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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!
https://download.jitsi.org/jitsi/
The List of Grievances with Slashdot.
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.
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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.
They aren't trying to 'use the Skype network', they're using XMPP. XMPP is a protocol for a server that anyone can implement (e.g. Jabber is to XMPP as Apache is to HTTP, and Jitsi is to XMPP as e.g. Firefox is to HTTP). XMPP supports standard extensions for things like voice. Microsoft can't "block it" any more than they can block me from running or accessing an Apache server.
My other UID is three digits.
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)
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.