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Version 2.0 Released For Open Skype Alternative Jitsi
New submitter emilcho writes with news for anyone looking for a Free alternative to Skype "Among the most prominent new features people will find quality multi-party video conferences for XMPP, audio device hot-plugging, support for Outlook presence and calls, an overhauled user interface and support for the Opus and VP8 audio/video codec. Jitsi has lately shaped into one of the more viable open Skype Alternatives with features such as end-to-end ZRTP encryption for audio and video calls. The 2.0 version has been in the works for almost a year now, so this is an important step for the project."
There are prebuilt packages for Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, Windows, and OS X.
Skype is not a standard. What are the competing standards here?
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
What competing standards? Skype does not provide end to end encryption, it's no competition for Jitsi. And Jitsi itself is using established standards, ZRTP was created by Philip Zimmerman of PGP fame and is RFC6189.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
The power of Skype is in its network and support. Skype is not open source, nor subject to standards. "Alternatives", such as OoVoo, already exist. Besides, if an "alternative" software tried using the Skype network then Microsoft could block it. This is a waste of time.
https://download.jitsi.org/jitsi/
The List of Grievances with Slashdot.
> "features such as end-to-end ZRTP encryption
> for audio and video calls"
"Sweet. Show me!"
"What's that guy doing? Oh gross! GROSS!!!"
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
And yet again someone quotes XKCD without having a clue what they're talking about.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
I'm interested. Currently paying for Skype premium to do multiuser video chat. Does anyone know if this product does 1080p streams in multiuser? Skype only does it when one on one, but drops down to SD in multiuser mode. I can't check the features list because it appears the jitsi site has been slashdotted.
Pass. Who uses a full PC to make calls?
It seems people can only read into small details and aren't able to look at the big picture.
Skype, Facetime and all others are all incompatible with each other. Even basic text messaging services are not compatible with each others, unlike email and websites.
That's why I quoted xkcd. Not because of the standards used by other programs, but because we seriously need to force Microsoft, Apple and others to unite and support a single standard. All this fragmentation reminds me of the MS-DOS/Mac OS 9/AmigaOS/TOS days.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
I'm so glad you asked, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software
Will it be able to connect to a browser in the future? Because I don't see myself getting everybody I know to install yet another client.
It's written in Java, and everyone knows Java sucks not only with applets, but also with desktop apps.
I agree. However everyone *knows* skype. They have a huge user base. That base will be even bigger when MS finishes forcing all MSN users onto it. There are standards, and then there are defacto standards because everyone uses the same product.
I *really* like the idea of Jitsi. Unfortunately I'm also likely to never use it because I don't know a single other person that uses it, or uses other tools that share the same protocols, despite the fact that said protocols are open standards. Skype is now just another IM system I have to have an account on, which requires me to use Trillian so I don't have 50 different IM clients. Why would I want yet *another* one?
If only I could delete my post...
I got Jitsi confused with something else entirely. I'll just shut up now and sit in a corner.
While Jitsi is nice and all, it looks to me like they have a licensing problem. Jitsi has a dependency on ZRTP4J, which is under the GPL, and Jitsi is under the LGPL. Can anyone explain how this is possible without a license exception? And if they have a license exception, where is it documented? and isn't transfered upstream? If so, why not just make ZRTP4J LGPL instead of GPL? And why are they releasing the whole application under the LGPL, and not the GPL anyway?
To be fair to XKCD, most people on Slashdot (and elsewhere on the internet) who don't quote them are equally clueless.
Come on, just admit you got this one wrong. Jitsi is software utilizes exactly those 'central standards' you refer to - XMPP may be the primary contender for messaging/voice (via Jingle over XMPP) etc. standard at the moment. The whole point is that different software can talk to one another as e.g. Jitsi supports XMPP, and other XMPP clients also do e.g. Adium. Think of Jitsi end-user software as the equivalent of a web browser and of XMPP as the equivalent of HTTP.
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_instant_messaging_clients#XMPP-related_features
My other UID is three digits.
I'm going to add support for the Propbridge telepresence rig to the Android version of this. All they need to do is literally add two lines of code, everything else is done by the embedded system. How can I get a hold of the dev team? There's no contact-us page.
Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
This protocol does not require prior shared secrets or rely on a Public key infrastructure (PKI) or on certification authorities, in fact ephemeral Diffie-Hellman keys are generated on each session establishment: this allows the complexity of creating and maintaining a trusted third-party to be bypassed.
Pretty snazzy. Seems like it could have a lock on the convienence factor. Also could have a lot of exploit vectors.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
Jabber's a server, Jitsi's a client. That would be a bit like trying to merge Apache and Webkit.
I tried the previous major release of Jitsi and all it did was crash a lot, hopefully this new one's a bit better.
My other UID is three digits.
n/t
We tried it with my team, the interface is incredibly slow, but it works without problems. I just can't understand how an IM application released in 2013 manages to be so slow on a pretty modern computer.... Oh, yeah, Java. /usr/bin/java -classpath /usr/share/jitsi/lib/jdic_stub.jar:/usr/share/jitsi/lib/jdic-all.jar:/usr/share/jitsi/lib/felix.jar:/usr/share/jitsi/lib/bcprovider.jar:/usr/share/jitsi/sc-bundles/sc-launcher.jar:/usr/share/jitsi/sc-bundles/util.jar -Djna.library.path=/usr/share/jitsi/lib/native -Dfelix.config.properties=file:/usr/share/jitsi/lib/felix.client.run.properties -Djava.util.logging.config.file=/usr/share/jitsi/lib/logging.properties -Dnet.java.sip.communicator.SC_HOME_DIR_NAME=.jitsi net.java.sip.communicator.launcher.SIPCommunicator
The competing standards are SIP, standard audio codecs, and H.264 video confrencing.
Skype is propritory. SIP is standards based. Skype is for Skype only with payments required to make (Skype out) and/or receive (skype in) calls to normal telephone. Skype out and Skype in can be only purchased from one vendor.
Unlike Skype, a SIP provider can provide any and/or all of the components. Depending on provider (many) you can mix and match as you like.
Free SIP accounts can be obtined from Ekiga, Iptel, ippi, and others. Many provide free voicemail, and other features such as a gateway to Google Voice and Skype. Call your SIP friends, your Google Talk Friends, and Skype friends all with the same provider.. (personal plug.. ippi.com provides a free skype and google talk gateways) Google it.
Free softphones compatible with SIP are numerous, some of which enable encryption, including the one featured in this slashdot article. Free softphones can be obtained from Ekiga, Twinkle, iptel, ippi, and others.
Hardware phones compatibe with SIP are numberous including offerings from Cisco;/Linksis, Grandstream, Panasonic, and others. No need to keep your computer on to use it. Some even include a vidoe phone.
There are many providers of DID numbers that do the same as Skype in. You can have multiple numbers including 800, local, overseas, etc. Some providers even offer a DID number for free. IPkall is a good source for a free USA phone number. Think Skype-in but free.
You can buy a calling plan to permit placing calls. This is generaly not free, but quite cost effective.
You can tie them together in your own free open source PBX.. such as Asterisk.
If you want to buy an all in one package plan, providers such as Century Link, Comcast, Magic Jack, Ooma, Net2Phone, Vonage etc all offer complete packages for plug and play operation with less flexibility than mix and match.
Combining SIP and Google Talk allows me to place calls from Google, and receive my calls on a VOIP phone, even whtn the computer is off. After moving to SIP, I hardly use Skype at all.
The truth shall set you free!
Jitsi is a SIP client.. It works with ippi and iptel as mentiioned above. Add this to a list of SIP clients listed above, some which support encryption and video.
The truth shall set you free!
ZRTP looks solid to me. If the short authentication strings (SAS) check out, there is minimal likelihood of a successful attack on the protocol*. If you still don't trust it, jitsi can run peer to peer behind a vpn. If that's not good enough for you, you should be holding your conversations in a noisy location, away from all electronic devices, and out of sight of lip readers with telescopes.
*Jiti uses a 4 character SAS, which works out to around 24 bits for a 0.000006% chance of successful attack. Attack opportunities are strictly limited by the nature of the protocol (e.g. early commitment to an SAS; the use of cached secrets from previous conversations for authentication). Technically, this may not meet modern cryptographic standards for non-negligibility, but with a 0.999994% chance of an attack being made obvious, you will almost certainly know something is up and can take measures should it happen.
http://www.onsip.com/voip-phone-reviews/jitsi
Downloading it now...let's hope they get it out Android and iOS soon.
(For those saying, "we'll never see this on iOS, well, Apple has "let in" Skype & Viber, so why not?)
jitsi does automatic encryption if you wish and if both parties support it. jitsi can use the highest quality voip audio codec, opus. you can choose either the highest quality video codec, h.264 or the freedom-minded one, VP8. you can have jitsi on all non-mobile platforms. it supports all protocols, including the crappy proprietary ones like msn and aol. it does voice, video, text, remote desktop and screen sharing. use a SIP and jabber account for the best experience. the only quasi-downside seems to be it comes with its own jre. i wish more people would get on board with jitsi right away.
https://dalgamotor.wordpress.com/ - Elektronik beyinlere ozgurluk asisi (Turkish)
Why is there still no good SIP and H323 open-source client?
That's right, they should all use sensible names like "Skype", "Yahoo" and "Google", otherwise they'll never catch on.
Advanced users are users too!
Oops thanks for catching my typo. The probability is 99.999994% = 0.99999994.
Additionally, Jitsi doesn't represent a new standard, it's a new implementation of an already existing standard.
I suppose I should look more to see why they selected that, but I'd have preferred to see SRP used. SRP with a zero key (or any other pre-defined key) is essentially DH anyway, and the authentication is built in to the key exchange. It also has the nice feature that one side can't find out the other side's authentication credentials (and hence can't impersonate them).
SRP is typically used in a client-server relationship, but it can be used in a symmetric way as well.
You can tie them together in your own free open source PBX.. such as Asterisk.
We do this. My sysadmins gave me Jitsi when I asked about getting a phone at home. It was dead easy to set up; I just run my VPN client, fire up Jitsi and I can make calls using my headset painlessly and easily. In fact I prefer making calls from home now because I can use my awesome gaming headset instead of the crappy handset I have on my desk phone; it's easier to hear people and I can type/take notes while I talk.
Jitzi is not Skype. It doesn't use it's own proprietary protocol, it uses open standard.
Want to make call with your Andoird smart-phone ?
Get any XMPP or SIP client. (Although a Jitzi-on-Android might happen in the future).
Want to make secure calls?
Just make sure that both ends support ZRTP (for calls) and/or OTR (for messages).
(Jitzi, but also Twinkle(call), Pidgin/Adium (chat), and several others).
Don't want to create yet another account ?
Well use your existing Google (XMPP, works for chat and call) or Facebook (XMPP, chat only) accounts.
As XMPP is an open-standard, there are probably tons of other providers which support it and for which you probably already have an account.
(Didn't follow Jitzi's latest development: does it support MSN's XMPP-with-OAuth implementation ? If that's the case, MSN could be used for chat too)
(Whatsupp could be another future possibility as it is also partly based on a XMPP derivative, althrough much more remote from the actual standard)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Will it be able to connect to a browser in the future?
WebRTC isn't a different video call procotol, it's an API enabling Javascript webapp to open streams (for call or whatever they want).
If you manage to find an implementation of XMPP or SIP writen in HTML5/Javscript + WebRTC, then yes you could contact people using a web browser.
(And Google is bound to write a WebRTC version of Google Talk. They are among the developers of WebRTC exactly for this reason).
Because I don't see myself getting everybody I know to install yet another client.
Jitzi is build around open standards. They don't need to specifically install Jitzi.
As long as they have a software supporting XMPP and/or SIP any software will do the job.
(And Google Talk is an example of web app running on XMPP - though for now calls require a plug-in)
And as long as both ends support ZRTP (for calls) or OTR (for chat), you will also get end-to-end encryption.
(Though that is very unlikely to get implemented on a web app)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Back to Pidgin :(
I'm just hoping that someone develops ZRTP support for pidgin....
Well at least we have OTR support for chat encryption.
(So you can securely chat with your pidgin to someone running pidgin)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Pidgin has a plugin for encryption, but when I tested it a few years ago it caused problems with long messages and pastes and such and so I stopped using it.
GAIM-encryption wasn't good, indeed. Including regarding security (problems with deniability).
It's not maintained anymore.
The killer features in Jitsi is the desktop sharing, encryption, and file transfer.
{...} And encryption I addressed above.
The current standard in chat encryption is Off-The-Record OTR. This one is the encryption standard that is available out-of-the-box for chat messages in Jitzi. But also in Adium and other modern clients.
OTR sits as a layer above the chat messages (it's agnostic to the protocol used to exchange message. As long as the messages are exchanged and both ends use OTR, the transmission will be encrypted).
As of Pidgin: There is a plugin for supporting OTR. (In fact, it's technically the same as Adium, except Pidgin doesn't include it by default). Its either in your distro's repository (if you're running Linux) or there an installer for it (if you're running Windows).
It works very nicely (it's widely deployed and used. Thus it's better tested and debugged)
What Pidgin (and Ekiga too, another pet peeves of mine, although its a bit out of scope) lacks on the encryption front is call (Video and Audio) encryption. Pidgin only does pure RTP, Jitzi does ZRTP encryption over the RTP channel.
(ZRTP functions the same way as OTR: it sits above a FTP channel. No matter which protocol opened the RTP channel, once the channel is open, ZRTP can encrypt it, as long as both ends have it).
Regarding Desktop:
Desktop streaming:
- in Pidgin, it's just a matter of selecting the correct video source. Just tell GStreamer to use the desktop as the source, instead of the webcam or whatever complicated Gstreamer-powered plumbing you use to bring a video source to Pidgin.
The problem here is more user-friendliness. Pidgin doesn't have its own settings to choose video source. You have to select the default GStreamer source using 3rd party software.
Desktop sharing:
- I don't know. There are a couple of Pidgin/VNC plugins around... But I don't have any idea what Jitsi is actually using and if its implementation is standardised or not.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
For even more freedom of movement, use a trucker's noise canceling bluetooth headset.
The truth shall set you free!