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Microsoft Kills Skype For Asterisk
Avalon73 writes "I've been using Skype for Asterisk (Digium's native Skype client for their PBX software) since it was in beta 2 years ago. Today, I received an email from Digium stating that Skype (read: Microsoft) has decided to end the agreement that made the integration possible, and Digium will stop selling the module on July 26th. Support for us existing users will be there for the next 2 years, with Skype's option to renew at that time, but I'll believe that when I see it. So much for Microsoft's promise not to screw over the existing Skype user base."
This has nothing to do with Microsoft, that is just troll bait. The deal isn't completed yet, they are awaiting regulatory approval before going through with it, and that is likely months away. This is Skype running as Skype, completely independent from Microsoft. Any interference at this stage and scrutiny would be an infraction even Microsoft wouldn't risk.
not affecting the majority does not imply not screwing the userbase
Yes it does.
Customers are not only the majority slice.
No, but the customer base is. Hence the term base, as in the most substantial part; not the fringe elements or corner cases.
Actually the userbase is all of the users.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/user+base
Actually, while the deal is pending, Microsoft is legally prohibited from exerting influence over Skype. Until the deal goes through, Microsoft has less influence over Skype than they had before the deal.
You don't mess with the SEC.
This is Skype running as Skype, completely independent from Microsoft.
Unless you work for one of those two companies you cannot possibly know that.
Any interference at this stage and scrutiny would be an infraction even Microsoft wouldn't risk.
Having been involved myself with a few mergers and the negotiations thereof I can definitely say that it is definitely plausible that Microsoft would have requested killing the product. I have no idea if they actually did and no proof either but it is certainly possible and wouldn't be terribly surprising. Such conditions can be explicit parts of the deal or they can be simple verbal requests. It's not at all unusual for companies being acquired to start making changes before the deal is done, particularly if they do not expect regulatory approval to be a problem. Frankly I don't really see any compelling reason for the DOJ or other regulating bodies to interfere with this merger. (not liking Microsoft isn't sufficient grounds) I'm quite certain Microsoft and Skype's lawyers and finance geeks have looked into it pretty carefully.
It's equally plausible it has nothing to do with the merger. I don't know either way but I'm pretty sure no one else reading this knows either.
Alternatives?
Google Voice :)
There, fixed that for you .
GV is already integrated into Asterisk.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
End to end communication when both endpoints are behind NAT is a tricky problem. I don't know the skype protocol, did skype actually solve the problem, are the sessions truly end to end, NAT to NAT without the central server doing any proxying?
SIP by itself cannot solve the problem when both endpoints are behind a NAT without specifically forwarded ports, but it does work well when properly configured and only one side is NAT'd, which is classically the case with any protocol.
Halfway decent is hard to define. If it works, it's halfway decent at the minimum, heh. Most of your off the shelf consumer linksys, netgear, etc routers will handle passing sip just fine. Every so often you may run into a box that just fails miserably.
The goal of computer science is to build something that will last at least until we've finished building it.
I find it hard to believe that you're not just trolling. But on the off chance that you're not...
My company uses Skype to conference call with overseas clients. It's nothing to do with the avoided cost of a 'real' phone call (which is insignificant compared to consultant time) and everything to do with universal availability, video conference ability and ease of use making it a better option than a 'real' phone call.
Insanity: voting in the same two parties over and over again and expecting different results