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Skype For Linux To Be Open-Sourced "In the Nearest Future"

Posted by Soulskill on from the more-or-less dept.

rysiek writes "Seems like there might be a revolution in the works, as far as VoIP software for Linux is concerned. After mailing Skype support about Skype providing Mandriva RPM packages, Olivier Faurax got an answer which suggests that the Linux Skype client will be open-sourced. After asking for verification of whether that was the case, the tech support answer claimed it is going to happen, and that it's supposed to happen 'in the nearest future.' Now, this probably only means the client (the underlying protocol will probably be handled by a binary-only library), but even if that's the case, it seems like there is still reason to celebrate."

40 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. Yay by dgr73 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Means I can create a client to automatically order in chinese.. or maybe a chipotle burrito and some fresh underwear

    1. Re:Yay by BitZtream · · Score: 3, Informative

      You can do that without Skype's source code. There are plenty of SIP clients out there and in fact an entire PBX system for Linux that includes the ability to war dial and use text to speech scripts on calls already.

      I'd almost wager someone has already written an asterisk script to order for them.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    2. Re:Yay by mi · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Having skype integrated into open source PBX [...] would be pretty good...

      Asterisk supports Skype. As does FreeSWITCH.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    3. Re:Yay by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2, Informative

      I met a guy in an Asterisk training course who was using it for telemarketing, and he told us it's commonly used in the industry :( It just seems so wrong...

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  2. GUI Code Only by jisatsusha · · Score: 5, Insightful

    open gui code, but not communicate library.

    Not quite open source then, but I guess it's better than the situation right now. Still no way of ensuring there are no backdoors in the encryption though.

    1. Re:GUI Code Only by Nerdfest · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you have the client code, you can pre-encrypt before the communications layer if you need the added security.

    2. Re:GUI Code Only by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're assuming you can feed anything into their comms layer. I suspect there'll be a heavy duty validation / sanity checking at that point already.

    3. Re:GUI Code Only by asdir · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Can someone please translate? Does that mean that an open client could be forked that works with skype but is not skype? Like, say, gizmo or ekiga? Thanks for enlightening a non-techie Linux enthusiast (yes, we exist :-) ).

    4. Re:GUI Code Only by quippe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you have the client code, you can pre-encrypt before the communications layer if you need the added security.

      *Could* that be possible, you would lose interoperability with windows clients, so why not relying on one of the truly foss voip projects availble?

    5. Re:GUI Code Only by fearlezz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because a truly foss voip project requires a server or open ports on at least 1 side.
      Skype requires only 2 clients that speak the same protocol, the skype network handles the rest.

      --
      .sig: No such file or directory
    6. Re:GUI Code Only by hitmark · · Score: 2, Interesting

      sounds a bit like how the N900's phone and messaging system will work.

      --
      comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
    7. Re:GUI Code Only by BobMcD · · Score: 5, Interesting

      *Could* that be possible, you would lose interoperability with windows clients, so why not relying on one of the truly foss voip projects availble?

      I recently took my Warcraft guild down a voice-comm path from Ventrilo to Mumble. Mumble had a lot of things going for it - open source, penny-for-a-year server deal, and a much better experience overall. Everyone could hear everyone and the software worked great without a hitch. That being said, as of today we are back on Vent.

      See, while it worked great for us, no one else had ever heard of it, and no one would switch to it just for the benefit of talking to us. In the end we found Mumble made our lives more complex and in sum-total was not a better choice than Ventrilo.

      Vis-à-vis Skype - yes you would need a special client to handle encryption, but a simple checkbox could re-enable traffic with those Windows clients. What truly foss voip project inter-operates with those?

    8. Re:GUI Code Only by SLi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It wouldn't work at all. Nearly all voip, and I'm sure Skype is no exception, uses lossy compression for the audio. If you stuff encrypted data in, you'll just get garbage out.

    9. Re:GUI Code Only by FireFury03 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because a truly foss voip project requires a server or open ports on at least 1 side.

      Plenty of free public SIP servers on the internet...

      Skype requires only 2 clients that speak the same protocol, the skype network handles the rest.

      I'm unclear on why you think that relying on the existence of a single proprietary network is better than relying on a SIP server (which may or may not be operated by yourself and you can switch to a different independent server if you want).

      --
      http://blog.nexusuk.org
  3. WTF is "the nearest future"? by wcrowe · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm trying to grasp what could possibly be the "nearest future"? A picosecond from now? But of course, you could have half a picosecond, and half that, and half that, etc.

    --
    Proverbs 21:19
    1. Re:WTF is "the nearest future"? by jisatsusha · · Score: 5, Funny

      Planck time, of course.

    2. Re:WTF is "the nearest future"? by clone53421 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, but it'll take infinitely long to get there...

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    3. Re:WTF is "the nearest future"? by mister_playboy · · Score: 3, Funny

      Actually, it's impossible to be anywhere other than the present.

      --
      Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
    4. Re:WTF is "the nearest future"? by clone53421 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Free candy tomorrow.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  4. This could be incredible... by BobMcD · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I use a lot of voice software on my laptop, and Skype is one of the few that is fine with my not using a headset. I'm not certain how it does it, but I assume they're filtering the sound coming out of the speakers against the mic input. I've always wanted to take Skype's client and plug it into, say, Ventrilo.

    Could this open up that possibility?

  5. Seems largely pointless. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    With something like Skype, pretty much all the stuff of interest is in the protocol(and the weird stuff that it gets up to, burrowing through firewalls and being designed to be heavily resistant to inspection and so forth). The UI isn't ghastly; but it isn't very interesting.

    Obviously, this is exactly why Skype would be OSSing the GUI and not the protocol binary blob; but it is also why the news isn't of much interest. As long as basically all the program's important functions depend on a binary blob you can't see what it is doing, you can't port it to other architectures, you are really no better off than if the whole thing were binary.

    1. Re:Seems largely pointless. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I agree that this isn't news, but I don't think it's pointless.

      With the binary blob being available as library (well, it is speculated anyway), one can VoIP-enable one's own applications (whether it's an IM cilent or tech support tool) with a piece of code that is tested and is known to work well under all kinds of different configurations. A lot of the free VoIP out there isn't quite up to snuff, and requires a lot of end-user mucking around to get to work.

    2. Re:Seems largely pointless. by Youngbull · · Score: 2, Insightful

      you could potentially integrate Skype into Empathy or Pidgin if the license is right so I think it's a good thing!

  6. IOW by pedestrian+crossing · · Score: 2, Informative

    Not OSS. Nothing to see here, move along...

    --
    A house divided against itself cannot stand.
    1. Re:IOW by daid303 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes it is OSS. It's not GPL, but an open source frontend with the right license would still be OSS.

    2. Re:IOW by daid303 · · Score: 3, Informative

      The open source parts are open source (shocking!), just like an open source frontend on top of closed source libraries still is an open source frontend.

      Is the full driver then open source, no. Is full Skype open source, no. But is the driver glue open source, yes. Is the frontend open source, yes.

    3. Re:IOW by 2muchcoffeeman · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes it is OSS. It's not GPL, but an open source frontend with the right license would still be OSS.

      If the underlying driver isn't also GPL'd, then it's not open-source.
       
      And as long as we don't have access to that underlying driver, we have no way to guarantee that there's no backdoor into our communications.
       
      Of course, we already know that the Austrian interior ministry has confirmed it has no problem listening to Skype conversations.
       
      If Austria can do it, it seems likely that other governments have that capability (even if they claim otherwise despite documentation to the contrary).

      --
      Prevent Windows piracy. Use Linux instead.
  7. protocol will probably be ... binary-only by TheGreatOrangePeel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, assuming the OP is right, they're basically open-sourcing a telephone where the only thing you can change is where the numbers are placed and what the handset looks like. Maybe I'm missing the point, but how does this benefit anyone?

    1. Re:protocol will probably be ... binary-only by RanCossack · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So, assuming the OP is right, they're basically open-sourcing a telephone where the only thing you can change is where the numbers are placed and what the handset looks like. Maybe I'm missing the point, but how does this benefit anyone?

      Well, that's not a bad analogy at all... to answer your question by continuing it a bit, imagine "what the handset looks like" is "covered in spikes" and "where the numbers are placed" is "at random" on their default handset.

  8. Nope by ledow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I call bullshit. I think it's just a tech support guy misunderstanding (and it seems a bi-lingual conversation so the chances of that are even higher).

    Open-sourcing Skype is very different to allowing Mandriva to add a non-trademarked icon to the Skype software (a bit like bundling Firefox - fine so long as you respect the trademark on the name and/or the logo and their requirements), or put a Mandriva icon onto the package etc. The two are discussed interchangeably and I don't see how they are related.

    I think it's more likely a massive misunderstanding on the basis of zero evidence / poor translation. At best, I reckon that Skype for Linux will allow itself to be packaged more easily.

    1. Re:Nope by Mooga · · Score: 3, Funny

      I agree, I just called Microsoft and they also told me that they would "open source Windows 7 in the nearest future."

      --
      ~ Mooga
    2. Re:Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Story has been confirmed at the Skype Linux blog:
      http://share.skype.com/sites/linux/2009/11/skype_open_source.html

      They are making an open source UI to allow better integration with distros.

    3. Re:Nope by ofaurax · · Score: 3, Informative

      First, I'm not an employee of Mandriva. I didn't ask for anything other than an official skype RPM for Mandriva, on the skype download page or on the Mandriva repositories (in "non-free"). There's nothing to do with icons or trademark. As english is not my native language, I asked for clarification when reading "part of the opensource community". The answer is "will become open source in the nearest future." If you don't trust my language skills, just read the "blockquote tag" answers from the tech support. I only copy/pasted.

  9. Abandonware in 3....2....1.... by mpapet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is the same old story. The business doesn't want to support a Linux client so they open the code they have and abandon it.

    I didn't bother reading TFA so maybe someone else can inform us how would one go about acquiring the binary blob in the future? What distros will the blob track? What about an ARM build? Ebay wants to limit their dev hours but abandoning the gui doesn't help them much.

    Which is why I think they'll just abandon the OS altogether sooner rather than later and put a happy face on it with this stunt.

    --
    http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
  10. How slashdot works by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 4, Funny

    1) In a bilingual conversation, Skype support employee says "Skype will from now on be part of the open source community."
    2) Blogger posts saying that Skype will be open sourced in nearest future
    3) get reposted on various blogs
    4) ???
    5) Verified "news" on slashdot

    --
    IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
  11. Re:Cautiously Optimistic? by BitZtream · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I had to deal with this with MS Windows - it's one of the many reasons I use Linux.

    Perhaps you jumped to Linux without considering that it wasn't the end all be all solutions that you were told it was?

    When switching from Windows to Linux you give certain things up, when switching from Windows to MacOS you give certain things up, and indeed when switching from Linux to * you give certain things up. If you didn't, they would all be equal/the exact same and you'd have no reason to switch at all.

    --
    Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
  12. Re:Good riddance, crappy ugly Skype client by neiras · · Score: 2, Informative

    The problem with transitioning of course is when they ask "how do I call my Skype buddies with SIP?"

    It works for the calling-landlines case. For everyone else, there are SIP->Skype gateways like Gizmo5's OpenSky.

  13. It is not opensource, until... by mi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Now, this probably only means the client (the underlying protocol will probably be handled by a binary-only library), but even if that's the case, it seems like there is still reason to celebrate

    The source is not open, until I can build and use it on FreeBSD/amd64 or some other "exotic" platform like that...

    Interestingly, the oft-criticized Java has always been more "open-sourced" (even before going GPL), than what the excited write-up is preparing to "celebrate"... Must all be about managing expectations...

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  14. update from linuxcrunch by itwadi · · Score: 2, Informative

    After contacting Skype's representative,Linuxcrunch.com got an update for this issue: "We appreciate our user community's enthusiasm and realize this is something they have been wanting for a while. We realize the potential of the open source community and believe that making Skype for Linux an open source application will help to speed up its development and enhance its compatibility with different versions of Linux. While it is our goal to make Skype for Linux source code available to the community in the nearest future, we are not at a point to disclose an exact release date yet."

    --
    http://www.itwadi.com
  15. Official statement from Skype by Keyper7 · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://share.skype.com/sites/linux/2009/11/skype_open_source.html