMeeting is too long a name, and sounds like a generic piece of pap. Ekiga isn't easy to remember but sounds a lot more exciting, and is short.

    Overall probably an improvement.

    And anyway you rarely if ever learn the purpose of apps that aren't shipped with the computer from the name. You learn by word-of-mouth, and that almost always comes with a description of the purpose of the app. Unless it comes with GNOME, but GNOME apps are listed by their purpose and the appname in brackets, so it is hardly relevant.

  52. Two Big Differences by brunes69 · · Score: 1

    a) Firefox runs on Windows, and always has

    b) Firefox had no direct competition on Windows. For someone who wanted a free browser that was not IE, or better than IE, Firefox was the only real choice.

    Neither of these are true for Ekiga. It is not a Windows app, and even if it did port to Windows smoothly, it would be competing againsta zillion other free Windows VOIP apps that do H.323 and SIP, as well as the apps that ship with Cisco and the like's VOIP hardware.

    Oh - and it is not hard to be better than kcall or kphone - neither of those apps were ever up to production quality standards. GnomeMeeting has always been a very solid robust app, and I am sure Ekiga is too, since it is based on a mature codebase. This will I am sure make it a very popular app in the Linux/*NIX world for VOIP, because it will be come the de-facto standard for VOIP, much like Gimp is the de-facto standard for image editing.

    But none of that has to do with the name "Ekiga", in a positive or negative sense. Just like the Gimp - in the OSS world you become popular and successful based on your merits, not branding.

    1. Re:Two Big Differences by colombus · · Score: 1

      Do you know zillion of FREE voice + video + messenging and standard compliant apps on windows ? Cool give me some hints.

  53. "OSS and ALSA Compatible Soundcards Support" by Ignominious · · Score: 1

    On the 2.0 features page:
    http://ekiga.org/index.php?rub=2

    under General Features it says it has "OSS and ALSA Compatible Soundcards Support".

    Maybe 2.0 still doesn't work for you, but maybe it works for other OSS soundcards.

  54. Re:Gyach & Ekiga Are Both Worthy Products by Halvy · · Score: 0

    Ok so I am replying to my own post-- but I didn't realize that the Gyach project has been picked up by some folks late last year and they are calling it: GyachI (I guess the 'I' is for improved, dont' know).

    http://gyachi.sourceforge.net/

    There is quite a bit of activity as posts in the forums are recent.

    Also there is mention how it is possible to log off with Gyach (from yahoo of course), and still 'loom' around in voice and cam ;) lol-- thank God for hackers and OSS!!

    -- My favorite thing about OSS is its militancy!!

    --
    I will gladly loose all of life's battles.. in order to win the war..