Which way to install Skype?

[swoody]

Well, duh, I already had the Medibunu repo included (http://packages.medibuntu.org/ hardy free non-free) under "Third-Party Software" in Synaptic, but thought I had to include another repo (http://download.skype.com/linux/repos/debian/ stable non-free) to get Skype. So I can remove the Skype-specific one and still pick it up from Medibuntu, right?

Thanks for this, and also for clarifying in your next post about the "SOLVED" and "Thanks" functions being disabled. I didn't visit the forums for a while, and when I came back a number of things had changed. I thought you used to be able to search on multiple keywords and get only posts that had all the words, but if there's a way to do that I haven't been able to figure it out!

Yup, with the Medibuntu Repo enabled, you should be able to install Skype already, and you can remove the Skype Repo since it's not needed.

You can type in search queries in this manner and have it find posts with multiple keywords:

ubuntu + skype

Just put in a + sign between the terms you want to search for. Let me know if it works out for you

[bw44]

Yup, with the Medibuntu Repo enabled, you should be able to install Skype already, and you can remove the Skype Repo since it's not needed.

You can type in search queries in this manner and have it find posts with multiple keywords:

Just put in a + sign between the terms you want to search for. Let me know if it works out for you

Again, many thanks! I had tried putting in

skype + install

but that found posts with "skype" OR "install". It didn't occur to me that

skype+install

would change the search to AND. (What a difference a space makes!)

As for the Skype repo saga: with the Skype repo installed and checked in the Synpatic third-party repo list, Synaptic showed that to be the origin of Skype. I unchecked the Skype repo and re-loaded the repos and it showed the origin of Skype to be "Local/non-free". I was going to mark it for re-installation and see if it would pick Skype up from the Medibuntu repo, but then I got cold feet. Skype is all installed, configured, and working fine, so I'm reluctant to experiment for the sake of proving a point. Maybe someone braver would like to try . . .

Cheers,

bw44

[swoody]

As for the Skype repo saga: with the Skype repo installed and checked in the Synpatic third-party repo list, Synaptic showed that to be the origin of Skype. I unchecked the Skype repo and re-loaded the repos and it showed the origin of Skype to be "Local/non-free". I was going to mark it for re-installation and see if it would pick Skype up from the Medibuntu repo, but then I got cold feet. Skype is all installed, configured, and working fine, so I'm reluctant to experiment for the sake of proving a point. Maybe someone braver would like to try

You should be able to reinstall it, and it should pick it up from the Medibuntu Repo. The config files for programs will remain on your comp, so anything you setup or changed should remain the same as well. So there shouldn't be any worries about reinstalling it, you shouldn't notice any difference at all

[Art3mis]

I would just suggest you, use Wine to install skype

[bw44]

You should be able to reinstall it, and it should pick it up from the Medibuntu Repo. The config files for programs will remain on your comp, so anything you setup or changed should remain the same as well. So there shouldn't be any worries about reinstalling it, you shouldn't notice any difference at all

Yep, it worked as you said. Two things for others to note, however:

1. After I removed the Skype repo, marking Skype for re-installation, and applying it I got an error message (see attached image); so I had to select "Mark for Removal", apply it and then select Skype again for a fresh installation.

2. The version of Skype that was installed from their repo was 2.0.0.72-1, and the one from Medibuntu was 2.0.0.72-0, so I guess there has been an update that hasn't been vetted by Medibuntu yet. But the earlier version seems to be working fine, and as you said, all the settings were OK.

Thanks for your help!

bw44

[bw44]

I would just suggest you, use Wine to install skype

Well, if you noticed my previous post, the Linux version of Skype seems to be working fine for me.

Given I have a pretty slow old laptop and no experience with Wine, what would the advantage be of running the Windows version of Skype? I have a dual-boot system with XP installed, and the Skype version 4 (for Windows) interface is quite different. If I liked it better (which I don't) that might be a reason to run Skype with Wine I guess.

Thanks for your suggestion, even though I probably won't follow it.

bw44

[SunnyRabbiera]

There is no real advantage other then just giving skype a shot under wine, but skypes linux client I heard works quite well.

[swoody]

There is no real advantage other then just giving skype a shot under wine, but skypes linux client I heard works quite well.

Yup, Skype is one of the only 3 programs I have to have on Ubuntu, and I've NEVER had a problem or glitch at all! It's very nice

[swoody]

Well, if you noticed my previous post, the Linux version of Skype seems to be working fine for me.

Given I have a pretty slow old laptop and no experience with Wine, what would the advantage be of running the Windows version of Skype? I have a dual-boot system with XP installed, and the Skype version 4 (for Windows) interface is quite different. If I liked it better (which I don't) that might be a reason to run Skype with Wine I guess.

I'm glad to hear everything's working well for you. Yeah, I wouldn't recommend using Wine to run anything unless it's something you absolutely NEED and can't find a replacement for in Ubuntu. I've not had a good record with running programs in Wine, and there seems to be much more overhead and problems associated with it.