Let's help get Skype for Linux up to speed!

[Terracotta]

I see. And open standards makes this kind of merging easier, right? That's why skype as proprietary format is bad?

Teal'c Voice: "Indeed"

There's nothing wrong with closed source programs if you ask me, however there is something wrong with closed standards and protocols.

[jason.b.c]

So what do you use for the actual phone..???

A regular phone.?

Maybe construct one of these things..DIY Chat-Cord.

Pictures and Schematics..

[saracen]

Look first of all Skype is free. If when i use it eBay makes money... so what. We pay for everything in life, why should good software be any different? Again, Skype is free and they have no plans to start charging in the future. If they do, then I and I'm sure millions of others will opt for something else.

I have no qualms paying for good software. I have qualms paying for Microsoft Windows because first of all, I don't think it's the best out there and it is plagued with security and other issues. And secondly because it costs $500 or whatever. If windows were $20 and there wasn't anything better out there, i'd consider paying for it. But at $500 - no way.

What is the argument for all software being totally free when everything else in life costs money? I think open source is incredible, don't get me wrong. I also believe that open-sourcing the code makes it more secure and stable in the long run. However there are people who create software, release the source, and still sell their software (pre-packaged) for a reasonable fee. I don't see the problem in that.

After all, something's gotta pay for the beer...

[muep]

The problem isn't that the Skype client software is proprietary, but that the protocol they use is. I can't use other than proprietary clients for it, so I refuse to use it at all. I don't want to get dependant on something that might be taken away later, like many first freeware, later shareware/fully commercial software do.

[az]

The problem isn't that the Skype client software is proprietary, but that the protocol they use is.

It's both actually.

My computer is nothing without the software it runs - I have no need for a humming box that just sits there. I have a right to be able to know what my computer is doing. I will not have my computer be a black box that does tasks for someone else behind my back.

I don't care if it's given away for free - unless the software is not somone else's property, I will not give away my rights and freedoms and run it.

It's also impractical in the same way as buying a car with the hood welded shut which can exclusively be serviced by a certain company's mechanics. That would just be dumb.

[az]

Look first of all Skype is free. If when i use it eBay makes money... so what. We pay for everything in life, why should good software be any different?

Good question.

Because computers are pervasive. Societies and governments are relying more and more on them to interface with citizens. The more you look at it, the more you realise that you have a right to software freedom - to chose to be able to know what your computer is doing with your data.

There are already a number of tasks that I must do (for example, applying for government-subsidised paternal leave) that *require* that I use a Microsoft OS - if not in my home but from a government office. It's scary to think that one american company can almost effortlessly spy on so much.

There are also a lot of practical reasons to use free-libre open source software - most have been mentioned here.

[saracen]

So is wengophone comparable to skype in terms of voice quality? Like I said I tried gizmo and found that the sound wasn't nearly as good - there was a delay and the sound was muffled. What do people think of wengophone?

[Michael_aust]

I believe that Wengophone is just as good a voice quality as Skype. Whats more its client does not suck like Skype and the deals you can get like the free calls to loads of countries (landlines).

My experiances with wengop[hone have been good, the only eceptions is you may have to fiddle with your firewall settings a little.

[Virogenesis]

1. why would you want to create a monopoly, remember how Microsoft abuses its position would you want skype to do that?
2. why support skype, who knows down the line they might pull the plug on skype for linux and then because no client exists and many are using skype.
Another protocall to reverse engineer.....fantastic idea...

[jason.b.c]

Why can't i get wengophone installed..???

Suggestions.?

jason@Hp-Vectra-VL:~$ sudo dpkg -i /home/jason/Desktop/wengophone-0.958m-1.i386. deb
Password:
(Reading database ... 58639 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking wengophone (from .../wengophone-0.958m-1.i386.deb) ...
dpkg-deb (subprocess): short read in buffer_copy (failed to write to pipe in cop y)
dpkg-deb: subprocess paste returned error exit status 2
dpkg: error processing /home/jason/Desktop/wengophone-0.958m-1.i386.deb (--insta ll):
short read in buffer_copy (backend dpkg-deb during `./usr/lib/wengophone/lang/w engo_es.qm')
Errors were encountered while processing:
/home/jason/Desktop/wengophone-0.958m-1.i386.deb
jason@Hp-Vectra-VL:~$