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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."

40 of 203 comments (clear)

  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?

  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 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.

    4. 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.

  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
  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.

  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.

  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 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.

    6. 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
    7. 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.
    8. 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]
    9. Re:Ekiga? What the hell is an Ekiga? by bigtrike · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's better than GIMP

    10. 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.

    11. 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?
  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 caseih · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Skype anyone?

    2. 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...
    3. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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 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.

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

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

  11. 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
  12. 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

  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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.)

  16. 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/

  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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