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Gmail Video Chat Now Available On Linux

Posted by Soulskill on from the time-to-trim-your-beard dept.

borfast writes "If you use Gmail on Linux, you may have wondered when you would be able to use the voice and video chat that Windows and Mac users have enjoyed for quite some time. The wait is finally over; Google yesterday announced video support for Linux browsers. Now if only Pidgin could provide solid video chat functionality in their client..." According to the brief announcement on the Google blog, "Voice and video chat for Linux supports Ubuntu and other Debian-based Linux distributions, and RPM support will be coming soon."

5 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Nice by TrisexualPuppy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Shows where Google's priorities (rightly) are. We have been waiting for years and can't even get a decently-working version of flash for Linux. Foreshadowing, perhaps?

    1. Re:Nice by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 4, Funny

      We have been waiting for years and can't even get a decently-working version of flash for Linux.

      Yes such a blessing Linux is! Years before iphone/ipad didn't have flash. We didn't have it first!

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      Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  2. Re:May the source be with you by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 4, Insightful

    My thoughts exactly. Why not GPL this code, and maybe then we could see it merged into other clients as well?

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    Palm trees and 8
  3. Re:Empathy by natehoy · · Score: 4, Informative

    So does Pidgin, and has done for at least a few months. I'm not sure what the author of the summary was on about, I've had Gmail video chats between a Windows box and my wife's Linux box several times, her using Pidgin and me using the video chat client in Firefox.

    Her eeePC has some microphone driver oddities we had to overcome in Linux (my one and only reason to drop to the command line in that install, turns out the eeePC identifies itself as having a stereo mic but only a mono is installed, and if signal comes in on both channels they cancel each other out, so you have to mute one of them), but the camera worked right out of the box in Linux Mint, and turning on video chat support in Pidgin was a matter of enabling the extension and using it, all in the Pidgin GUI.

    In any case, it's nice to see it coming straight to the browser chat client.

    --
    "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
  4. Re:Announcement? by yurtinus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes yes, how DARE they not spam you!

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    +1 Disagree